Work-home interference and its prospective relation to major depression and treatment with antidepressants.

OBJECTIVES

Few longitudinal studies have investigated if "work-home interference" (WHI), conflicts between work and home demands, predicts depressive disorders. We examined if WHI was prospectively associated with indicators of major depression in a nationally representative sample.

METHODS

We used multiple logistic and Cox regression models to examine if self-reported WHI was related to probable major depression [scoring high on a brief self-report scale based on the (Hopkins) Symptom Checklist] and/or any new antidepressant treatment using the prescribed drug register during a 2-year follow-up. The analytic sample comprised 1576 men and 1678 women, working respondents to the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH), free of major depression and prior purchases of antidepressants at baseline.

RESULTS

Altogether, 7% experienced high (very often/the whole time) and 32% moderate (sometimes) WHI. Overall, the analyses indicated prospective associations between especially high WHI and major depression and/or antidepressant treatment also when adjusting for work characteristics (demands, control, support, overtime). However, the estimates for major depression differed by sex. Separate analyses indicated that only women with high WHI were significantly more likely to have subsequent major depression. Analyses further indicated an elevated rate of antidepressant treatment for men in particular, partly explained by work characteristics and that major depression was related to subsequent high WHI.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on a two-year follow-up, this study indicated that high WHI prospectively predicted major depression and/or antidepressant treatment, though effects appeared to differ to some extent by sex.