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How job demands affect absenteeism? The mediating role of work–family conflict and exhaustion

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Abstract

Purpose

To investigate how psychosocial factors (such as job demands and work–family conflict) produce absenteeism in the workplace, using the health impairment process of the job demands–resources model. According to this model, job demands lead to burnout (often measured with the emotional exhaustion component), which in turn could lead to outcomes (such as absenteeism). Work–family conflict (WFC) was also studied, because of contradictory results collected in the existing literature on absenteeism in the workplace, regarding the role of WFC in causing absenteeism.

Methods

Data were collected on 245 workers using both subjective (questionnaire on psychological risk factors and work-related health) and objective data (sickness leave frequency records). To test the hypothesis that job demands and WFC contribute to absenteeism in the workplace, a subsequent mediation analysis was used, which analysed both (a) the subsequent mediation of WFC and emotional exhaustion and (b) the separate roles played by the mediators proposed (WFC and emotional exhaustion).

Results

Job demands affect absenteeism through the subsequent mediation of WFC and emotional exhaustion. In addition, emotional exhaustion mediates the relationship between job demands and absenteeism, while WFC does not.

Conclusion

In conclusion, subsequent mediation highlights the role of emotional exhaustion in causing absenteeism; in fact, when emotional exhaustion is included in the analysis, job demands are associated with higher levels of absenteeism. The results of this study suggest that without the concurrent contribution of emotional exhaustion, WFC does not influence absenteeism in the workplace. Our findings are useful for organizations that aim to reduce absenteeism.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna, Viale Berti Pichat 5, 40127, Bologna, Italy

    Michela Vignoli

  2. Department of Education, Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna, Via Filippo Re 6, 40126, Bologna, Italy

    Dina Guglielmi

  3. Occupational Health Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna, Via Pelagio Palagi 9, 40138, Bologna, Italy

    Roberta Bonfiglioli & Francesco Saverio Violante

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  1. Michela Vignoli
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  2. Dina Guglielmi
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  4. Francesco Saverio Violante
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Correspondence to Michela Vignoli.

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Vignoli, M., Guglielmi, D., Bonfiglioli, R. et al. How job demands affect absenteeism? The mediating role of work–family conflict and exhaustion. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 89, 23–31 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-015-1048-8

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