Workers with greater boundary control over their work and personal lives were better at creating a stress buffer to prevent them from falling into a negative rumination trap, says a new study by experts who study occupational stress and employee well-being.

But according to research co-written by a team of researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who study occupational stress and employee well-being, those who have greater «boundary control» over their work and personal lives were better at creating a stress buffer that helped protect them from falling into a negative-rumination trap.

Information communication technologies such as smartphones and tablets enable employees to work anywhere and anytime, thereby blurring work and nonwork boundaries. But that convenience comes at the expense of increased stress and mental health woes for workers unless they have control over the boundaries between work and nonwork life, said YoungAh Park, a professor of labor and employment relations at Illinois.

«Most people simply can’t work without a smartphone, tablet or laptop computer,» she said. «These technologies are so ubiquitous and convenient that it can lead some people to think that employees have to be always on or always available. Clearly, this kind of after-hours intrusion into the home or personal life domain is unhealthy, and our research shows that an always-on mentality has a big downside in the form of increased job stress.»

In the study, Park and co-authors surveyed more than 500 full-time public school teachers in grades K-6 to measure their off-the-clock work intrusion via technologies on a weekly basis for five consecutive weeks.

«We asked about their weekly work intrusion involving technology, specifically their after-hours work — whether they were expected to respond to work-related messages and emails immediately, and whether they were contacted about work-related issues after hours,» she said.

Story Source:
Materials provided by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, News Bureau. Original written by Phil Ciciora. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.