Philip Bohle

The impact of night work on psychological well-being

This study tested the efficacy of selected personality, behavioural, and social/organizational variables as predictors of adaptation to night work. Sixty female student nurses were studied during their first 15 months of shiftwork. Twenty-two worked on rotating day and afternoon shifts throughout, while the remaining 38 began regular night shifts after six months. Psychological symptoms were measured at baseline (Stage 1), six months (Stage 2) and 15 months (Stage 3). Repeated measures analysis of variance revealed a significant shift group x symptoms interaction (p less than 0.05) between Stages 2 and 3. Only the night workers displayed a significant increase (Tukey HSD: p less than 0.01) in symptoms between Stages 1 and 3. Multiple regression analysis revealed that neuroticism and perceived work/nonwork conflict predicted symptoms at Stage 2. Night work, social support from supervisors, and morningness were predictors at Stage 3. These results suggest that organisational, behavioural, and physiological factors moderate the impact of night work on psychological well-being, and personality factors do not.

Transcultural Properties of the Composite Scale of Morningness: The Relevance of the “Morning Affect” Factor

Morningness scales have been translated into several languages, but a lack of normative data and methodological differences make cross‐cultural comparisons difficult. This study examines the psychometric properties and factor structure of the Composite Scale of Morningness (CSM) in samples from five countries: France (n=627), Italy (n=702), Spain (n=391), Thailand (n=503), and Australia (n=654). Strong national differences are identified. A quadratic relationship between age and CSM total score was apparent in the Australian data with a downward trend after age 35 yrs. There was no age effect in any sample in the range from 18 to 29 yrs. Factor analysis identified a three‐factor solution in all groups for both men and women. Tuckers congruence coefficients indicate that: (1) this solution is highly congruent between sexes in each culture, and (2) a morning affect factor is highly congruent between cultures. These results indicate there are national differences in factorial structure and that cut‐off scores used to categorize participants as morning‐ and evening‐types should be established for different cultural and age groups.

Working hours, work-life conflict and health in precarious and "permanent" employment.

OBJECTIVEnThe expansion of precarious employment in OECD countries has been widely associated with negative health and safety effects. Although many shiftworkers are precariously employed, shiftwork research has concentrated on full-time workers in continuing employment. This paper examines the impact of precarious employment on working hours, work-life conflict and health by comparing casual employees to full-time, permanent employees working in the same occupations and workplaces.nnnMETHODSnThirty-nine convergent interviews were conducted in two five-star hotels. The participants included 26 full-time and 13 casual (temporary) employees. They ranged in age from 19 to 61 years and included 17 females and 22 males. Working hours ranged from zero to 73 hours per week.nnnRESULTSnMarked differences emerged between the reports of casual and full-time employees about working hours, work-life conflict and health. Casuals were more likely to work highly irregular hours over which they had little control. Their daily and weekly working hours ranged from very long to very short according to organisational requirements. Long working hours, combined with low predictability and control, produced greater disruption to family and social lives and poorer work-life balance for casuals. Uncoordinated hours across multiple jobs exacerbated these problems in some cases. Health-related issues reported to arise from work-life conflict included sleep disturbance, fatigue and disrupted exercise and dietary regimes.nnnCONCLUSIONSnThis study identified significant disadvantages of casual employment. In the same hotels, and doing largely the same jobs, casual employees had less desirable and predictable work schedules, greater work-life conflict and more associated health complaints than permanent workers.

Extending a model of shift-work tolerance.

The present study contributes to theory and practice through the development of a model of shift‐work tolerance with the potential to indicate interventions that reduce nurses intention toward turnover and increase job satisfaction in hospital‐based settings. Survey data from 1257 nurses were used to conduct structural equation modeling that examine the direct and indirect effects of supervisor and colleague support, team identity, team climate, and control over working environment on time‐based work/life conflict, psychological well‐being, physical symptoms, job satisfaction, and turnover intention. The analysis of the proposed model revealed a good fit The chi‐square difference test was non‐significant (χ2(26)=338.56), the fit indices were high (CFI=.923, NFI=.918, and NNFI=.868), the distribution of residuals was symmetric and approached zero, the average standardized residual was low (AASR=.04), and the standardized RMR was. 072. In terms of the predictor variable, the final model explained 48% of the variance in turnover intention. The data revealed considerable evidence of both direct effects on adjustment and complex indirect links between levels of adjustment and work‐related social support, team identity, team climate, and control. Nurses with high supervisor and coworker support experienced more positive team climates, identified more strongly with their team, and increased their perceptions of control over their work environment. This in turn lowered their appraisals of their time‐based work/life conflict, which consequently increased their psychological well‐being and job satisfaction and reduced their physical health symptoms and turnover intention. The type of shift schedule worked by the nurses influenced levels of turnover intention, control over work environment, time‐based work/life conflict, and physical symptoms.

