Table 3.
Overview of identified models on recovery after work and health
| Study | Schedule | Model summary | Health outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meijman & Mulder [25] | Regular day work | Effort recovery model is described. Mental and physiological activation due to effort expended at work will lead to normal load reactions. These reactions are adaptations to work demands and are short-term physiological, behavioural, and subjective reactions. They are reversible through recovery. Insufficient recovery may lead to negative health effects that are structural changes and can be irreversible. | Negative health effects: Losses of function, health impairment, or illness. |
| Sluiter [46] | Regular day work | Cumulative process model of stressors, recovery, and health. When job demands exceed the person’s capacity, increased psychophysiological reactivity may lead to a cascade of increased need for recovery and fatigue, and short-term and long-term health effects. Sufficient recovery may counteract these effects. Four timeframes are given in which this may occur: microrecovery (pauses during work that last a few minutes), mesorecovery (a break of 10 min to 1 h after a task), metarecovery (the time between two working days, shifts, or working periods), and macrorecovery (begins two days after work, e.g. vacation). | Health complaints Diseases |
| Caruso [22] | Nonstandard working schedules | See Table 2 | |
| Geurts & Sonnentag [23] | Regular day work | Two supplementary models are described: | Health impairment |
| 1. Effort-recovery model: See Meijman & Mulder [25]. | |||
| 2. Allostatic load model: Physiological systems are activated under stress and effort at work. When repeated or prolonged they may lead to disturbances in homeostatis and allostasis. This in turn may lead to wear and tear of the body and brain. | |||
| Demerouti [47] | Regular day work | A model on daily recovery after work. Negative strain during work will continue into the home environment where it is influenced by home demands and home resources. The association between strain and psychological and energetic states at bedtime is moderated by the recovery potential of activities. States at awakening are influenced by sleep. | Psychological & energetic state |
| Puttonen [21] | Shift work | See Table 2 | |
| Biron [48] | Regular day work | The association between need for recovery and sickness absence is mediated by supervisor and co-worker support, and partially mediated by somatic symptoms. | Sickness absence, somatic symptoms |