Scheduling Stress

The effects of shift work and job schedule control on the family life and health of American workers are analyzed. Using data from the 1992 National Study on the Changing Workforce ( N = 2,905), this article tests whether negative family and health outcomes associated with nonstandard job schedules result from (a) problems of adjusting to the times of nonstandard shifts and/or (b) the lack of scheduling control and (c) whether schedule control mediates the effects of nonstandard shifts. Multivariate results indicate that although nonstandard shifts have few effects, lack of scheduling control has strong negative effects on six of the eight family and health outcomes. There is no evidence that control mediates the effects of schedule times, nor that these effects vary by gender or family status. Implications of these results are discussed.