Psychometric evaluation of the early/late preferences scale.

This paper examines the psychometric quality of the Early/Late Preferences Scale (PS) relative to that of the Composite Morningness Scale (CS). Questionnaires were completed by 670 undergraduate students aged 16–37 years (mean 22.5), of whom 64% were female. Both scales displayed satisfactory inter-item correlations and similar total mean scores to those reported previously, although the CS had higher variability. Principal axis factor analysis produced single-factor solutions for both scales, although loadings for Items 7 and 9 on the PS were low. Internal consistencies for both scales were good (PS = 0.86, CS = 0.90) with only a small improvement achieved by deleting Items 7 and 9 from the PS. Test-retest reliability over 11 weeks was good for both scales (PS = 0.92, CS = 0.89). Differences between morning, evening and intermediate groups in self-rated alertness at different times of day, and significant correlations with other indices of morning-evening orientation, provided evidence of validity for both scales. These results indicate that PS is psychometrically comparable with CS. In view of its simpler format and lower cultural specificity, PS may be considered a preferable measure for most applications.

Predicting mood change on night shift

This study examined the impact of night shift on six dimensions of mood. The efficacy of a range of personality, behavioural, and social/organizational predictors of these responses was also examined. Thirty-five female student nurses were studied during their first period of night work. ANOVAs indicated that only fatigue-inertia and vigour-activity were significantly affected by night work. Multivariate profile analyses revealed that significant changes were predominantly confined to the interval between the preceding rest day (B) and the first night (N1), although vigour-activity dropped significantly between N1 and N2 and rose significantly by N5 for one group of subjects. Multiple regression analyses revealed that morningness, neuroticism, work-non-work conflict, and sleep quality between shifts predicted fatigue-inertia. Extroversion and social support from both co-workers and family predicted vigour-activity. Extroversion and social support from co-workers appeared to predict the positive affect component of vigour-activity, rather than the vigour and energy component.

Evaluating two morningness scales with item response theory

Using a student sample (n=692) and an organization sample (n=180), we scrutinized two morning–evening orientation scales using item response theory (IRT) methods. We used IRT to compare the measurement precision of the Composite Scale (CS) and the Early/Late Preferences Scale (PS). The CS had slightly higher measurement precision at all ranges of orientations, except for extreme morning and evening orientations for which the PS had slightly higher precision. IRT item-level statistics were also computed to try to understand how morning-orientation items functioned. Items that asked questions about morning activities tended to be more discriminating indicators of morning-orientation than items that asked about evening or peak performance activities. Items that involved unpleasant activities were less frequently endorsed than items that involved neutral or enjoyable activities. Implications for measurement of morning–evening orientation are discussed.

Short Trips and Long Days: Safety and Health in Short-Haul Trucking:

This paper looks at the role and influence of contingent employment among short-haul truckers, an occupational group that has been little studied to date. A 2003 survey of Australian short-haul drivers examined the predictors of health and safety outcomes for all drivers and provided comparative information on the working hours, occupational safety and health, and work-life conflict of permanent employees, temporary (casual) employees, and owner-drivers. The main predictor of both illness and injury for all drivers was work-life conflict. The results show that contingent work is characteristic of short-haul trucking in Australia, especially among owner-drivers and casual employees. Contingent-work drivers differ from other drivers on a range of organizational characteristics, but not on safety and health outcomes. Contingent employment can take different forms, each of which is associated with a somewhat different set of effects on workers.

The relationship between coping strategies and GHQ-scores in nurses

This paper discusses the development of a situation specific questionnaire for measuring coping with shiftwork. Previously, no standardized measure appears to have been developed, even though coping behaviour is considered to be an important factor in determining tolerance to shiftwork. The results from this study indicated that the present questionnaire may have some potential. Its psychometric qualities were relatively good. Coping scores were related to psychological health, measured by GHQ-12. Analysis of variance showed a main effect of only one of the subscales (disengagement strategies) on GHQ and also a reliable interaction between disengagement and engagement on GHQ-scores. Further research into the effect of coping strategies on shiftwork tolerance is suggested.

Equity, diversity and working hours: Challenges and solutions

This special issue is devoted to a refereed and edited selection of papers presented at the XVIth International nSymposium on Night and Shiftwork held in Santos, Brazil, in November 2003. The journal Chronobiology nInternational has also an issue (volume 21, n. 6, 2004) dedicated to that Symposium. Held every two years, these nsymposia are organised under the auspices of the Working Time Society and the Scientific Committee on Shiftwork nof the International Commission on Occupational Health (http://time.iguw.tuwien.ac.at/index.htm).