Summary: A study of over 1,000 employees found that sedentary jobs and nontraditional work schedules significantly increase the risk of insomnia symptoms and disrupted sleep patterns. Sedentary workers experienced a 37% rise in insomnia symptoms, while those with nontraditional schedules were 66% more likely to need “catch-up sleep,” such as weekend oversleeping or frequent naps.
These sleep health issues often persisted for a decade, affecting well-being, productivity, and overall health. Researchers emphasize the importance of job redesign to incorporate movement and consistent schedules, which could improve both sleep health and workplace outcomes.
Key Facts:
- Sedentary workers had a 37% higher risk of insomnia symptoms, including difficulty falling asleep and interrupted sleep.
- Nontraditional work schedules increased the likelihood of needing “catch-up sleep” by 66%.
- 90% of workers categorized as insomnia-like sleepers maintained poor sleep health over a decade.
Source: USF
People whose jobs are highly sedentary – an estimated 80% of the modern workforce – experience a much higher risk of insomnia symptoms, according to a new study led by University of South Florida psychologist Claire Smith.
The findings, newly published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, show that among more than 1,000 employees surveyed over a decade, sedentary work and nonstandard work times are significant threats to sleep health.
Those two factors, hastened by technological changes such as increased computer work, are linked to a 37% increase in insomnia symptoms among sedentary workers and a 66% greater risk of needing “catch-up sleep” – defined as frequent napping or sleeping in on weekends – for those who keep nontraditional work schedules.
“The way we are designing work poses serious, long-term threats to healthy sleep,” Smith said.
“Healthy sleep involves more than just getting your eight hours. It’s also falling asleep easily, sleeping through the night and having a consistent sleep schedule. Companies should be aware of the specific sleep risks of their workforce to improve detection and intervention.”
The research, based on data from the national Midlife in the United States study, identified three sleep health categories among workers over a 10-year period: good sleepers, catch-up sleepers and insomnia-like sleepers.
The study found that sedentary work is strongly linked to the insomnia sleeper category, characterized by symptoms such as difficulty falling asleep, interrupted sleep and frequent daytime tiredness.
Meanwhile, employees with nontraditional schedules, such as working night shifts, were more likely to fall into the catch-up sleeper group.
Smith said the research suggests that moving your body during the workday and limiting after-hours work may not just help you sleep well that night but protect against ongoing sleep problems a decade later.
The study also shows that workers who fall into a pattern of poor sleep due to their job design, such as long hours of sedentary work or erratic schedules, may end up stuck in such unhealthy patterns for years. For example, 90% of insomnia-like sleepers saw their symptoms persist 10 years later.
“This is particularly important for both employers and employees, since research shows that poor sleep health is known to impact productivity, well-being and overall health,” said Smith, who led the project in collaboration with an interdisciplinary team of experts in psychology, psychiatry, aging and medicine.
She added that the findings suggest redesigning jobs with sleep health in mind could be key to improving worker well-being and underscore the need for workplace interventions that consider sleep health as a dynamic, multifaceted issue, rather than a one-size-fits-all problem.
Funding: The study was supported by grants from the National Institute on Aging and included researchers from Penn State University, University of Pittsburgh, Arizona State University and St. Anne’s University (Czech Republic).
About this sleep research news
Author: John Dudley
Source: USF
Contact: John Dudley – USF
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Closed access.
“Designing work for healthy sleep: A multidimensional, latent transition approach to employee sleep health” by Claire Smith et al. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology
Abstract
Designing work for healthy sleep: A multidimensional, latent transition approach to employee sleep health
Healthy sleep is essential to employee well-being and productivity, but many modern workers do not obtain adequate sleep. Are technology-related changes to job design (i.e., computer use, sedentary work, nontraditional work schedules) related to long-term worsening of employee sleep health?
The present study seeks to address this question using nationally representative data from the Midlife in the United States study, which includes detailed information on sleep duration, regularity, sleep onset latency, insomnia symptoms, napping, and daytime tiredness from full-time workers (N = 1,297) at two time points separated by approximately 10 years.
Using latent transition analysis to consider how these sleep health dimensions co-occur, we identify three multidimensional sleep health phenotypes at both time points: good sleepers, catch-up sleepers, and insomnia sleepers.
Sedentary work is linked to the insomnia sleeper phenotype. Nontraditional work schedules are linked to the catch-up sleeper phenotype.
These findings test assumptions of modern models of job design regarding the impact of technology on employee sleep health and advance measurement of sleep health in the organizational sciences to be multidimensional and dynamic.
Further, results point to specific sleep needs in the working adult population and identify potential points of intervention via job design.
