Association of sleep duration on workdays or free days and social jetlag with job stress

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of sleep problems on job stress in office workers. Methods: This study included 4645 office workers from 29 companies who completed the study questionnaires between April 2017 and April 2019 in Japan. Sleep duration was assessed based on the participants' subjective sleep schedule on workdays and free days. The midpoint of sleep on free days (sleep-corrected) and social jetlag were calculated in accordance with the Munich Chronotype Questionnaire. To assess job stress, we used the 57-item Brief Job Stress Questionnaire. Results: Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the following factors were significantly associated with high job stress in office workers: a sleep duration <6 h on workdays (OR = 1.77, 95% CI = 1.46–2.15, P < 0.001), a sleep duration <6 h on free days (OR = 1.40, 95% CI = 1.05–1.87, P = 0.022), a sleep duration of at least 8 h on free days (OR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.06–1.60, P = 0.011), and more than 2 h of social jetlag (OR = 1.33, 95% CI = 1.04–1.70, P = 0.022). Conclusion: This study suggests that insufficient sleep, long sleep durations on free days, and social jetlag may be associated with high job stress in office workers.