Working alone and depressive mood among Korean employees: a cross-sectional study
4 affiliations
- 1Department of Emergency Medicine, Chung-Ang University Gwangmyeong Hospital, 110 Deokan-ro, Gwangmyeong-si, Gyeonggi-do 14353 Republic of Korea
- 2Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, Chung-Ang University, 84 Heukseok-ro Dongjak-gu, Seoul, 06974 Republic of Korea
- 3Health Examination Department, Seoul Regional Headquarters, Korea Industrial Health Association, 56, Digital-ro 9-gil, Geumcheon-gu, Seoul, 08512 Republic of Korea
- 4Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Chung-Ang University, 84 Heukseok-ro Dongjak-gu, Seoul, 06974 Republic of Korea
Abstract
Background: Understanding the effects of working alone on workers’ mental health may help improve employee well-being; however, research on this topic remains limited. This study investigated the association between working alone and depressive mood among employees in the Republic of Korea.
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis using data from the seventh Korean Working Conditions Survey (KWCS). The propensity score-matched sample included 837 employees working alone and 4,185 who were not working alone and were matched at a 1:5 ratio. Univariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify risk factors for depressive mood. Finally, multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the association between working alone and depressive mood after adjusting for sociodemographic, psychosocial, health-related, and workplace characteristics.
Results: Employees working alone had a higher prevalence of depressive mood than those who were not working alone. In the univariate logistic regression analysis, the odds ratio for the association between working alone and depressive mood was 1.83 (95% CI: 1.57–2.13). In the multivariate analysis, this association remained statistically significant (OR = 1.65, 95% CI: 1.10–2.49).
Conclusions: This study found that working alone was significantly associated with depressive mood among Korean employees. These findings suggest that working alone should be considered an important workplace factor in efforts to promote workers’ mental health.
Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-026-05250-6.
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BibTeX
@article{hong2026working,
title = {{Working alone and depressive mood among Korean employees: a cross-sectional study}},
author = {Ki-Hun Hong and Dong Hoon Lee and Jung-Duck Park and Byung-Sun Choi},
journal = {BMC Psychology},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1186/s40359-026-05250-6},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-026-05250-6},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Working alone and depressive mood among Korean employees: a cross-sectional study
AU - Ki-Hun Hong
AU - Dong Hoon Lee
AU - Jung-Duck Park
AU - Byung-Sun Choi
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/31
JO - BMC Psychology
DO - 10.1186/s40359-026-05250-6
UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-026-05250-6
AB - Background: Understanding the effects of working alone on workers’ mental health may help improve employee well-being; however, research on this topic remains limited. This study investigated the association between working alone and depressive mood among employees in the Republic of Korea. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis using data from the seventh Korean Working Conditions Survey (KWCS). The propensity score-matched sample included 837 employees working alone and 4,185 who were not working alone and were matched at a 1:5 ratio. Univariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify risk factors for depressive mood. Finally, multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the association between working alone and depressive mood after adjusting for sociodemographic, psychosocial, health-related, and workplace characteristics. Results: Employees working alone had a higher prevalence of depressive mood than those who were not working alone. In the univariate logistic regression analysis, the odds ratio for the association between working alone and depressive mood was 1.83 (95% CI: 1.57–2.13). In the multivariate analysis, this association remained statistically significant (OR = 1.65, 95% CI: 1.10–2.49). Conclusions: This study found that working alone was significantly associated with depressive mood among Korean employees. These findings suggest that working alone should be considered an important workplace factor in efforts to promote workers’ mental health. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-026-05250-6.
SN - 2050-7283
ER -