Objectives: The current study aimed to investigate the health implications of negative work-to-family spillover on cardiovascular risk biomarkers.
Methods: In a large-scale cross-sectional dataset of working or self-employed midlife and older adults in the United States (N = 1179), we examined five biomarkers linked to cardiovascular risk, including high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglyceride, interleukin-6, and C-reactive protein. Negative work-to-family spillover, measured using a four-item self-reported questionnaire, was included into our model to study its association with these cardiovascular risk biomarkers.
Results: Our findings indicate a significant association between negative work-to-family spillover and cardiovascular risk biomarkers – higher triglycerides (β = 0.108, p < .001), interleukin-6 (β = 0.065, p = .026), and C-reactive protein (β = 0.067, p = .022), and lower HDL cholesterol (β = − 0.104, p < .001). The associations on triglycerides (β = 0.094, p = .001) and HDL cholesterol (β = − 0.098, p < .001) remained significant even after controlling numerous control variables of demographics, medication, health-status, and health-related behaviors. The findings were also consistent against slight variations in the analytic method and adjustment for multiple comparisons.
Conclusions: The current study supports the premise that spillover of work-related tensions into family life is associated with objective physiological changes that contribute to cardiovascular risk.
Keywords: Negative work-to-family spillover, Work-life balance, Cardiovascular risk, Cholesterol, Interleukin-6, C-reactive protein