Double the Trouble?: An Investigation of How Social Stressors and Time Pressure Simultaneously and Interdependently Predict Sleep Quality in Social Workers

Abstract

Purpose Social service employees often fulfill their mandate under tight time schedules, and deal with social stressors. This can result in significant health impairments. By means of one cross-sectional and two intensive longitudinal studies, the present paper aimed to understand how time pressure and social stressors might impact sleep quality. It was also tested whether social stressors amplified the negative association between time pressure and sleep impairments in social workers. Methods Study 1 was a cross-sectional questionnaire study on 52 social service employees, while study 2 included a 7-day diary study design (N = 62 social workers) with up to 138 daily measurements. Study 3 applied a 2-week diary and actigraphy assessment, involving a complete social service unit sample (N = 9). Results Concerning the moderating role of social stressors, study 1 found social stressors to amplify the effects of time pressure on sleep latency. Multilevel regression analyses of studies 2 and 3 revealed daily time pressure to be a significant predictor of sleep fragmentation the upcoming night. Study 3 further uncovered daily social stressors to positively predicted sleep fragmentation and negatively sleep duration. Study 2 again showed the amplifying interaction effect between daily social stressors and time pressure on sleep fragmentation, but study 3 did not show that interaction. Conclusion The findings show how job stressors might disturb the sleep quality of social workers also with amplifying risk. Accordingly, social work needs work design prevention efforts that consider the complex inter-play between occupational stressors, as only then recovery processes can be protected.

Workplace mistreatment and insomnia: a prospective study of child welfare workers

“…The finding that exposure to workplace mistreatment is associated with reduced well-being among those exposed is in line with previous qualitative (Lamothe et al 2018 ; Lamothe et al 2021 ), cross-sectional (Littlechild 2005 ; Littlechild et al 2016 ; Shin 2011 ) and semi-prospective (King 2021 ) studies on child welfare workers, as well as with findings on sleep among social workers in general (Eggli et al 2022 ). However, due to the prospective design in which we adjusted for baseline levels of insomnia, this study extends most previous research by providing indications about a potential causal effect of client perpetrated violence and colleague perpetrated bullying on insomnia among child welfare workers.…”

“…As discussed in the introduction, theories of effort recovery (Meijman and Mulder 1998 ) and allostatic load (McEwen 2006 ) suggest that exposure to work-related stressors will create short-term physiological and psychological reactions in employees due to the efforts needed to cope with the exposure (Eggli et al 2022 ). Usually, the psychobiological system stabilizes and acute reactions to stress are reversed after having spent time off work.…”

“…Usually, the psychobiological system stabilizes and acute reactions to stress are reversed after having spent time off work. However, particularly stressful job incidences, such as workplace mistreatment, may elongate psychophysiological load reactions and thus threaten recovery and thereby sleep (Eggli et al 2022 ). Janoff-Bulman’s ( 1992 ) trauma theory of shattered assumptions may further explain the specific impact of client perpetrated violence and colleague perpetrated bullying on the personal integrity of targets.…”

Conflict at Work Impairs Physiological Recovery during Sleep: A Daily Diary Study

“…By relying on objectively measured physiological changes during sleep, namely RMSSD and HF, as parameters of HRV, this study overcomes the methodological shortcomings of previous literature. Although previous studies provide valuable insights into the relationship between conflict at work and healthy sleep [ 17 , 18 , 39 ], they mostly rely on self-reported sleep outcomes. Therefore, it is unclear whether conflict at work may also be linked to physiological changes in early sleep.…”