Mental Health Disorders and Work-Night Multidimensional Sleep Health of Correctional Officers

The nature of Correctional Officer (CO) work makes COs susceptible to chronic stress that can prompt adverse health consequences. In the CO mental health literature, sleep has been examined as a contributor to adverse psychological health. This relationship has been examined primarily via the direction of sleep predicting mental health outcomes, despite the known bi-directional relationship between mental health and sleep. The goal of this study is to examine the other bi-directional relationship in this population; how mental health disorders relate to work-night sleep in a CO sample. An archival dataset of 243 COs from a National Institute of Justice-funded study will be used. Participants reported lifetime diagnosis of PTSD, depression, or anxiety by a doctor. Self-reported and actigraphy-derived sleep health dimensions were collected on four work-nights, including sleep regularity, satisfaction, alertness, timing, efficiency, and duration. The relationship between mental health disorders and work-night multidimensional sleep health will be examined.