An exploratory analysis of work engagement among women with and without disordered eating

Around 10% of the female population is estimated to have a subclinical eating disorder. Many of these women are of working age. Previous research has shown associations between unhealthy eating behaviors and occupational stress or burnout. However, no previous study has explored the association between disordered eating and work engagement, a positive, fulfilling, affective-cognitive state of mind which has been positioned as the conceptual opposite of burnout. Thus, that was the aim of the present study.

In this cross-sectional study, a sample of 701 Swedish women completed the 9-item Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-9) and the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q). They were divided into a Healthy Eating (HE) and a Disordered Eating (DE) group based on their EDE-Q scores. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to test the association between disordered eating and work engagement. The Kruskal Wallis test was used to assess the associations between educational level, marital status and age group, and work engagement.

Neither the UWES scores nor the EDE-Q scores were found to have a normal distribution. Non-parametric testing showed that the DE group reported significantly lower work engagement than the HE group (p = 0.016). There were no significant associations between education, marital status or age (independent variables) and work engagement (dependent variable) (p = 0.826, 0.309, and 0.349, respectively).

These findings indicate that work engagement may play a role in disordered eating, and that there is a need for future research to consider the workplace environment as a potential source for altering disordered eating behaviors.