Bidirectional Relationships Between Hours Worked and Social Anxiety and Depression Symptoms: A Longitudinal Study

Previous research has found that social anxiety and depression are associated with occupational impairment, including unemployment and decreased productivity. However, longitudinal studies are limited to depression and only examine effects of anxiety cross-sectionally. Furthermore, prior studies only measured occupational impairment dichotomously as either employed or unemployed. The present secondary data analysis sought to build upon these gaps and investigate bidirectional relationships between hours worked, measured continuously, and symptoms of social anxiety and depression over the course of 48 weeks following a brief intervention for job-seekers with social anxiety disorder, many of whom reported elevated levels of depression. Employment was operationalized as the average number of hours spent working in a given week.

Two cross-lagged panel models were tested to investigate these relationships in 250 diverse job-seeking individuals (59.2% female, 40.8% Black or African-American, and 16.4% Hispanic/Latine).

In partial support of initial hypotheses, social anxiety and depression symptoms both negatively predicted subsequent hours worked. Hours worked did not predict subsequent social anxiety or depression symptoms.

This was the first study to investigate relationships among depression, social anxiety, and employment that operationalized employment as a continuous variable. The findings contribute novel information about the longitudinal impact of both social anxiety and depression on hours worked and suggest that symptoms of social anxiety or depression may serve as a barrier to seeking or maintaining employment. Interventions for unemployment should consider incorporating simultaneous treatment of social anxiety and depression.