Photo: Tero Vesalainen/iStockphoto
Houston — Economic stress can affect not only your waking hours but also your nighttime sleep, results of a recent study show.
A team led by researchers from Rice University looked at data from full-time Army and Air National Guard personnel across nine months. Information on sleep was gathered using wrist-worn devices and through self-reported data.
“Participants reported their financial stress at the start of the study, their bedtime stress behaviors four months later and their sleep health five months after that,” a Rice press release states.
The researchers found that economic stress led to elevated stress levels at bedtime. That, in turn, led to insomnia, decreased sleep quality and greater sleep-related impairment (which can affect learning, attention and memory) during the day.
They also found that “internal experience of financial vulnerability – worrying about affording basic needs, job security or relying heavily on a paycheck – can disrupt sleep even among workers who appear financially stable.”
Economic stress “is pervasive and it is prevalent, and it’s happening at the same time that our society isn’t getting enough sleep or good-quality sleep,” study co-author Rebecca Brossoit, assistant professor of psychological sciences at Rice, said in the release.
“Organizations have a responsibility to mitigate or target some of those stressors. Competitive pay, benefits, supervisor support, career development opportunities, financial planning resources and schedule flexibility are among the strategies that can help reduce financial strain and support employee well-being.”
In a video, Brossoit added that she and colleagues “tend to think that the potential cost associated with those will be offset by a workforce that is getting better quality sleep.”
The study was published in the Journal of Business and Psychology.
McCraren Compliance offers many opportunities in safety training to help circumvent accidents. Please take a moment to visit our calendar of classes to see what we can do to help your safety measures from training to consulting.
Original article published by Safety+Health an NSC publication