Subjective vitality of night workers: Association with physical and mental health

Abstract

Night work is one of the most recognized responsibilities of security personnel. Feeling vital is a necessary condition for assuring proper development of this function. Thus, the analysis of its effects on physical and mental conditions is a relevant resource for achieving adequate results at individual and organizational levels. Based on a questionnaire applied to 184 private security guards in Colombia, this study examines the subjective vitality of the personnel working during night shifts and its association with self-perceptions regarding their physical and mental health. Additionally, it analyzes the interference that various demographic variables exert on these relationships. By using partial least squares structural equation modeling, the study found that subjective vitality significantly affects night workers’ mental health more than their physical health. That is, subjective vitality among respondents explains 51% of the variability of mental health and 36% of the variability of physical health. A further significant effect of physical health on mental health was also evidenced, in which the former explains the 25% of the latter variability. When comparing results between genders, the study shows that the variability of mental health explained by subjective vitality among women is larger than among men (75% vs. 28%). These results are discussed in light of the theoretical aspects of organizational behavior and are grounded around their potential to address the phenomenon of human resource management in practice. Practical implications include the need for organizational schemes that balance physical and mental health among night workers. AcknowledgmentsThe authors want to acknowledge the 184 Colombian security guards who provided their time to complete the questionnaire for this study.

Keywords

• Colombia
• mental health
• night shift work
• physical health
• security guarding
• subjective vitality