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Fatigue and Work Safety Behavior in Men During Early Fatherhood

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American Journal of Men's Health
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Abstract and Figures

This study investigated the relationship between fatigue and work safety behavior of fathers with new babies. A total of 241 fathers completed a questionnaire at 6 and 12 weeks postpartum with items on fatigue and safety behavior at work. Results revealed that fathers worked long hours, reported a moderate-to-high physical intensity of work, and experienced interrupted sleep averaging less than 6 hours. Fathers also reported moderate fatigue at both 6 and 12 weeks postbirth, which was inversely related to safety behavior. Both fatigue and sleep history made a small but statistically significant contribution to safety behavior results at 6 and 12 weeks postbirth. Findings suggest that working fathers with babies experience fatigue during early fatherhood and are unable to recover due to interrupted and poor sleep patterns. Managers should consider the potential for fatigue to compromise work safety and develop risk management strategies that target new fathers.
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American Journal of Men’s Health
6(1) 80 –88
© The Author(s) 2012
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DOI: 10.1177/1557988311423723
http://jmh.sagepub.com
Introduction
Becoming a father is a major transition in men’s lives, yet
few researchers have measured the fatigue men experi-
ence during early fatherhood (fathers with babies,
whether first time or subsequent fathers) and nothing has
been written on the effects of fatigue on their work safety.
The prevalence of fatigue in the work place has been
difficult to measure and varies across many studies. In
1994, the prevalence rate for fatigue was reported to be
48.3% with 18.3% reporting substantial fatigue lasting 6
months or longer (Pawlikowska et al., 1994). Yet more
recently, the prevalence of fatigue has been reported to be
21.9% with 12% reporting fatigue for 1 year (Kant,
Bultmann, Schroer, & Beurskens, 2003), and another
study revealed a prevalence rate for work fatigue of
37.9% (Ricci, Chee, Lorandeau, & Berger, 2007).
One reason for the varied prevalence rates might be
that fatigue is hard to define and sometimes hard to disen-
tangle from other concepts. Some authors have defined
fatigue based on physical or mental impairment
(Grandjean, 1979), whereas others have characterized
fatigue as being task related (Hancock & Verway, 2001;
Simonson, 1971). More recently, authors have seen
fatigue as an inability to rest or recover (McQueen &
Mander, 2003; Soames & Job-Delziel, 2001). Specifically,
recovery from fatigue must take into account the rest
needed to sufficiently address the nature, length, and
intensity of effort expended during work (Gawron,
French, & Funke, 2001).
Fatigue affects a person’s alertness, vigilance, and
readiness for action (Grandjean, 1979), as well as creat-
ing a propensity to make impulsive and intuitive deci-
sions (Sicard, 2001; Slovic, 1987; Slovic, Finucane,
Peters, & MacGregor, 2004). Consequently, fatigue has
been reported to be a major factor in workplace accidents
(Swaen, Van Amelsvoort, Bultmann, & Kant, 2003) and
it can result in catastrophic consequences. For example,
fatigue was a significant contributing factor in the
Chernobyl nuclear disaster and the 1986 Challenger shut-
tle disaster (Merril et al., 1988; Moore-Ede, 1993).
Fatigue has been reported to be prominent theme in
the daily life of fathers with babies, because of their par-
ticipation in infant care and family life (Anderson, 1996;
Bielby & Bielby, 1988; Bittman, Hoffman, & Thompson,
2004; Daly, 1993; Dye, 1998; McVeigh & St. John, 2003;
423723JMHXXX10.1177/1557988311423723Mell
or and St. JohnAmerican Journal of Men’s Health
1Southern Cross University, Tweed Heads, New South Wales, Australia
2Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Corresponding Author:
Gary Mellor, School of Health and Human Sciences, Southern Cross
University, Lakeside Campus, Tweed Heads, New South Wales, 2485,
Australia
Email: gary.mellor@scu.edu.au
Fatigue and Work Safety Behavior in Men
During Early Fatherhood
Gary Mellor, PhD,1 and Winsome St. John,PhD2
Abstract
This study investigated the relationship between fatigue and work safety behavior of fathers with new babies. A total
of 241 fathers completed a questionnaire at 6 and 12 weeks postpartum with items on fatigue and safety behavior
at work. Results revealed that fathers worked long hours, reported a moderate-to-high physical intensity of work,
and experienced interrupted sleep averaging less than 6 hours. Fathers also reported moderate fatigue at both 6
and 12 weeks postbirth, which was inversely related to safety behavior. Both fatigue and sleep history made a small
but statistically significant contribution to safety behavior results at 6 and 12 weeks postbirth. Findings suggest that
working fathers with babies experience fatigue during early fatherhood and are unable to recover due to interrupted
and poor sleep patterns. Managers should consider the potential for fatigue to compromise work safety and develop
risk management strategies that target new fathers.
