Physical Activity as a Potential Moderator of Work-School Conflict on Incivility, Caffeine Intake and Sleep Quality

The costs associated with receiving a college education are a tenable burden to many. Since the mid- 1990s these costs have risen at a rate well above inflation. As a consequence many college students are turning to paid work to offset these expenses. When students are forced to balance the demands of work and school, work-school conflict often occurs with subsequent negative outcomes. Markel and Frone (1998) defined work-school conflict (WSC) as “the degree to which work interferes with school demands” (p. 278). Students who face this conflict experience elevated stress levels (Roberts, Scherer, Boyer, 2011), which, in turn, have been shown to decrease sleep quality. Other negative consequences of WSC include increased probability of incivility, aggression, and even violence (Cortina, Magley, Williams, Langhout, 2001; Taylor & Kluemper, 2012). Physical activity has a buffering effect on stress and plays an important role in reducing dysfunctional behaviors (Poole, Steptoe, Wawryzyniac, Bostock, Mitchell, Hamer, 2011). Unfortunately, another negative consequence of high WSC is reduced time for physical activity which may increase burnout and detrimentally affect student health. Beyond these negative outcomes WSC has been shown to impair student school performance (McNall & Michel, 2010). It is predicted that those students experiencing high WSC will particularly benefit from physical activity and report lower levels of incivility, less caffeine intake and better sleep quality compared to those with high WSC who engage in lower levels of physical activity. In contrast, it is expected that there will be little difference in incivility, caffeine intake and sleep quality among the students experiencing lower levels of WSC, regardless of level of physical activity. In the proposed study, 120 working college students will respond to an online questionnaire. Multiple regression analysis will be used to examine the relationship between WSC and three outcome variables: incivility, caffeine intake, and sleep quality and to determine whether physical activity moderates the effect of WSC on the outcome variables. Work-school conflict will be measured using six items from the work-school conflict scale developed by Markel and Frone (1998). Physical activity will be measured using seven items from the International Physical Activity Scale (IPAS; Craig, et al., 2003). Ten items from the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI; Buysse, Reynolds, Monkl, Berman, & Kepfer, 1989). Incivility will be assessed using seven items from the Workplace Incivility Scale developed by Cortina, Magley, Williams, & Langhout, 2001). Finally, caffeine intake will be measured using the Caffeine Consumption Questionnaire (CCQ; Shohet & Landrum, 2001), a 10-item measure of caffeine intake