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Is Workaholism a Predictor of Psychiatric Disorders?
People who exhibit traits of workaholism tend to have more symptoms of some psychiatric disorders, according to a large-scale study published in PLOS One.
The study, which spanned 16,426 working adults, found that 32.7% of those meeting criteria for workaholism also met the criteria for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), compared with 12.7% of workers who were not workaholics.
The study also found that among workaholics: 33.8% met criteria for anxiety, compared with 11.9% of nonworkaholics; 25.6% met criteria for obsessive compulsive disorder, compared with 8.7% of nonworkaholics; and 8.9% met criteria for depression, compared with 2.6% of nonworkaholics.
“Thus, taking work to the extreme may be a sign of deeper psychological or emotional issues,” said researcher Cecilie Schou Andreassen, PhD, clinical psychologist specialist at the University of Bergen in Norway and visiting scholar at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. “Whether this reflects overlapping genetic vulnerabilities, disorders leading to workaholism or, conversely, workaholism causing such disorders, remain uncertain.”
Researchers came to their findings after evaluating participants’ responses to the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale, the Obsession-Compulsive Inventory-Revised, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the Bergen Work Addiction Scale, along with additional demographic and work-related data.
The Bergen Work Addiction Scale identifies participants who answer “often” or “always” to 4 or more of the following criteria as having workaholism:
- You think of how you can free up more time to work.
- You spend much more time working than initially intended.
- You work in order to reduce feelings of guilt, anxiety, helplessness, or depression.
- You have been told by others to cut down on work without listening to them.
- You become stressed if you are prohibited from working.
- You deprioritize hobbies, leisure activities, and/or exercise because of your work.
- You work so much that it has negatively influenced your health.
In all, 7.8% of workers in the study qualified as workaholics.
“In wait for more research, physicians should not take for granted that a seemingly successful workaholic does not have ADHD-related or other clinical features,” Dr. Schou Andreassen said. “Their considerations affect both the identification and treatment of these disorders.”
– Jolynn Tumolo
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