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Cited by 263Workplace Health and Well-beingMental Health Treatment and AccessTreatment of Major Depression

Effects of Major Depression on Moment-in-Time Work Performance

Wang, Philip S., Beck, Arne L., Berglund, Pat, McKenas, David K., Pronk, Nicolaas P., Simon, Gregory E., Kessler, Ronald C.·2004·American Journal of Psychiatry
DOI 10.1176/ajp.161.10.1885
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Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Although major depression is thought to have substantial negative effects on work performance, the possibility of recall bias limits self-report studies of these effects. The authors used the experience sampling method to address this problem by collecting comparative data on moment-in-time work performance among service workers who were depressed and those who were not depressed. METHOD: The group studied included 105 airline reservation agents and 181 telephone customer service representatives selected from a larger baseline sample; depressed workers were deliberately oversampled. Respondents were given pagers and experience sampling method diaries for each day of the study. A computerized autodialer paged respondents at random time points. When paged, respondents reported on their work performance in the diary. Moment-in-time work performance was assessed at five random times each day over a 7-day data collection period (35 data points for each respondent). RESULTS: Seven conditions (allergies, arthritis, back pain, headaches, high blood pressure, asthma, and major depression) occurred often enough in this group of respondents to be studied. Major depression was the only condition significantly related to decrements in both of the dimensions of work performance assessed in the diaries: task focus and productivity. These effects were equivalent to approximately 2.3 days absent because of sickness per depressed worker per month of being depressed. CONCLUSIONS: Previous studies based on days missed from work significantly underestimate the adverse economic effects associated with depression. Productivity losses related to depression appear to exceed the costs of effective treatment.

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  • Current evidence supports a putative mediational role of cognitive dysfunction in psychosocial functioning, notably workforce productivity.

    “Current evidence supports a putative mediational role of cognitive dysfunction in psychosocial functioning, notably workforce productivity [45, 46].”

    From Cognitive remission: a novel objective for the treatment of major depression? (2016) · cites this paper as [46]

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Authors
Wang, P. S., Beck, A. L., Berglund, P., McKenas, D. K., Pronk, N. P., Simon, G. E., & Kessler, R. C.
Affiliations
Harvard University (US)
ORCID
Venue
American Journal of Psychiatry
Publisher
American Psychiatric Association Publishing
Published
2004-10-01
Volume
161
Issue
10
Pages
1885-1891
ISSN
  • 0002-953X (ISSN-L)
  • 1535-7228
DOI
10.1176/ajp.161.10.1885
OpenAlex
W2006411865
Cited by
263
References
40
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 17 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 16
FWCI
41.93
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • American Journal of Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (2k05mh000507-13, 5k01mh001651-04)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (K05 MH 00507, K01 MH01651, R01MH061941, R01 MH61941)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Workplace Health and Well-being
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Treatment of Major Depression
Keywords
major depressive disorder, employee performance, service employees, customer service employees, recall bias, productivity loss, sick leave, task focus
MeSH terms
Absenteeism, Adult, Attention, Circadian Rhythm, Depressive Disorder, Efficiency, Female, Health Status, Humans, Interviews as Topic, Male, Medical Records, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Surveys and Questionnaires, Sampling Studies, Task Performance and Analysis, Work, Linear Models, Cost of Illness

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