Abstract
Research has indicated that individuals with certain traits may be better suited to shiftwork and non-standard working arrangements. However, no research has investigated how individual differences impact on-call outcomes. As such, this study investigated the impact of trait anxiety on sleep and performance outcomes on-call. Seventy male participants (20–35 years) completed an adaptation night, a control night, and two on-call nights in a laboratory. Trait anxiety was determined using the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) X-2, and participants completed the STAI X-1 prior to bed each night to assess state anxiety. Sleep was measured using polysomnography and quantitative electroencephalographic analysis. Performance was assessed using a 10-min psychomotor vigilance task (PVT) performed each day at 0930, 1200, 1430 and 1700 h. Data pooled from three separate but inter-related studies was used for these analyses. Results indicated that the effects of trait anxiety on state anxiety, sleep and performance outcomes on-call were generally limited. These findings suggest that on-call outcomes are not negatively affected by higher levels of trait anxiety.
Highlights
Shift work and non-standard working arrangements have become ubiquitous in modern workplaces, and as such have been an increasing focus of sleep and circadian research
By examining individual factors using statistical analyses that differ from previous published works, we have addressed a novel research question—whether individuals with lower trait anxiety are better suited to on-call work
This study aimed to investigate if individuals who have higher trait anxiety are more susceptible to the negative effects of being on-call, and how the on-call context may affect this relationship
Summary
Shift work and non-standard working arrangements have become ubiquitous in modern workplaces, and as such have been an increasing focus of sleep and circadian research. This growing body of research demonstrates a range of potential negative consequences of non-standard working arrangements, including shortened or disturbed sleep, poorer cognitive performance, and overall ill health [1] With this increased understanding of negative outcomes comes the opportunity to understand protective factors or individual differences that may reduce susceptibility to these adverse consequences. Higher levels of trait anxiety may be associated with greater state anxiety during on-call periods May this suggest poorer psychological outcomes, but it may result in poorer or shortened sleep, and subsequent decrements to both cognitive and work performance [22]. We anticipated that this relationship would exist under a variety of on-call conditions
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