On Guard: The Costs of Work-Related Hypervigilance in the Correctional Setting

Details

• Personal Author:
  Fritz C ; Guros F ; Hammer LB ; Meier D ; Shepherd BR
• Description:
  Employees in security-related occupations are expected to be alert and on guard at work in order to stay safe and complete their work tasks (e.g., police, military, corrections). This study introduces the concept of work-related hypervigilance (WHV) as an experience at work that sustains cognitive and physiological activation among employees and is associated with strain outcomes and lower well-being. It was hypothesized that WHV would be associated with greater strain outcomes (i.e., exhaustion and physical health symptoms), work-to-family conflict, and impaired sleep. Data were collected from 1317 security staff working in 14 state correctional facilities in the Northwestern United States. Results indicated that WHV was positively related to exhaustion, physical health symptoms, and work-to-family conflict. Further, WHV was negatively related to sleep quantity and quality. Overall, the results support the proposition that WHV is an important employee experience that warrants further examination. Practical and theoretical implications and future research directions are discussed. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Correctional Facilities Law Enforcement Mental Health Nervous System Occupational Health Safety Sleep Stress, Psychological
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Work-related Hypervigilance Correctional Facilities Correctional Officers Job Stress Mental Health Military Personnel Occupational Psychology Police Officers Strain Work-life Balance Work-to-family Conflict Worker Health

  More +
• ISSN:
  2367-0134
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Oregon ; OSHA Region 10
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  67-82
• Volume:
  2
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20063214
• Citation:
  Occup Health Sci 2018 Mar; 2(1):67-82
• Contact Point Address:
  Charlotte Fritz, Psychology Department, Portland State University, P.O. Box 751, Portland, OR, 97207-0751, USA
• Email:
  fritzc@pdx.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2018
• Performing Organization:
  Portland State University
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Occupational Health Science
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:c764f76a3a0687a46e4ada0ae7364dec44e70a9484b32639eba98610ab390182e847da2be197853ca9a7b56604b4d7a00a0e32320ef0109650ba0b3320008fc6
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/226316/cdc_226316_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 454.37 KB ]