Evaluation of a Work-Family and Sleep Leadership Intervention in the Oregon National Guard: A Behavioral Health Leadership Approach
Abstract
National surveys continue to point to the intersection of work and non-work life as being one of the top, if not the top, stressors impacting workers lives today (e.g., American Psychological Association, 2014; Matos and Galinsky, 2014); however, proven organizational strategies aimed at improving work-life integration are rare. The proposed study builds on over a decade of previous work with both civilian and military workers on supportive supervision. Our prior research in the civilian sector has demonstrated that training supervisors in Family Supportive Supervisory Behaviors (FSSBs) led to reduced work-family conflict, improved job satisfaction, and reduced intentions for job turnover. We then adapted the training for FSSBs for supervisors of Veterans, creating Veteran Supportive Supervisory Behaviors (VSSBs), and we are in the middle of a rigorous scientific evaluation of this Veteran-centric training. The proposed study will continue to build on this research program and integrate aspects of Behavioral Health Leadership and Sleep Leadership Behaviors developed by military researchers at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. We will also provide Service members feedback on their sleep and cognitive effectiveness as a way to increase sleep awareness, leading to improved sleep patterns. We will be evaluating the effectiveness of our training and sleep feedback intervention among Military Technicians and their supervisors in the State of Oregon. Over 97% of Military Technician positions require that the employee also be actively serving in the Army National Guard or Air National Guard and are known as dual-status positions. Based on the dual-status requirement, the Military Technician work environment is a great opportunity to test our hypotheses in a military-like setting and among current military members of the Oregon National Guard. To evaluate the training, we will ask supervisors, employees, and their spouses or partners to complete surveys before and after the training period. Supervisors and employee Service members will also be asked to wear a device that tracks their sleep-wake cycles to evaluate the sleep feedback component. The study also includes a control group so that we can better determine that any changes are due to the training and not some other factor. We anticipate the training will have a positive impact on individual health behaviors, including sleep, risky behaviors and alcohol consumption, family functioning, and organizational outcomes, such as job satisfaction and turnover. This research has implications to benefit not only Oregon National Guardsmen (Army and Air) but that of the active duty military as well. We anticipate the results to support our theory that training supervisors on the domain specific behaviors we have mentioned previously will result in better outcomes such as increased health, sleep, job satisfaction, and reduced work-family conflict. If our hypotheses are supported, our training will have the potential to positively contribute to the military force in general by reducing risk behaviors, improving mental and physical health, and family functioning.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jan 31, 2017
- Source ID
- W81XWH1610720
Entities
People
- Leslie Hammer
Organizations
- Oregon Health & Science University
- United States Army