Tech effect: Using mobiles at home for official work has a negative impact on you

NEW YORK: Scientists have found that using a mobile device at home for work purposes has negative implications for the employee's work life and also their spouse.

For the study published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 344 married couples were surveyed. All participants worked fulltime and used mobile devices or tablets at home for work purposes.

"There is plenty of research on technology and how it affects employees," Wayne Crawford said, from the University of Texas in the US.

"We wanted to see if this technology use carried over to affect the spouse negatively at work," Crawford said.

The couples' survey results showed that use of a mobile device during family time resulted in lower job satisfaction and lower job performance.

"It is really no surprise that conflict was created when a spouse is using a mobile device at home," Crawford said.

"They are sometimes engaging in work activities during family time. What that ultimately leads to, though, is trouble at work for both spouses," Crawford added.