Work-to-family spillover and fruit and vegetable consumption among construction laborers

Spillover is the effect of one role on another as working adults attempt to integrate demands from work and family. We conducted a survey to understand how worker, job, and family characteristics were related to negative work-to-family spillover and how spillover was related to fruit and vegetable consumption to inform intervention design.

A combined mail and telephone survey.

A national random sample in the United States.

1108 (44% response) unionized construction laborers.

Personal characteristics, job factors, family factors, work-to-family spillover, and fruit and vegetable consumption.

Multivariable logistic and least-squares regression.

A range of 20% to 50% of respondents reported negative work-to-family spillover, agreeing that work demands, time, fatigue, and stress interfered with family meals or food choices. Higher spillover was associated with job factors, being of white race/ethnicity, and having children at home. Lower fruit and vegetable consumption was associated with higher work-to-family spillover (p = .002), being of white race or ethnicity (p < .0001), and working the graveyard or day shift (p = .02).

Negative experience of work-to-family spillover may link employment to fruit and vegetable consumption and thus to worker health. Understanding the contribution of spillover to fruit and vegetable consumption aids understanding of how work experience affects health.