title: Workstyle and overcommitment in relation to neck and upper limb symptoms.
abstract: Few studies have examined the concepts of workstyle and overcommitment in relation to the occurrence of neck and upper limb symptoms. The aim of this study was to examine whether a high-risk workstyle is a mediator in the relation of work-related exposure (job demands and computer work) and overcommitment to neck and upper limb symptoms. The study participants comprised 3,855 office workers of a European institute. The Sobel test was applied to test the intermediate effects of 4 workstyle dimensions and of the total workstyle score. The results show that most mediated effects were statistically significant, meaning that the workstyle dimensions acted as a mediator in the relation between work-related exposure and symptoms as well as in the relation between overcommitment and symptoms. Given the results with the total workstyle score, 34% of the effect of prolonged computer work, 64% of the effect of job demands, and 84% of the effect of overcommitment was mediated by workstyle. However, due to possible bias in the assessment of workstyle factor and the cross-sectional design of the study, the conclusions should be drawn with care.
authors.affiliation: TNO Quality of Life, Work and Employment, Hoofddorp, The Netherlands. S.vdHeuvel@arbeid.tno.nl
authors.forename: Swenne G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: van den Heuvel
authors.forename: Allard J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: van der Beek
authors.forename: Birgitte M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Blatter
authors.forename: Paulien M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Bongers
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003201:Computers; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004651:Employment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008297:Male; D019547:Neck Pain / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D034941:Upper Extremity; D016526:Workload