Keywords
occupational health, fathering, psychosocial and cultural issues, quantitative research
... Postpartum families are at risk for disruptions in sleep patterns, including fragmented and/or shortened sleep. Chronic poor quality sleep contributes to declines in cognitive function 1 , excessive daytime sleepiness 2 , and fatigue, all of which can adversely affect parents' ability to meet childrearing demands 3,4 . Poor sleep is linked to depressed mood in new mothers 4,5 . ...
... In contrast, our study showed no differences in total 24 hours sleep duration or night sleep times between mothers and fathers at one month postpartum, although fathers of twins in our sample had significantly less sleep than mothers at three months postpartum. Unexpectedly, fathers in our sample experienced longer night sleep than two previous reports of sleep in fathers of singleton infants 3,18 . Possible explanations may include differences in assessment methods (survey vs. actigraphy) or differences in the percentage of fathers who were employed. ...
... Possible explanations may include differences in assessment methods (survey vs. actigraphy) or differences in the percentage of fathers who were employed. Fathers of twins in our sample experienced more frequent night awakenings than reported in the survey of Australian fathers 3 . ...
Article
Full-text available
Objective: Parents of newborn twins are at risk for both shortened sleep duration and sleep discontinuity. The purpose of this study was to characterize weekday and weekend sleep duration, sleep continuity, and awakenings in both mothers and fathers of newborn twins during the first 3 months at home. Material and Methods: Sleep-wake parameters were assessed at two time points using self-report diaries and actigraphy in 75 families with newborn twins. To assess sleep on weekdays and weekends with minimal subject burden, actigraphy recordings of both parents commenced at 9:00 p.m. Saturday and terminated at 9:00 p.m. Tuesday. Results: Mean sleep duration over 24 hours for parents of twins ranged between 6.7 and 7.5 hours during the first 3 months postpartum and did not significantly differ on weekdays or weekends for mothers. Weekend sleep was more fragmented for fathers at both one month and three months with more awakenings, compared to weekday sleep. Mothers had more fragmented night sleep compared to fathers at one month. In contrast, at three months postpartum fathers had shorter total sleep time and night sleep time, but fewer night awakenings on weekdays than mothers. No differences were observed in weekend sleep duration or sleep patterns between mothers and fathers at three months. Discussion: Consolidated sleep periods for both parents averages three hours or less during the first three months postpartum and sleep for both parents is fragmented. In families with newborn twins, the extent of sleep disruption for mothers and fathers is similar.
... Within each of these constructs, there was also diversity in the measures used. For example, among the seven studies that described fatigue, five different measures were used: the Lee Fatigue Scale (LFS) ( Elek et al., 2002 ;Damato and Burant, 2008 ;Loutzenhiser et al., 2015 ), two different visual analogue scales ( Gay et al., 2004 ; Insana and Montgomery- To explore fathers' reaction to participation in delivery, expectations about the baby & participation in childcare "Too tired to take baby when you arrive home from work": Single item from Reaction to Fatherhood Scale 50% of fathers reported that when they arrived home from work they were too tired to take the baby ( continued on next page ) ( Mellor and St John, 2012 ), and a study-specific scale ( Galland et al., 2017 ). Less frequently, objective measurement of fathers' sleep was reported: Actigraphy, an objective proxy-measure of sleep based on wrist movement, was used in five studies ( Gay et al., 2004 ;Doan et al., 2007 ;Damato and Burant, 2008 ;Wulff and Siegmund, 2010 ;Insana and Montgomery-Downs, 2013 ) to record sleep quantity (n = 5), WASO (n = 2), sleep efficiency (n = 2), sleep fragmentation (n = 1) and duration of nocturnal activity (n = 1). ...
