Research master thesis | Psychology (research) (MSc)
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Purpose. The current study aimed to research the relation between teleworking and distress levels, depressive symptoms, workload, work functioning and need for recovery. Age and gender were further...Show morePurpose. The current study aimed to research the relation between teleworking and distress levels, depressive symptoms, workload, work functioning and need for recovery. Age and gender were further tested as moderators on these relations, and workload was tested as a mediator between telework and distress level, depressive symptoms, work functioning and need for recovery. Methods. A sample of 87 employees working at a Dutch telecom organization were included. The group of employees who exclusively worked at the office (teleworkers; N = 37) was compared to the group of employees who worked remotely some of their time (teleworkers; N = 50) on all outcomes using independent t-tests. The indicators were measured cross-sectionally. Results. There was no significant difference between teleworkers and nonteleworkers in distress level (p = .161, d = 0.33), depressive symptoms (p = .575, d = 0.12), workload (p = .886, d = 0.01), work functioning (p = .266, d = 0.24) and need for recovery (p = .964, d = 0.01). Moreover, age and gender did not have a moderating effect on any of these relations. Results showed lastly that workload was not a significant mediator between telework and all four outcomes. Conclusion. The current study suggests that there is no difference between teleworkers in distress levels, depressive symptoms, workload, work functioning and need for recovery. Also, characteristics of the employees such as gender and age do not seem to relate to relations of telework with these outcomes. Results furthermore suggest that workload does not explain the effects of telework on the included outcomes.Show less
