Exploring Wellness of Wildlife Carers in New Zealand: A Descriptive Study

The rescue and care of vulnerable wildlife is rewarding. Most people involved in animal rescue have a strong commitment to service but the work can be profoundly challenging. The ability to know and respond appropriately to an animal's needs depends on the professional skills and knowledge of wildlife carers. In the face of unrelenting suffering and countless numbers of animals in need, there are multiple stressors, vulnerabilities, and barriers that can undermine carers’ wellbeing and put them at risk of compassion fatigue. The balance between compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue is considered professional quality of life. The aim of this study was to provide a preliminary understanding of the potential for compassion satisfaction and the risk of compassion fatigue among wildlife carers within New Zealand. Thirty wildlife carers voluntarily completed a self-report survey, which included questions on socio-demographics, self-perceived quality of life (EUROHIS-QOL), professional quality of life (ProQOL), job satisfaction, motivation for ongoing work in wildlife rehabilitation, and coping mechanisms. We found that there were significant differences in compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue on the basis of age, gender, financial capability, and years of experience. Overall, this sample showed high levels of compassion satisfaction and low levels of compassion fatigue. Understanding the elements of professional quality of life can have a positive effect on work environment. These results may provide clues to help identify wildlife carers’ strengths for compassion satisfaction and vulnerabilities to compassion fatigue, and to help develop strategies to improve their professional quality of life.     

An in-depth look into the association between morningness–eveningness and well-being: evidence for mediating and moderating effects of personality

Morningness–eveningness and standard personality traits are associated with well-being but few studies have directly compared the two types of construct as correlates of life satisfaction. Influences on well-being common to both chronotype and personality may include shared biological bases for depression and sleep disturbance, tendencies toward social jetlag, and emotion-regulation mechanisms. The current study tested mediation and moderation hypotheses in a sample of 379 Polish adults. The first hypothesis was that conscientiousness and emotional stability traits would mediate the relationship between morningness and life satisfaction. Consistent with previous results, morningness, the two personality traits, and satisfaction tended to be mutually positively correlated. A multiple mediation analysis showed that both traits partially mediated the morningness–satisfaction association. Data are compatible with morningness influencing personality development adaptively, although other causal hypotheses could be advanced. The second hypothesis was that extraversion would moderate the association between chronotype and satisfaction. This hypothesis was supported, with extraverted evening types showing disproportionately high life satisfaction, whereas introverted evening types showed the lowest levels of satisfaction. Level of extraversion may influence whether or not evening types choose to engage in adaptive social activities that boost well-being during the evening hours. Results demonstrate the importance of investigating both chronotype and personality in studies of well-being.     

Empathy in Clinical Practice: How Individual Dispositions,Gender, and Experience Moderate Empathic Concern,Burnout, and Emotional Distress in Physicians

To better understand clinical empathy and what factors can undermine its experience and outcome in care-giving settings, a large-scale study was conducted with 7,584 board certified practicing physicians. Online validated instruments assessing different aspects of empathy, distress, burnout, altruistic behavior, emotional awareness, and well-being were used. Compassion satisfaction was strongly associated with empathic concern, perspective taking and altruism, while compassion fatigue (burnout and secondary traumatic stress) was more closely related to personal distress and alexithymia. Gender had a highly selective effect on empathic concern, with women displaying higher values, which led to a wide array of negative and devalued feelings. Years of experience did not influence dispositional measures per se after controlling for the effect of age and gender. Participants who experienced compassion fatigue with little to no compassion satisfaction showed the highest scores on personal distress and alexithymia as well as the strongest indicators of compassion fatigue. Physicians who have difficulty regulating their negative arousal and describing and identifying emotions seem to be more prone to emotional exhaustion, detachment, and a low sense of accomplishment. On the contrary, the ability to engage in self-other awareness and regulate one’s emotions and the tendency to help others, seem to contribute to the sense of compassion that comes from assisting patients in clinical practice.     

