Sleep and occupational well-being in active duty special operations soldiers: A replication and expansion

Abstract

ObjectiveTo assess the relationship between sleep quality and occupational well-being in active duty military Service Members. DesignLongitudinal prospective analysis. SettingAn annual military training event. ParticipantsUS Army special operations Soldiers (n = 60; 100% male; age 25.41 ± 3.74). InterventionNone. MeasurementsThe Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was administered prior to the training event, and the Emotional Exhaustion Scale, the Role Overload Scale, the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research Soldier-Specific Functional Impairment Scale, and the Perceived Stress Scale were administered after the event. Linear regression models were used to assess the relationship between sleep and occupational wellness measures, and the outcome measures of “good” and “poor” sleepers (per the PSQI scoring criteria) were compared with Student's t tests. ResultsHigher (poorer) PSQI Global Scores predicted poorer occupational wellness of all measures (emotional exhaustion: B = 1.60, P < .001, R2 = 0.25; functional impairment: B = 0.29, P = .03, R2 = 0.14; role overload: B = 0.28, P = .008, R2 = 0.12; and perceived stress: B = 0.34, P = .004, R2 = 0.20). There were additional relationships between specific PSQI component scores and occupational wellness measures, which is a replication of This team's previous work. Furthermore, emotional exhaustion (t(58) = −4.18, P < .001), functional impairment (t(59)= −3.68, P = .001), role overload (t(58) = −3.20, P = .002), and perceived stress (t(58) = −2.43, P = .02) were all higher in poor sleepers. ConclusionsThe findings of this study suggest that US Army special operations Soldiers who have poorer sleep quality may be at increased risk for having poorer occupational well-being.