Flexible work arrangements and employee health: A meta-analytic review

IF 5.6 2区心理学 Q1 PSYCHOLOGY, APPLIED

Work and Stress Pub Date : 2021-06-10 DOI:10.1080/02678373.2021.1936287

Nicole V Shifrin, Jesse S. Michel

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引用次数: 64

Abstract

ABSTRACT Flexibility regarding where and when work is completed is becoming increasingly available to employees, especially following the COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent shift in the nature of work. There is a plethora of research linking various flexible work arrangements (FWA) to a variety of positive outcomes across domains including reduced work–family conflict, better psychological health, and increased role satisfaction. While several studies have suggested that FWA are related to positive health, others have found no relationship between flexible work arrangements and health outcomes. To clarify these inconsistent findings, the current meta-analytic review (k = 33, n = 90,602) examines the relationship between flexible work arrangements available to employees and health behaviours and outcomes, specifically physical health, absenteeism, somatic symptoms, and physical activity. Results demonstrate that FWA are associated with better physical health, reduced absenteeism, and fewer somatic symptoms, suggesting that flexible work arrangements can facilitate employees in maintaining their health. There was no association between FWA and physical activity, though these results should be interpreted cautiously given the limited number of primary studies examining this relationship. These findings hold implications for future research and practice, including support for offering individualised flexible work arrangements as means of promoting employee health.

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弹性工作安排与员工健康：元分析综述

在完成工作的地点和时间方面，员工的灵活性越来越高，尤其是在2019冠状病毒病(COVID-19)爆发和随后工作性质的转变之后。有大量的研究将各种灵活的工作安排(FWA)与各个领域的各种积极成果联系起来，包括减少工作与家庭冲突、改善心理健康和提高角色满意度。虽然有几项研究表明，弹性工作制与积极健康有关，但其他研究发现，灵活的工作安排与健康结果之间没有关系。为了澄清这些不一致的发现，当前的荟萃分析综述(k = 33, n = 90,602)检查了员工可获得的灵活工作安排与健康行为和结果之间的关系，特别是身体健康、缺勤、躯体症状和身体活动。结果表明，弹性工作制与更好的身体健康、更少的缺勤和更少的身体症状有关，这表明灵活的工作安排可以促进员工保持健康。FWA和身体活动之间没有关联，尽管考虑到检验这种关系的初步研究数量有限，这些结果应该谨慎解释。这些发现对未来的研究和实践具有启示意义，包括支持提供个性化的灵活工作安排作为促进员工健康的手段。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Work and Stress PSYCHOLOGY, APPLIED-

CiteScore

11.70

自引率

3.30%

发文量

期刊介绍： Work & Stress is an international, multidisciplinary quarterly presenting high-quality papers concerned with the psychological, social and organizational aspects of occupational health and well-being, and stress and safety management. It is published in association with the European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology. The journal publishes empirical reports, scholarly reviews and theoretical papers. It is directed at occupational health psychologists, work and organizational psychologists, those involved with organizational development, and all concerned with the interplay of work, health and organisations. Research published in Work & Stress relates psychologically salient features of the work environment to their psychological, behavioural and health consequences, focusing on the underlying psychological processes. The journal has become a natural home for research on the work-family interface, social relations at work (including topics such as bullying and conflict at work, leadership and organizational support), workplace interventions and reorganizations, and dimensions and outcomes of worker stress and well-being. Such dimensions and outcomes, both positive and negative, include stress, burnout, sickness absence, work motivation, work engagement and work performance. Of course, submissions addressing other topics in occupational health psychology are also welcomed.