Personality Traits and Insomnia Symptoms in Shift Workers

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Sleep Medicine
• Psychology

Background:

• Shift work disrupts natural circadian rhythms, leading to sleep loss and adverse health outcomes.
• Irregular shift schedules, characterized by frequent changes, pose particular risks for sleep disturbances and insomnia.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare insomnia symptoms across non-shift, regular shift, and irregular shift workers.
• To investigate the moderating roles of Big Five personality traits and perfectionism on the relationship between shift work and sleep.

Main Methods:

• Online survey administered to 305 employees of an Austrian railway company.
• Assessment of shift schedules, sleep parameters (quality, duration, latency, awakenings), daytime sleepiness, personality traits, and perfectionism.
• Statistical comparison of sleep outcomes among non-shift, regular shift, and irregular shift workers.

Main Results:

• Irregular shift workers reported significantly poorer sleep outcomes (time in bed, total sleep time, sleep efficiency, duration, quality, latency, awakenings) compared to other groups.
• Despite worse scores, irregular shift workers' sleep parameters remained within the average range, not indicating clinical insomnia.
• Regular shift workers exhibited the best sleep quality and longest duration, potentially linked to higher conscientiousness and lower neuroticism.
• Agreeableness and perfectionism influenced the impact of work schedules on sleep duration and medication use.

Conclusions:

• Irregular shift work negatively impacts various sleep parameters, though not typically to a clinical level.
• Personality traits, including conscientiousness, neuroticism, agreeableness, and perfectionism, play a moderating role in shift workers' sleep experiences.
• Findings suggest potential avenues for targeted interventions for shift workers based on personality profiles.