Abstract
Background: The effect of circadian disruption on the bio-psychological clock system has been widely studied. However, the mechanism and the association of circadian rhythm disruption with mental health and physiological responses are still unclear. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the effects of circadian rhythm disruption on mental health and physiological responses among shift workers and the general population. Methods: A total of 42 subjects participated in this quasi-experimental study. Participants were divided into a group of shift workers (n = 20) and a general population group (n = 22). Polysomnography tests, blood tests (cortisol, triglycerides and glucose), and psychological tests (Abbreviated Profile of Mood States, General Health Questionnaire-28, Working Memory and Processing Speed Indexes of the Wechsler Adult Intelligent Scale (WAIS-IV) were used to examine the effects of circadian rhythm disruption. Results: The results showed a significant relationship between circadian rhythm disruption and mood (r = 0.305, p < 0.05). The findings of this study also indicated that there was a significant effect of circadian rhythm disruption on mood (F(2,40) = 8.89, p < 0.001, η2 =0.182), processing speed (F(2,40) = 9.17, p < 0.001, η2 = 0.186) and working memory (F(2,40) = 4.963, p < 0.01, η2 = 0.11) in shift workers and the general population. Conclusions: Our findings showed that circadian rhythm disruption affects mood and cognitive performance, but it does not significantly affect psychological wellbeing and physiological responses. Future studies are warranted to examine moderator and mediator variables that could influence the circadian rhythm disruption.
Highlights
Circadian rhythm (CR) is a physiological process with a period of around 24 h, which is essential to regulate the sleep-wake cycle, hormonal secretion, mealtime, body digestion, body temperature, and other significant body functions [1,2]
The results showed that was therenotwas no significant main effect of CR disruption on the profile of psychological wellbeing influenced by the disruption of circadian rhythm in both psychological wellbeingmain of the participants
The effects of CR disruption on mental health and physiological responses have been widely effects of over mentalHowever, health andthis physiological responses have been widelyof studied byThe researchers the years on study focused on the combination over markers the yearsin[1,7,15]
Summary
Circadian rhythm (CR) is a physiological process with a period of around 24 h, which is essential to regulate the sleep-wake cycle, hormonal secretion, mealtime, body digestion, body temperature, and other significant body functions [1,2]. The CR disruption is associated with several factors, such as endogenous response, body temperature, and psychological states [3,4] These factors are positively correlated to the desynchronization of circadian rhythm which will increase the risk of mental and physical health problems [1,3]. Evidence from previous studies showed that the chronic disruption of CR among airline and medical shift workers caused significant physical and mental health problems It led to mood disturbances and cognitive impairment [11,17]. The outcome of this study could contribute to the exploration of psychophysiology and health psychology It could help improve shift working systems to minimize the physiological and psychological impacts of exposure to sleep-wake cycle disruption
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