Data Publication for: Effort−Reward Imbalance at Work and Prescription Drug Misuse - Prospective Evidence from Germany

This study examines how work stress affects the misuse of prescription drugs to augment mental performance without medical necessity (i.e., cognitive enhancement). Based on the effort−reward imbalance model, it can be assumed that a misalignment of effort exerted and rewards received increases prescription drug misuse, especially if employees overcommit. To test these assump-tions, we conducted a prospective study using a nationwide web-based sample of the working population in Germany (N = 11,197). Effort, reward, and overcommitment were measured at t1 and the 12 month frequency of prescription drug misuse for enhancing cognitive performance was measured at a one-year follow-up (t2). The results show that 2.6% of the respondents engaged in such drug misuse, of which 22.7% reported frequent misuse. While we found no overall associa-tion between misuse frequency and effort, reward, or their imbalance, overcommitment was sig-nificantly associated with a higher misuse frequency. Moreover, at low levels of overcommitment, more effort and an effort−reward imbalance discouraged future prescription drug misuse, while higher overcommitment, more effort, and an imbalance increased it. These findings suggest that a stressful work environment is a risk factor for health-endangering behavior, and thereby under-lines the importance of identifying groups at risk of misusing drugs.

本研究旨在探讨工作压力如何影响个体在没有医疗必要性的情况下，滥用处方药物以增强精神能力的行为（即认知提升）。基于努力-奖励失衡模型，可以推断出所付出的努力与所获得的回报之间的不匹配会增加处方药物滥用，尤其是当员工过度承诺时。为了验证这些假设，我们进行了一项前瞻性研究，使用德国全国范围内的在线样本（N = 11,197）对工作人群进行研究。在t1时测量了努力、奖励和过度承诺，而在一年后的跟踪调查（t2）中测量了处方药物滥用的频率。结果显示，2.6%的受访者参与了这种药物滥用，其中22.7%的人报告了频繁的滥用。尽管我们没有发现滥用频率与努力、奖励或其失衡之间的总体关联，但过度承诺与较高的滥用频率显著相关。此外，在过度承诺程度较低的情况下，更多的努力和努力-奖励失衡会阻止未来的处方药物滥用，而在过度承诺程度较高、努力程度较大以及失衡的情况下则会增加滥用。这些发现表明，压力大的工作环境是危害健康行为的风险因素，从而强调了识别滥用药物风险群体的必要性。