Sleep disturbances, work stress and work hours
Abstract
Objective The study examined the multivariate relationship between disturbed sleep and different work-related and background/life style factors.Methods 5720 healthy employed men and women living in the greater Stockholm area participated. A factor analysis of eight items provided one main factor: "disturbed sleep." The data were analyzed using a multiple logistic regression analysis against the index disturbed sleep as well as the separate items "not well rested" and "difficulties awakening."Results The results showed that high work demands [odds ratio (OR) = 2.15] and physical effort at work (OR = 1.94) are risk indicators for disturbed sleep, while high social support is associated with reduced risk (OR = 0.44). In addition, higher age (45+), female gender, a high body mass index (BMI) and lack of exercise are background/life style risk indicators. Introducing into the model an item representing inability to stop thinking about work during free time yielded the highest OR (3.20) and forced work demands out of the regression. With regard to not feeling well rested, the same significant predictors, except physical effort, were obtained, as well as for having night work and being married. In addition, the age effect was reversed--high age predicted reduced risk of not feeling well rested. Difficulties awakening was predicted by high work demands, low social support, being male, low age and smoking. It is notable that, whereas subjective sleep quality decreased with age, the difficulties awakening and feelings of not being well rested after sleep increased with age.Conclusion It was concluded that stress and the social situation at work are strongly linked to disturbed sleep and impaired awakening, that gender and, even more so, age may modify this and that the inability to stop worrying about work during free time may be an important link in the relation between stress and sleep.
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Discrepancies between self-report and objective measures of sleep are common.
“However, discrepancies between self-report and objective measures of sleep are common [38–42] and there is a tendency for people with insomnia to overestimate how long it takes them to get to sleep and also to underestimate the total amount of time that they spend asleep, relative to objective measures [43].”
From A structural equation model of the relationship between insomnia, negative affect, and paranoid thinking (2017) · cites this paper as [38]
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- Authors
- Åkerstedt, T., Knutsson, A., Westerholm, P., Theorell, T., Alfredsson, L., & Kecklund, G.
- Affiliations
- Karolinska Institutet (SE)
- Umeå University (SE)
- Corresponding author
- Åkerstedt, T
- Venue
- Journal of Psychosomatic Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2002-09
- Volume
- 53
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 741-748
- ISSN
- 0022-3999 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W165814529
- Cited by
- 716
- References
- 37
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 29 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 46 · 2021: 37 · 2020: 44 · 2019: 31 · 2018: 35 · 2017: 34 · 2016: 38 · 2015: 41 · 2014: 49 · 2013: 26 · 2012: 34
- FWCI
- 17.66
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Psychosomatic Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and Work-Related Fatigue
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and related disorders
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Workplace Health and Well-being
- Keywords
- sleep disorders, occupational stress, job demands, social support, sleep quality, night work, gender differences, age effects, body mass index, physical inactivity, smoking
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Life Style, Male, Middle Aged, Personnel Staffing and Scheduling, Risk Factors, Sex Factors, Sleep Wake Disorders, Social Support, Stress, Psychological, Workload
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