Job stress and work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic among Japanese workers: a prospective cohort study

Kazunori Ikegami; Hajime Ando; Kosuke Mafune; Mayumi Tsuji; Seiichiro Tateishi; Kiminori Odagami; Keiji Muramatsu; Yoshihisa Fujino; Akira Ogami

doi:10.1080/21642850.2022.2163248

Job stress and work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic among Japanese workers: a prospective cohort study

Health Psychol Behav Med. 2023 Jan 20;11(1):2163248. doi: 10.1080/21642850.2022.2163248. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Kazunori Ikegami¹, Hajime Ando¹, Kosuke Mafune², Mayumi Tsuji³, Seiichiro Tateishi⁴, Kiminori Odagami⁵, Keiji Muramatsu⁶, Yoshihisa Fujino⁷, Akira Ogami¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Work Systems and Health, Institute of Industrial Ecological Sciences, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Kitakyusyu, Japan.
² Department of Mental Health, Institute of Industrial Ecological Sciences, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Kitakyusyu, Japan.
³ Department of Environmental Health, School of Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Kitakyusyu, Japan.
⁴ Disaster Occupational Health Center, Institute of Industrial Ecological Sciences, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Kitakyusyu, Japan.
⁵ Department of Occupational Health Practice and Management, Institute of Industrial Ecological Sciences, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Kitakyusyu, Japan.
⁶ Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Kitakyusyu, Japan.
⁷ Department of Environmental Epidemiology, Institute of Industrial Ecological Sciences, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Kitakyusyu, Japan.

Abstract

Objectives: The work style reforms and the coronavirus disease pandemic in Japan have prompted efforts toward teleworking, mainly work from home (WFH). This study aimed to prospectively evaluate the impact of WFH on job stress among Japanese workers.

Methods: This online survey-based prospective cohort study was conducted from December 2020 (baseline) to December 2021 (1-year follow-up) using self-administered questionnaires. At baseline, 27,036 participants completed the questionnaires, whereas 18,560 (68.7%) participated in the 1-year follow-up. After excluding the 11,604 participants who left or changed workplaces within 1 year or who were physical laborers and hospitality workers, data from 6,956 participants were analyzed. We asked participants about WFH frequency at baseline and conducted a follow-up using the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire (BJSQ). Participants were divided into four groups according to WFH frequency. The odds ratios of poor states of the association of the four subscales (job demand, job control, supervisor support, and coworker support) determined by the BJSQ with WFH frequency were estimated using a multilevel logistic model.

Results: In both the gender-age adjusted and multivariate models, compared to the non-WFH group, the medium and low WFH groups were less likely to have poor job control, whereas the high WFH group were likely to have similar levels as the non-WFH group. In both models, compared to non-WFH participants, the high WFH group were more likely to have poor supervisor and coworker support.

Conclusions: High-frequency WFH requires further attention, because it may increase job stress by exacerbating deficits of social support in the workplace. Medium- and low-frequency WFH workers were more likely to have satisfactory job control; therefore, limiting WFH to three or fewer days per week may lead to better job stress management.

Keywords: Brief Job Stress Questionnaire; COVID-19; Work from home; job stress; office worker.

Grants and funding

This study was supported and partly funded by the research grant from the University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan (no grant number); Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (H30-josei-ippan-002, H30-roudou-ippan-007, 19JA1004, 20JA1006, 210301-1, and 20HB1004); Anshin Zaidan (no grant number), the Collabo-Health Study Group (no grant number), and Hitachi Systems, Ltd. (no grant number) and scholarship donations from Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (no grant number). The funders were not involved in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of this article or the decision to submit it for publication.