Cyberbullying perpetration among undergraduates: evidence of the roles of chronotype and sleep quality

Cyberbullying is one of the important negative issues among adolescents and youngsters. Victims of cyberbullying perpetration have been reported to suffer many psychological and emotional problems that can lead them as far to suicide. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the associations of cyberbullying perpetration with gender, personality traits, chronotype, and sleep quality. Three hundred and fifty-three freshman and sophomore university students from Turkey (45.9% (n = 162) female and 54.1% (n = 191) male) completed a questionnaire that included Cyberbullying Scale, Big-5 Inventory, Composite Scale of Morningness, and Sleep Quality Scale. The most conspicuous result of the study was that chronotype and sleep quality were significant predictors of cyberbullying perpetration. Evening-type students had significantly higher scores on cyberbullying scale than neither-type students and morning-type students, and also neither-type students had higher scores on cyberbullying scale than morning-type students. Further, poorer sleep quality, being male, higher extraversion, higher neuroticism, and lower conscientiousness were related to higher cyberbullying perpetration.     

Negative emotional biases in late chronotypes

Increasing evidence suggests evening chronotypes are at increased risk for developing depression. Here, we examined if, similar to acutely depressed patients, evening chronotype individuals display biases in emotional face recognition. Two hundred and twenty-six individuals completed an online survey including measures of sleep quality, depression/anxiety and chronotype followed by a simple emotion recognition task presenting male and female faces morphed in 10 steps between 0 (neutral) and 100% sad or happy. Evening chronotype was associated with increased recognition of sad facial expressions independently of sleep quality, mood, age and gender. The current results extend previous work indicating that negative biases in emotional processing are present in evening chronotypes and may have important implications for the prevention and treatment of depression in these vulnerable individuals.     

Gifted and non-gifted students’ diurnal preference and the relationship between personality,sleep, and sleep quality

The current study had two main objectives. First, we examined gifted and non-gifted students’ diurnal preferences. Secondly, we examined the relationships among age, gender, personality, sleep quality, and chronotype of gifted students. Data were gathered from 276 gifted students and 1921 non-gifted students whose ages range between 7 and 17 years old, in same three cities in Turkey using the Composite Scale of Morningness (CSM) to assess diurnal preference, the Big Five Inventory (BIG-5) to assess personality and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) to measure sleep quality. The first result indicated that gifted students were more morning-oriented compared to non-gifted students. The other main result was that the conscientiousness was the best predictor of CSM scores in gifted students. Additionally, conscientiousness, age, and global PSQI predicted CSM scores, respectively. Moreover agreeableness, conscientiousness, and emotional stability were positively related to morning orientation, while age, sleep quality, sleep latency, daytime dysfunction, and global PSQI were negatively related with chronotype in gifted students.     

Is the shift in chronotype associated with an alteration in well-being?

The study aimed to test whether a shift in chronotype (determined by mid-sleep on free days) is associated with alterations in psychological well-being and sleep parameters. One hundred and seventeen undergraduates were tested in longitudinal study with four repeated measures. Measurements were taken during spring in three-week intervals and each measurement consisted of self-reported sleep parameters on work and free days (i.e. bedtime, sleep latency, wake time, sleep onset, mid-sleep time, social jetlag), satisfaction with life, and mood (energetic arousal, tense arousal, hedonic tone). Between-subjects analyses revealed earlier chronotypes, as compared to the later ones, showing lower tense arousal, higher energetic arousal and life satisfaction, earlier bedtime, sleep onset and offset on both work and free days, longer sleep duration and shorter sleep latency on workdays, and less social jetlag. Within-subjects analyses revealed increasing photoperiod associated with a shift toward earlier chronotype, decrease in social jetlag, and shortening sleep latency. The seasonal shift toward earlier chronotype was not associated with alterations in mood or life satisfaction, but it was associated with a shift toward earlier bedtimes and longer sleep duration on workdays, decrease in sleep latency, and social jetlag. Results from the within-subjects analyses were consistent with the results of between-subjects analyses regarding sleep–wake functioning, but inconsistent regarding psychological outcomes.     

