Sleep and occupational well-being in active duty special operations soldiers: A replication and expansion

Janna Mantua; Maddison C Pirner; Scott T Doyle; Alexxa F Bessey; Jacob A Naylor; Bradley M Ritland; Walter J Sowden; Tina M Burke; Ashlee B McKeon

doi:10.1016/j.sleh.2021.02.003

Sleep and occupational well-being in active duty special operations soldiers: A replication and expansion

Sleep Health. 2021 Aug;7(4):500-503. doi: 10.1016/j.sleh.2021.02.003. Epub 2021 Mar 6.

Authors

Janna Mantua¹, Maddison C Pirner², Scott T Doyle², Alexxa F Bessey³, Jacob A Naylor⁴, Bradley M Ritland⁵, Walter J Sowden⁶, Tina M Burke², Ashlee B McKeon²

Affiliations

¹ Behavioral Biology Branch, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA. Electronic address: janna.r.mantua.civ@mail.mil.
² Behavioral Biology Branch, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA.
³ Behavioral Biology Branch, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA; Department of Psychology, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, USA.
⁴ 75th Ranger Regiment Headquarters, Ft. Benning, Georgia, USA.
⁵ Military Performance Division, United States Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, Natick, Massachusetts, USA.
⁶ Behavioral Biology Branch, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA; Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.

PMID: 33685830
DOI: 10.1016/j.sleh.2021.02.003

Abstract

Objective: To assess the relationship between sleep quality and occupational well-being in active duty military Service Members.

Design: Longitudinal prospective analysis.

Setting: An annual military training event.

Participants: US Army special operations Soldiers (n = 60; 100% male; age 25.41 ± 3.74).

Intervention: None.

Measurements: The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was administered prior to the training event, and the Emotional Exhaustion Scale, the Role Overload Scale, the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research Soldier-Specific Functional Impairment Scale, and the Perceived Stress Scale were administered after the event. Linear regression models were used to assess the relationship between sleep and occupational wellness measures, and the outcome measures of "good" and "poor" sleepers (per the PSQI scoring criteria) were compared with Student's t tests.

Results: Higher (poorer) PSQI Global Scores predicted poorer occupational wellness of all measures (emotional exhaustion: B = 1.60, P < .001, R² = 0.25; functional impairment: B = 0.29, P = .03, R² = 0.14; role overload: B = 0.28, P = .008, R² = 0.12; and perceived stress: B = 0.34, P = .004, R² = 0.20). There were additional relationships between specific PSQI component scores and occupational wellness measures, which is a replication of This team's previous work. Furthermore, emotional exhaustion (t(58) = -4.18, P < .001), functional impairment (t(59)= -3.68, P = .001), role overload (t(58) = -3.20, P = .002), and perceived stress (t(58) = -2.43, P = .02) were all higher in poor sleepers.

Conclusions: The findings of this study suggest that US Army special operations Soldiers who have poorer sleep quality may be at increased risk for having poorer occupational well-being.

Keywords: Army; Military; Occupational well-being; Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index; Replication; Soldiers.

Published by Elsevier Inc.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Adult
Emotions
Female
Humans
Male
Military Personnel* / psychology
Sleep
Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders*
Sleep Wake Disorders* / psychology
Young Adult