Is a change in work motivation related to a change in mental well-being? Christina Björklund ⁎, Irene Jensen, Malin Lohela-Karlsson Karolinska Institutet, Institute of Environmental Medicine, SE-17177 Stockholm, Sweden article info abstract Article history: Received 14 May 2013 Available online 14 September 2013 The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of changes on work motivation and the effect of the changes on future mental well-being. This prospective study comprised 577 employees who were followed up 18 months after a comprehensive baseline measurement. The response rate was 81% for the baseline and 72% for the follow-up. The results show that both negative and positive changes in work motivation over time (18 months) were related to exhaustion. A similar correlation was found between negative changes in work motivation and depression. The results show that employees with a decreased level of work motivation had a higher risk of experiencing more exhaustion and depression in the future. Thus, investing in activities to promote work motivation may be an effective means of preventing long-term sick leave for stress-related mental illness and of providing energy for successful career advancement. © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Work motivation Mental health Mental well-being changes over time 1. Introduction Work motivation has been a topic of research for decades and is still vigorously pursued (Kanfer, Chen, & Pritchard, 2008; Latham, 2007; Latham & Pinder, 2005; Richer, Blanchard, & Vallerand, 2002) due to its association primarily with employee work performance (Riketta, 2008), withdrawal behavior such as absenteeism (Sagie, 1998) and well-being (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Having highly motivated and healthy employees is important from a company perspective both in the short and in the long run. It has been shown that highly motivated employees can significantly increase an organization's productivity, whereas low levels of motivation are associated with impairment in workers' health and increased costs for the organization (Brief & Weiss, 2002; Harter, Schmidt, & Hayes, 2002; Salanova, Agut, & Peiro, 2005). 1.1. Mental well-being Mental health is a growing health problem in the world. WHO predicts that depression will become one of the most common diseases in the world in the coming decade (WHO, 2001). Stress-related illnesses are the second most reported work-related health problem, affecting 22% of workers from the EU (in 2005). In 2002, the annual economic cost of work-related stress in the EU was estimated to be EUR 20 billion (OSHA, 2011). A consequence of long-term stress is an increased risk of burnout (Åsberg, Wahlberg, Wiklander, & Nygren, 2010). Whereas depression is characterized by symptoms such as depressed mood, inability to derive pleasure, weight loss or gain and fatigue or loss of energy, the symptoms of burnout are mental and emotional exhaustion (which refers to feelings of being “empty” or “worn out”), depersonalization (which indicates a negative, cynical attitude toward one's work or the recipients of one's care) and ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: christina.bjorklund@ki.se (C. Björklund). Journal of Vocational Behavior 83 (2013) 571–580 0001-8791/$ – see front matter © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2013.09.002 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Vocational Behavior journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jvb