Work Overload, Job and Leisure Control, and Recovery of Students in a Dual Study Program – Generalization of the Job Demand Control Model into the Leisure Domain

This study generalizes core assumptions of the job demand control model into the leisure domain. 303 students of a dual study program were surveyed in a cross-sectional study with respect to work overload, job and leisure control, psychological detachment from work, and recovery (relaxation and sleep quality). Mediation and moderation analyses were applied to investigate hypothesized relationships. Detachment mediated the detrimental effects of work overload on recovery. Both job and leisure control were confirmed as moderators. Leisure control attenuated the relationship between work overload and sleep quality. Job control exhibited partly unexpected direction of effects. The JDCM buffer effect of leisure control could not be found within the leisure domain but could be confirmed for spillover processes between the work and the leisure domain.