ABSTRACT
This study related work intensity (hours worked per week) to indicators of psychosocial functioning and adjustment by using nationally representative samples of high school seniors, totalling over 70,000 respondents, from the classes of 1985–1989. Consistent with previous research, bivariate correlations were positive between work intensity and problem behaviors; these associations were diminished (but not eliminated) once background and educational success indicators were controlled, thus suggesting that selection factors contribute to the correlations. Work intensity appears to reduce the likelihood of getting sufficient sleep, eating breakfast, exercising, and having a satisfactory amount of leisure time. Conceptual and policy implications are discussed, including the possibility that long hours of part-time work may be both a symptom and a facilitator of psychosocial difficulties.
