Association between grit and sick leave days. Findings based on the general adult German population

Abstract Aim We aimed to investigate the association between grit and the number of sick leave days (also stratified by gender). Less grit might be associated with more sick days due to lower work diligence during mild illness. Methods Data were taken from a quota-based sample (nationally representative in terms of gender, age group, and federal state). We focused on part- and full-time employees aged 18 to 65 years ( n = 3065 individuals). Grit was quantified using the validated German version of the Short Grit Scale. Sick leave days in the prior 12 months served as the outcome measure. Negative binomial regressions were used. Results Adjusting for several sociodemographic, lifestyle-related, and health-related covariates, regressions showed that grit level was not significantly associated with the number of sick leave days among the total sample (IRR .95, 95% CI .86 to 1.06). Stratified by gender, higher grit levels were significantly associated with a lower number of sick leave days among women (IRR .86, 95% CI .75 to .98), but not men (IRR 1.03, 95% CI .88 to 1.21). The interaction term (grit x gender) showed that the association differed significantly between women and men. Conclusion Even after adjusting for various covariates, our study still showed an association between grit and sick leave days among women. Further research is needed to elucidate the underlying mechanisms.