2024 American Academy of Neurology Abstract Website

Objective:

Explore the complex relationships between sleep quality, alcohol consumption, and occupational stress among Hispanic university employees.

Background:

Sleep quality is crucial for overall health, job performance, and stress management. Occupational stress and alcohol consumption are a concern within academic institutions, impacting job satisfaction and mental well-being. This relationship Is a critical area of investigation, given its potential ramifications for employee health and productivity.

Design/Methods:

We collected data through anonymous and voluntary surveys from 206 university employees who underwent self-administered questionnaires. These surveys measured sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index - PSQI), alcohol consumption (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test - AUDIT), and occupational stress (Workplace Stress Scale - WES). Data analysis included Kendall's Tau B correlations to assess the relationships between these variables and mediation analysis using Baron and Kenny's approach to explore sleep quality as a mediator in the relationship between occupational stress and alcohol consumption.

Results:

The participants had an average age of 42±12 years and 53% were female. The PSQI displayed moderate, statistically significant positive correlations with both occupational stress (τ = 0.464, p < 0.001) and alcohol consumption (τ = 0.391, p < 0.001). We also assessed the total influence of occupational stress on the risk of alcoholism, accounting for the mediation of sleep quality, and obtained significant results with a coefficient of B = 0.0334 (SE 0.07, 95% CI [0.021 - 0.048]) using 10,000 bootstraps.

Conclusions:

There are intricate connections between sleep quality, alcohol consumption, and occupational stress among Hispanic university employees. Notably, sleep quality was strongly linked to both occupational stress and alcohol consumption. Mediation analyses revealed that sleep quality partially mediated the relationship between occupational stress and alcohol consumption, emphasizing its role in influencing alcohol-related behaviors. These relationships highlight the importance of addressing sleep quality and stress management to promote employee well-being within the university workplace.