Individual Differences in Reactions to Irregular Work Hours
Abstract
This limited review suggests that some traditional factors like, personality and circadian amplitude seem to have little to do with tolerance of shift work. Neither does gender, at least not if social responsibility is controlled for. Age on the other hand seems of more interest and also diurnal type, but the two seem closely related. However, the major determinants of shift work tolerance probably have more to do with states or rather ways of coping with irregular work hours. Thus, the way an individual organizes his behavior to promote sleep may be of importance, as may be the need for sleep. This may be related to commitment to night work, avoiding light after night work, etc. One should probably give priority to teaching sleep/wake optimization, rather than trying to find individuals with particular traits. One gets the feeling that the highly tolerant single night shift worker would be older, have a low need for sleep, have a high sleep quality, be in good physical shape, and plan sleep strategically (using naps). If several night shifts occur in sequence, younger individuals may have an advantage.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 2000
- Accession Number
- ADP010463
Entities
People
- Torbjorn Akerstedt