... Four studies reported statistical analysis of changes in sleep or fatigue variables over more than one postpartum assessment point. Total sleep time increased, self-reported sleep quality and sleep efficiency improved, and number of night awakenings decreased significantly as infant age increased over the first six months postpartum ( Damato and Burant, 2008 ;Mellor and St John, 2012 ;McDaniel and Teti, 2012 ;Richter et al., 2019 ). However, fatigue increased significantly between six weeks and three months postpartum ( Mellor and St John, 2012 ). ...
... Total sleep time increased, self-reported sleep quality and sleep efficiency improved, and number of night awakenings decreased significantly as infant age increased over the first six months postpartum ( Damato and Burant, 2008 ;Mellor and St John, 2012 ;McDaniel and Teti, 2012 ;Richter et al., 2019 ). However, fatigue increased significantly between six weeks and three months postpartum ( Mellor and St John, 2012 ). In another study which did not report statistical analysis of changes, the proportion of fathers who reported lying awake for more than 30 minutes before falling asleep increased from 51.7% at 4 months postpartum to 60.7% at 6 months postpartum ( Galland et al., 2017 ). ...
Article
Background : Sleep disturbance among adults has consequences for their health and functioning. Among mothers of infants, there is evidence that fatigue and sleep disturbance are significantly associated with depression, anxiety and impaired relationships with partners and infants. It is not known whether consistent evidence of such associations exists for fathers. Purpose : The aim of this review was to describe what is known about fathers’ sleep and its associations with mental health and wellbeing, in the first 12 months postpartum. Methods : A scoping review was conducted, searching MEDLINE complete, Scopus, PsycINFO and CINAHL complete, from 1990 to 13 May 2019. Reference lists of relevant reviews were also searched. Articles were included if they were published in English, and reported on sleep among men cohabiting with their infants from birth to 12 months. Findings : Thirty papers reporting on 27 separate studies met inclusion criteria. Sleep constructs and assessment of these varied greatly. While some measures of fathers’ sleep improved, fathers’ fatigue increased significantly with increasing infant age. In adjusted analyses, fathers’ sleep problems were associated with poorer mental health, relationships with partners, and safety compliance at work. Key conclusions : Health professionals should consider a brief assessment of fathers’ sleep when they consult families with young infants. Psycho-education regarding management of poor infant sleep could help to prevent long-term fatigue and its consequences among fathers.
... Life after childbirth was described as "totally different" and stressful, whereby fathers experienced abundant parental stress and sleep deprivation from crying infants and unstable infant health, which were commonly reported in literature (Edhborg et al., 2016;Shorey et al., 2018). For fathers who started work immediately after childbirth, fatigue resulting from sleep deprivation was needless to say (Mellor & St. John, 2011). The prevalence of fatigue in fathers was reportedly 65% at six weeks and 75% at 12 weeks compared with 20% to 30% in the general working population (Mellor & St. John, 2011). ...
... For fathers who started work immediately after childbirth, fatigue resulting from sleep deprivation was needless to say (Mellor & St. John, 2011). The prevalence of fatigue in fathers was reportedly 65% at six weeks and 75% at 12 weeks compared with 20% to 30% in the general working population (Mellor & St. John, 2011). Even though no investigation was done six weeks' prior, this study suggests that fatigue could have already sparked as early as the first two weeks according to the fathers' accounts. ...
Article
Current literature lacks qualitative information derived from distressed fathers. The aim of this study was to explore distressed fathers’ experiences and needs in the early postpartum period. A descriptive qualitative study design was used. The study took place from October 2018 to December 2018 at the tertiary public hospital in Singapore. A purposive sample of 12 distressed Singaporean fathers were interviewed in this study. Audio recorded interviews were conducted face-to-face using a semistructured interview guide and thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Six themes emerged from the thematic analysis: (a) facing the “real deal,” (b) everyday woes, (c) “losing excitement,” (d) “trying to be strong,” (e) “reality check,” and (f) supplementing help for fathers. This study highlights distressed father’s agony and the urgent need for health care professionals and family members to seek acceptability and understanding of fathers’ mental health difficulties in the early postpartum period.
