Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jul 14;11(7):928.
doi: 10.3390/brainsci11070928.

Psychosocial Features of Shift Work Disorder

Annie Vallières  1   2   3 , Chantal Mérette  2   4 , Alric Pappathomas  1   2   3 , Monica Roy  1 , Célyne H Bastien  1   2
Affiliations

Psychosocial Features of Shift Work Disorder

Annie Vallières et al. Brain Sci. .

Abstract

To better understand Shift Work Disorder (SWD), this study investigates insomnia, sleepiness, and psychosocial features of night workers. The study compares night workers with or without SWD to day workers with or without insomnia. Seventy-nine night workers and 40 day workers underwent diagnostic interviews for sleep disorders and for psychopathologies. They completed questionnaires and a sleep diary for 14 days. The design was observatory upon two factors: Work schedule (night, day work) and sleep (good sleep, SWD/insomnia). Two-way ANCOVAs were conducted on psychosocial variables, and effect size were calculated. The clinical approach chosen led to distinct groups of workers. Night workers slept several periods (main sleep period after work, naps, nights on days off). High total wake time and low total sleep time characterized sleep in SWD. Most night workers with SWD still complained of sleepiness after main sleep. Cognitive activation distinguished groups of night workers. All other differences in psychosocial variables between night workers groups were similar to, but smaller than, the ones between day workers. The evaluation of SWD should consider all sleep periods of night workers with particular attention to self-reported total wake time, state sleepiness, and level of cognitive activation.

Keywords: insomnia; night work; psychosocial variables; shift work disorder; sleepiness.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Annie Vallières has a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR: #110254) and from the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC: # 125553) that are not related to the present study. Chantal Mérette has a grant from the CIHR (#341667), but it is not related to the present study. Alric Pappathomas declare no conflict of interest. Célyne H. Bastien has a grant from the SSHRC (#119558) and from the Centre thématique de recherche en neurosciences, but they are not related to the present study. Monica Roy has financial and business interests with her company named Recherche EPE Inc., Lévis, QC, Canada. She started her company after she left the research coordination for this paper, and therefore, it is not related to the present study. Monica Roy is now at the Recherche EPE Inc., Lévis, QC, Canada.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Distribution of night workers with SWD that includes insomnia symptoms (n = 38) across each of sleep period. Note. The size of circles has no meaning.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distribution of night workers with SWD that includes sleepiness symptoms (n = 19) across four times. Note. The size of circles has no meaning.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Williams C. Statistics Canada—Catalogue No. 75-001-X. Statistics Canada; Ottawa, ON, Canada: 2008. Work-life balance of shift-workers; pp. 5–16.
    1. American Academy of Sleep Medicine . The International Classification of Sleep Disorders III. 2nd ed. American Academy of Sleep Medicine; Westchester, IL, USA: 2014.
    1. American Psychiatric Association, editor. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 5th ed. American Psychiatric Association; Washington, DC, USA: 2013.
    1. Pallesen S., Bjorvatn B., Waage S., Harris A., Sagoe D. Prevalence of shift work disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Front. Psychol. 2021;12 doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.638252. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bandelow B., Michaelis S. Epidemiology of anxiety disorders in the 21st century. Dialogues Clin. Neurosci. 2015;17:327–335. doi: 10.31887/DCNS.2015.17.3/bbandelow. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources