The impact of daily occupational stress on sleep among shift workers : social support as a buffer

Shift workers are a population at risk for experiencing poor sleep. Given the evidence linking health with shift work and sleep disturbance, it is important to identify factors that can exacerbate or mitigate sleep problems in this vulnerable population. We followed eighty-seven shift-working paramedics morning and evening over one week using an intensive longitudinal design. Multilevel modeling was used to examine whether the detrimental effects of daily occupational stress on sleep quality were buffered by perceived social support availability. Paramedics who reported more social support tended to report better quality sleep over the week. Additionally, social support buffered sleep from day-to-day fluctuations in occupational stress as well as from high average occupational stress over the week. Findings indicated that those with low levels of social support displayed poor sleep quality on days with high occupational stress; those high in support did not show significant effects of occupational stress on sleep. Those with low levels of social support tended to also display poor sleep on average across the week when they also tended to report high occupational stress on average across the week. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.Arts, Faculty ofPsychology, Department ofGraduat