Understanding the Mechanisms Between Job Stress and Employee Sleep: A Daily Diary Study

The present study investigated how three job stressors, workload, unfinished tasks, and mistreatment from coworkers and supervisors, manifest in sleep impairment. Using the transactional model of stress, allostatic load model, the cognitive activation theory of stress (CATS), and findings from the sleep medicine literature, each job stressor was predicted to have three distinct pathways to sleep quality: an affective path (anger or anxiety), a cognitive path (anticipatory stress or rumination), and a behavioral path (sleep hygiene behaviors). The proposed models argued for two-stage mediation, in which the cognitive and affective strains of job stressors impact sleep quality both directly and indirectly through the mediating role of sleep hygiene behaviors. Hypotheses were tested in a sample of 140 university staff employees in a daily diary study conducted over the course of two work weeks. Multilevel structural equation modeling supported direct paths between the three job stressors and theoretically appropriate cognitive and affective mediators, and a strong direct effect between sleep hygiene behaviors and sleep quality. However, direct relationships between cognitive and affective mediators and sleep hygiene behaviors were not supported. The mediating hypotheses also failed to receive support. Overall, the study highlights the value of studying theoretically appropriate mechanisms between unique job stressors and sleep impairment, and points to the importance of sleep hygiene behaviors to promote adequate sleep quality in nonclinical employee samples. Future research should attempt to elucidate the time frame in which these effects occur, and investigate potential moderators that increase or attenuate employees’ likelihood of engaging in poor sleep hygiene behaviors as a response to job stress