Factors Affecting the Job Satisfaction of U.S. Adult Endocrinologists: A Nationwide Survey

ObjectiveDespite the increased demand and worsening burnout among U.S. endocrinologists, there is a paucity of data on job satisfaction and associated factors. This study examines the factors associated with job satisfaction among a nationally representative sample of U.S. endocrinologists.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional survey of 1700 U.S. adult endocrinologists on the Facebook group “Endocrinologists.” The survey was conducted over 4 weeks using an anonymous online questionnaire. The 45-question survey assessed job and salary satisfaction scores on a 5-point Likert scale along with multiple job-related variables. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to identify the factors affecting job satisfaction.ResultsOut of 1700, 654 adult endocrinologists (504 women and 139 men) completed the survey. The mean job satisfaction score was 3.72 ± 0.86, with 67.5% having high job satisfaction. Comparatively, 339 (52.1%) had high salary satisfaction. There was a statistically significant relationship between the job and salary satisfaction scores (P < .01). Factors significantly associated with the job satisfaction score (P < .05) included the practice region, gender, number of medical assistants per endocrinologist, self-performance of thyroid ultrasound, and number of patients in the hospital per week. Multivariate analysis showed that full-time employment, along with high salary satisfaction, seeing fewer new patients per day, performing thyroid ultrasounds, and fewer patients in the hospital were associated with the highest job satisfaction.ConclusionThis study found about one-third of endocrinologists to have lower job satisfaction and identified multiple modifiable factors associated with endocrinologists’ job satisfaction. Interventions focused on these potentially modifiable factors may improve job satisfaction among U.S. endocrinologists.     

Chronotype preference matters for depression in youth

Morningness/eveningness (M/E) preference is an important circadian rhythm indicator with strong individual variation. M/E chronotype has been found to be correlated with depression in adults, yet the relationship is less clear in children and adolescents. Additionally, poor sleep quality is another commonly studied risk factor for depression. The aims of the present study are to investigate the independent effects of M/E chronotype on youth depression using both self-report and parental-report questionnaires. We also evaluated how poor sleep quality may affect the relationship through a mediating or moderating effect. In total, 2,139 students attending grades 1 to 7 participated in this study. They completed questionnaires regarding M/E chronotype, depression, and sleep quality. A total of 1,708 parents also participated and filled out parental-reports of emotional and behavioral problems of their children. The prevalence of self- and parental-report depression was 16.8% and 12.8% among young students, respectively. Overall, 15.4% of the students were the eveningness type. Being an eveningness type was independently associated with self-report depression after adjustment for poor sleep quality (OR = 1.86, 95% CI = 1.07–3.24). We also observed that poor sleep quality mediated the influence of M/E chronotype on self-report depression among students aged 7–13 years (p < 0.001). On the other hand, being an eveningness type was associated with a number of parental-report emotional and behavioral problems in the students, in addition to depression, although these associations become non-significant after adjusted for poor sleep quality. Our results demonstrate the importance of M/E chronotype on youth depression and poor sleep quality partly mediates this effect.     

Professional burnout and its relation to job characteristics, satisfaction, and control

Burnout scores for 104 professionals in the fields of college student personnel, health and mental health, administration and miscellaneous other professionals were correlated with ratings on 13 job characteristics, and ratings of satisfaction with, and control over, these characteristics. Results indicate significant positive correlations between the burnout scores and 10 of the 13 job characteristics. Significant positive correlations were found for burnout and all 13 items of job satisfaction. Significant negative correlations were found for 6 of the items where control was rated. Demographic variables of age, sex, marital status, employment status of spouse, dependents, number of hours worked, and being on call showed no significant correlations with burnout. Recommendations are made for continued research and theory building which take into account the concept of control over one's work environment.     

