Diana Pereira

Short-term Effects of Social Exclusion at Work and Worries on Sleep

The present study investigated short-term effects of daily social exclusion at work on various indicators of sleep quality and tested the mediating role of work-related worries using a time-based diary study with ambulatory assessments of sleep quality. Ninety full-time employees participated in a 2-week data collection. Multilevel analyses revealed that daily workplace social exclusion and work-related worries were positively related to sleep fragmentation in the following night. Daily social exclusion, however, was unrelated to sleep onset latency, sleep efficiency and self-reported sleep quality. Moreover, worries did not mediate the effect of social exclusion at work on sleep fragmentation. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.

Social Stressors at Work, Sleep Quality and Psychosomatic Health Complaints — A Longitudinal Ambulatory Field Study

There is increasing evidence that occupational stress increases psychosomatic health complaints in the long run. However, the underlying mechanisms are still unclear. The present longitudinal actigraphy field study investigated the role of sleep quality--objectively assessed sleep-onset latency, sleep efficiency and sleep fragmentation, and subjectively assessed sleep quality--as a mediator in the relationship between stressful work conditions at time 1 and psychosomatic health complaints at time 2. A longitudinal hierarchical regression analysis revealed that social stressors at work were positively related to objectively assessed sleep fragmentation and to psychosomatic health complaints. Moreover, objectively assessed sleep fragmentation mediated the effect of social stressors at work on psychosomatic health complaints. Contrary to our expectations, social stressors at work were not related to other sleep quality parameters (i.e. sleep-onset latency, sleep efficiency and subjectively assessed sleep quality) during follow-up. Sleep fragmentation is discussed as an important consequence of social stressors at work that increase the risk of psychosomatic health complaints in the long run.

Illegitimate tasks and sleep quality: an ambulatory study.

The current study investigated the short-term effect of illegitimate tasks on sleep quality, assessed by actigraphy. Seventy-six employees of different service jobs participated in a 2-week data collection. Data were analysed by way of multilevel analyses. As predicted, illegitimate tasks were positively related to sleep fragmentation and sleep-onset latency, but not to sleep efficiency and not to sleep duration. Time pressure, social stressors at work and at home, and the value of the dependent variable from the previous day were controlled. Results confirm the predictive power of illegitimate tasks for a variable that can be considered crucial in the development of long-term outcomes of daily experiences.

Social stressors at work and sleep during weekends: the mediating role of psychological detachment.

Social stressors at work may result in long-term health impairments if recovery is insufficient. In the present psychophysiological field study, we tested whether the inability to psychologically detach from work issues mediates the negative effect of social stressors at work on sleep during weekends. Sixty full-time employees participated in the study. Daily assessment included diaries on psychological detachment and continuous ambulatory actigraphy to assess psychophysiological indicators of sleep. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that enduring social stressors at work were negatively related with psychological detachment on Sunday evening and negatively related with various sleep indicators on Sunday night. Furthermore, psychological detachment from work on Sunday evening partially mediated the effect of social stressors at work on two sleep indicators. Social stressors at work may threaten recovery processes just before the working week starts.

Workflow interruptions, social stressors from supervisor(s) and attention failure in surgery personnel

Workflow interruptions and social stressors among surgery personnel may cause attention failure at work that may increase rumination about work issues during leisure time. The test of these assumptions should contribute to the understanding of exhaustion in surgery personnel and patient safety. Workflow interruptions and supervisor-related social stressors were tested to predict attention failure that predicts work-related rumination during leisure time. One hundred ninety-four theatre nurses, anaesthetists and surgeons from a Swiss University hospital participated in a cross-sectional survey. The participation rate was 58%. Structural equation modelling confirmed both indirect paths from workflow interruptions and social stressors via attention failure on rumination (both p<0.05). An alternative model, assuming the reversed indirect causation—from attention failure via workflow interruptions and social stressors on rumination—could not be empirically supported. Workflow interruptions and social stressors at work are likely to trigger attention failure in surgery personnel. Work redesign and team intervention could help surgery personnel to maintain a high level of quality and patient safety and detach from work related issues to recover during leisure time.

