Working hours and depression in the HEAF cohort

Long working hours and unemployment adversely affect mental health. Modern policies aim to keep adults working to older ages.

To explore the bidirectional association between working hours and depression among older workers.

We used data from the Health and Employment After Fifty (HEAF) longitudinal study of adults aged 50-64 years recruited from English general practices. Participants completed baseline (2013-14) and annual (until 2019) questionnaires, including questions about working hours (<20, 20 to <35, 35-40, >40 h/week) and the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (scores ≥16 used to define depression). The association between working hours and incident depression, and the reverse association between baseline depression and reducing working hours, were explored using Poisson regression.

Of 3866 HEAF participants in paid work without baseline depression, 32% developed incident depression. Those who were financially comfortable and working <20 h (incidence rate ratio (IRR) 1.47, 95% CI 1.11-1.95) and those of intermediate financial status working 20-35 h (IRR 1.26, 95% CI 1.05-1.52) were at increased risk of depression. Among participants with depression at baseline, only men of intermediate financial status were more likely to decrease working hours (IRR 1.19, 95% CI 1.06-1.33) or stop working altogether.

Incident depression was common in this older worker cohort and the risk varied by working hours and financial status. It is important to know more about reasons for leaving work in relation to depression to inform targeted strategies for supporting older adults to remain in work.