... The negative consequences of occupational fatigue include increased human error, memory damage, decreased decision-making and reasoning power, increased risk of depression and anxiety, reduced efficiency, and disability. Therefore, fatigue leads to lower job performance and reduces the ability to perform physical and mental work [21][22][23][24][25][26]. ...
Article
Full-text available
Background Physical and psychological workloads are a vital issue in the workplace. This study aimed to investigate the association between physical and psychological workloads and occupational fatigue among Iranian hospital service personnel. In Iran, hospital service personnel refers to a group of healthcare workers who undertake a range of duties, such as moving and carrying the hospital waste, transporting patients by wheelchair or gurney to the operating room, x-ray department, other wards, or other locations around the facility, performing cleaning tasks such as changing linens, mopping floors, and sterilizing equipment, and following infection control procedures to reduce the risk of spreading germs within the hospital setting. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted on 198 Iranian hospital service personnel. The response rate was 86%. The data were gathered using 1) The Persian version of the Job Content Questionnaire (P-JCQ) for assessing physical and psychosocial workloads and 2) The Persian version of the Swedish Occupational Fatigue Inventory (P-SOFI-20) for assessing fatigue dimensions. Results According to the P-JCQ, the physical and psychological workload intensities were high in 72.7% and 47% of the participants, respectively. Based on the P-SOFI, the participants’ mean scores of “physical fatigue” (21.73 ± 6.2), “psychological fatigue” (13.61 ± 5.76), and “fatigue due to shift work” (18.17 ± 5.6) were moderate, while the mean score of “general fatigue” was high (27.3 ± 6.98). The findings revealed that various types of fatigue are associated with age, gender, marital status, daily working hours, and psychological workload. Conclusions Psychological workload was a determinant of occupational fatigue among Iranian hospital service personnel. Hence, an interventional program, including job enrichment, job rotation, and work-rest cycle, is recommended.
... Parental sleep disruption is a source of public risk and increased health costs. Sleep deprivation and fragmentation increase daytime sleepiness and lapses in cognitive function, leading to increases in workplace and road-traffic accidents (Heaton et al. 2008;Mellor and St John 2012). Mellor and Van Vorst (2015) found that 85% of new fathers experienced sleep disruption, 64% experienced daytime sleepiness, and the latter was inversely correlated with safety compliance at work, significantly predicting a near-miss accident. ...
... However, the causes of fatigue are not limited to these factors. A study demonstrated that the fatigue level could be increased among men during early fatherhood, leading to a rise in the rate of work unsafe behavior [38]. Likewise, work-family conflict can also be a potential cause of fatigue [39]. ...
Article
The present study aimed to investigate fatigue among firefighters and its relationship with their safety behavior. The moderation and mediation effects perceived safety climate on this relationship were also investigated. Firefighters from ten petrochemical companies in Iran were investigated. Moderation analysis was performed based hierarchical regression analyses and mediation effects were studies using structural equation modeling approach. A total number of 261 firefighters participated in this study. The mean scores of general fatigue, physical fatigue, reduced activity, reduced motivation, and mental fatigue were 10.5, 9.0, 8.2, 7.6, and 8.7, respectively. Fatigue had a negative significant effect on firefighters’ safety behavior. Perceived safety climate had a mediation but not moderation effect on the relationship between fatigue and safety behavior of firefighters. Generally, fatigue level among firefighters was fairly low, but it had a significant negative effect on firefighter's safety behavior. Perceived safety climate can mediate such a negative effect.
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Chapter
The perinatal period is a time of vulnerability for psychological distress with increased risk of depressive and anxiety symptoms. However, the most common subjective complaint, particularly during the post-partum period, is that of fatigue. While some fatigue may be normative for all new parents, a minority of women experience sustained fatigue, which interferes with their ability to function, yet this is currently not well addressed within health systems. This chapter provides a brief overview of psychological changes during and after pregnancy and a more detailed focus on post-partum fatigue as it is the most prevalent psychological change during and after pregnancy. We review the development of models of post-partum fatigue over the last decades and document their more recent developments. We also review the scales currently validated to measure post-partum fatigue and the evidence base for available treatment options. We also propose recommendations for improving the understanding and treatment of fatigue during and after pregnancy in the future.
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