Daily impaired detachment and short-term effects of impaired sleep quality on next-day commuting near-accidents – an ambulatory diary study

Abstract This study investigated the short-term effects of daily recovery, that is, impaired psychological detachment from work and various actigraphical indicators of sleep quality, on near-accidents when commuting to work the next morning. Furthermore, the mediating effect of actigraphically assessed sleep quality on the relationship between impaired psychological detachment from work and near-accidents when commuting to work was analysed. Fifty-six full-time employees of a Swiss assurance company participated in the one-week study. Multilevel analyses revealed that impaired detachment was highly related to a decrease in sleep duration. Furthermore, impaired daily recovery processes, such as impaired psychological detachment from work and disturbed sleep quality, were related to commuting near-accidents. Impaired sleep quality mediated the effect of impaired psychological detachment from work on these near-accidents. Our results show that occupational safety interventions should address both impaired psychological detachment from work and sleep quality in order to prevent near accidents when commuting to work. Practitioner Summary: Commuting accidents occur frequently and have detrimental effects on employees, organisations and society. This study shows that daily lack of recovery, that is, impaired psychological detachment and impaired sleep quality, is related to near-accidents when commuting to work the next morning. Primary prevention of commuting accidents should therefore address daily lack of recovery.

Teacher's sleep quality: linked to social job characteristics?

Besides dealing with high workload, being a teacher is challenging with respect to the social context. There is increasing evidence that adverse social job characteristics challenge sleep quality. The current study tests whether restraint sleep quality (defined as worse sleep quality before than during vacation) is related to time-related job stressors, job resources, and social job characteristics. Forty-eight elementary school teachers (42% women) participated both during the last week before and the first week after vacation. Before vacation, teachers were asked for demographics and working conditions with reference to the last 30 d, and sleep quality with reference to the last 7 d. After vacation sleep quality during vacation was assessed and used as reference for working time sleep quality. Results showed mean levels of sleep quality increased during vacation. In teachers with restrained working time sleep quality (38%), experiences of failure at work, social exclusion, and emotional dissonance were more frequent than in teachers with unrestrained working time sleep quality (Ps<0.05). Groups did not differ in time-related stressors, time control and social support from supervisors. Emotion work, social exclusion and individual experience of failure seem to challenge sleep quality in teachers.

Social Stressors at Work, Sleep, and Recovery

Many employees in service work are required to work on Saturdays, recovering during work-free Sundays and working again Mondays. We examined the effects of social stressors at work on recovery status at Sunday noon and Monday noon, and investigated if sleep quality mediates the negative effects of social stressors at work on recovery. From Saturday until Monday morning, 41 participants wore actigraphs to measure sleep duration and sleep fragmentation. Social stressors at work were assessed by self-reported questionnaires administered on Saturday. Recovery status was reported Sunday noon and Monday noon. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that social stressors at work were negatively related to recovery status on Sunday and on Monday. Supporting our assumptions, more social stressors at work predicted higher sleep fragmentation in the night to Monday. A mediation effect of sleep quality, however, was not found. Theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.

Assessing Perceptions of Teamwork Quality Among Perioperative Team Members

Successful surgery depends on collaboration and mutual trust among interdisciplinary team members. We compared teamwork quality as perceived by surgeons, anesthesia care providers, and perioperative nurses using two surveys in the same hospital. The general survey sent to the homes of the OR personnel revealed teamwork climate scores in the medium to high range. Attending surgeons were significantly more satisfied than perioperative nurses and resident surgeons; anesthesiologists were significantly more satisfied than perioperative nurses. A second single-item survey administered immediately after elective open abdominal surgical procedures also showed relatively high satisfaction with teamwork. Results of the second survey, however, showed that attending surgeons were significantly less satisfied than the members of all the other professions, and perioperative nurses were significantly more satisfied than the members of all the other professions. We conclude that general surveys about teamwork quality among members of surgical teams may not necessarily reflect teamwork quality during actual surgical procedures.