Psychosocial Factors of Overtime Work in Relation to Work-Nonwork Balance: a Multilevel Structural Equation Modeling Analysis of Nurses Working in Hospitals

Purpose Few studies have investigated the impact of psychosocial factors on overwork and employee well-being while taking into account the complex relationships between such factors and the effect of workplace. The present study aimed to examine the association between psychosocial factors of overtime work and work-nonwork balance using a multilevel structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. Methods A survey was conducted among nurses working in three hospitals ( n = 603) in Japan. After confirming the constructs of the factors by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and exploratory factor analysis (EFA), a multilevel SEM was conducted to investigate the direct and indirect effects of involuntary and voluntary overtime work on work-nonwork balance at both individual and workplace levels. Results Both involuntary and voluntary overtime work factors were further differentiated into two factors (four factors in total). Involuntary overtime work directly decreased work-nonwork balance on both levels; voluntary overtime work had a direct positive effect. However, voluntary overtime work had a negative indirect effect on work-nonwork balance satisfaction. Conclusions The use of multilevel SEM techniques to evaluate the association of clinical factors with work-nonwork balance demonstrated that involuntary overtime work has a negative effect on work-nonwork balance and voluntary overtime work had a positive direct effect but a negative indirect effect.