A new study suggests that commuting time is linked to depression.

A research team, led by Dr. Lee Dong-wook, a professor in the Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Inha University Hospital, said Tuesday they have found that people who spend more than 60 minutes commuting to and from work each day are 1.16 times more likely to suffer from depression than those who spend less than 30 minutes.

The research team analyzed 23,415 workers aged 20 to 59 using the 2017 Fifth Working Environment Survey and examined various factors, such as gender, age, education level, income, region, marital status, presence of children, occupation, weekly work hours, and shift work.

The results showed that people who spent more than 60 minutes commuting to and from work each day were 1.16 times more likely to have depressive symptoms than those who spent less than 30 minutes. According to the researchers, commuting can cause psychological and physical stress and take time away from their day, which can harm their health.

"With less time to spare, people could be short of time to relieve stress and combat physical fatigue through sleep, hobbies, and other activities," the researchers said. "They also have less time to invest in healthy lifestyle habits, including exercise, which may contribute to depression."

Gender differences were also found in the personal characteristics that predispose to depression symptoms. Men were more likely to have depressive symptoms if they were single, had no children, or worked long hours. Women, on the other hand, were more prone to have depressive symptoms if they had multiple children (two or more) and did shift work.

The researchers attributed this to the fact that women are the primary caregivers in Korea, which limits the amount of time they have available for health-enhancing activities.

"There are studies that show that long commutes can have a positive impact on health. In the Korean context, however, we found that longer commutes can hurt mental health," Professor Lee said. "This suggests that efforts to reduce commuting time are needed to help people balance work and family."

The study, “Association between commuting time and depressive symptoms in Fifth Korean Working Conditions Survey,” was recently published in the Journal of Transport and Health.