Prospective associations between work role stressors and symptoms of insomnia among child welfare social workers

Role ambiguity and role conflict are linked to negative outcomes such as distress, job dissatisfaction, and turnover intentions, but little research has examined how role stressors relate to sleep disturbances across time. This prospective study determined the direction and magnitude of the time-lagged associations between role stressors and symptoms of insomnia among 388 municipal child welfare employees in Oslo, Norway. Comparing forward, reverse, and reciprocal associations between role stressors and insomnia symptoms showed that a model where role stressors were associated with subsequent changes in insomnia symptoms exhibited the best fit to the data. Role conflict, but not role ambiguity, was significantly associated with an increase in insomnia symptoms across time. Insomnia symptoms were not associated with any significant changes in levels for the role-stressors. A limitation is that the two-wave cross-lagged panel design cannot separate within-person dynamics from between-person stability and therefore does not permit conclusions about causal effects. Still, the findings suggest that to reduce symptoms of insomnia among employees, child welfare organizations should avoid placing inconsistent demands on workers and ensure compatibility across requirements. To address role conflict, organizations should provide resources that can help workers reduce and handle role conflicts inherent in their work.