Association between Workaholism and Sleep Problems among Hospital Nurses

Abstract

The present study examined the association between workaholism, the tendency to work excessively hard in a compulsive fashion, and sleep problems among Japanese nurses. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 600 nurses from 2 university hospitals in Japan using a self-reported questionnaire on workaholism, sleep, job-related variables (i.e., job demands, job control, and worksite support), and demographic variables. A total of 394 nurses returned the questionnaire (response rate=65.7%) and complete data from 312 female nurses were used for analyses (final coverage rate=52.0%). Workaholics, as measured using the Japanese version of the Dutch Workaholism Scale, were defined as those having high scores on both the "work excessively" and "work compulsively" subscales. Logistic regression analyses revealed that workaholics had higher risks for sleep problems in terms of subjective sleep insufficiency, excessive daytime sleepiness at work, difficulty awakening in the morning, and feeling tired when waking up in the morning (odds ratios [OR] of 4.40, 3.18, 3.48, and 4.61, respectively, p<0.05). These remained significant even after adjusting for demographic and job-related variables (OR 3.41, 5.36, 2.56, and 2.77, respectively). However, no significant associations were found between workaholism and insomnia symptoms. These results suggest that workaholic nurses had higher risks for impaired awakening, insufficient sleep, and workplace sleepiness.

Workaholism: An overview and current status of the research

“…In one study, persons with the highest scores on workaholism were more likely than workers with low scores to report sleep problems, tiredness at work, and difficulties waking up in addition to fatigue in the mornings (Kubota et al, 2010). In the other study, Andreassen et al (2011) found that high obsessive work drive was associated with insomnia.…”

Workaholism: A Review

“…Workaholism, then, as a “negative addiction”, involves (a) excessive time spent working and, importantly, (b) difficulty disengaging from work, way beyond the call of the job, which often elicits negative emotions during and after a work episode; (c) frustration and agitation when prevented from working (e.g., when with family); (d) association with an inflexible or compulsive working style, leading potentially to poor relationships with others at work and at home [5,37–40], though both enthusiastic workaholics and non-enthusiastic workaholics experience relatively high work-family conflict [41]; and (e) negative life outcomes including high perceived stress, low self-esteem, low life satisfaction, difficulties sleeping [24,42–45], career dissatisfaction and poor performance [25,46], delay of planned retirement [47], work “burnout” [26,48–52] and ill-health [11,14,21,47,53–56]. …”

Gaining the insight of workaholism, its nature and its outcome: A literature review

“…As a result they become emotionally or cognitively exhausted over time (Taris, Schaufeli, & Verhoeven, 2005b). There are evidences that workaholic people suffer in diminished sleep quality (Kubota, Shimazu, Kawakami, Takahashi, Nakata, & Schaufeli, 2010), and worse psychological health (e.g., Burke, 2000;). …”