病房护士工作满意度及其影响因素的调查

目的:调查病房护士工作满意程度及其影响因素.方法:选取哈尔滨市某三级甲等医院94名病房护士作为研究对象,采用自制调查问卷对病房护士进行调查,问卷内容主要包括护士工作满意度评定量表和一般社会人口统计学资料.结果:病房护士工作满意度总分平均为(76.85±10.97)分,影响护士工作满意度的一般社会人口统计学资料主要包括年龄、婚姻状况及职称.结论:病房护士工作满意度处于中等水平,年龄、婚姻状况及职称是影响其工作满意度的主要因素.护理管理人员应通过改善工作环境,根据护士不同特点制定个性化制度,以提高护士工作满意度,进而达到提高工作质量的目的.     

Differential influence of asynchrony in early and late chronotypes on convergent thinking

Eveningness preference (late chronotype) was previously associated with different personality dimensions and thinking styles that were linked to creativity, suggesting that evening-type individuals tend to be more creative than the morning-types. Nevertheless, empirical data on the association between chronotype and creative performance is scarce and inconclusive. Moreover, cognitive processes related to creative thinking are influenced by other factors such as sleep and the time of testing. Therefore, our aim was to examine convergent and divergent thinking abilities in late and early chronotypes, taking into consideration the influence of asynchrony (optimal versus nonoptimal testing times) and sleep quality. We analyzed the data of 36 evening-type and 36 morning-type young, healthy adults who completed the Compound Remote Associates (CRAs) as a convergent and the Just suppose subtest of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking as a divergent thinking task within a time interval that did (n = 32) or did not (n = 40) overlap with their individually defined peak times. Chronotype was not directly associated with creative performance, but in case of the convergent thinking task an interaction between chronotype and asynchrony emerged. Late chronotypes who completed the test at subjectively nonoptimal times showed better performance than late chronotypes tested during their “peak” and early chronotypes tested at their peak or off-peak times. Although insomniac symptoms predicted lower scores in the convergent thinking task, the interaction between chronotype and asynchrony was independent of the effects of sleep quality or the general testing time. Divergent thinking was not predicted by chronotype, asynchrony or their interaction. Our findings indicate that asynchrony might have a beneficial influence on convergent thinking, especially in late chronotypes.     

工作倦怠与交通警察生活质量的关系

目的：探讨交通警察工作倦怠与生活质量的关系。方法：采用MBI-GS和生活质量问卷调查了某市185名交通警察,运用相关分析和回归分析处理数据。结果：交通警察的情绪衰竭与其生活质量显著负相关（P〈0.01）;玩世不恭也与生活质量显著负相关（P〈0.01）;职业效能与生活质量显著正相关（P〈0.05）。结论：降低工作倦怠,可以有效提高交通警察的生活质量。     

工作倦怠与交通警察生活质量的关系

目的:探讨交通警察工作倦怠与生活质量的关系。方法:采用MBI-GS和生活质量问卷调查了某市185名交通警察,运用相关分析和回归分析处理数据。结果:交通警察的情绪衰竭与其生活质量显著负相关(P<0.01);玩世不恭也与生活质量显著负相关(P<0.01);职业效能与生活质量显著正相关(P<0.05)。结论:降低工作倦怠,可以有效提高交通警察的生活质量。     

Sleep quality,chronotype and metabolic syndrome components in bipolar disorders during the remission period: Results from the FACE-BD cohort

Data on sleep or circadian abnormalities and metabolic disturbances in euthymic bipolar disorders are scarce and based on small sample sizes. The aim of this study was to explore the associations between sleep disturbances, chronotype and metabolic components in a large sample of euthymic patients with bipolar disorders (BD). From 2009 to 2015, 752 individuals with bipolar disorders from the FACE-BD cohort were included and assessed for sleep quality, chronotype and metabolic components. The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID) was used to confirm the diagnosis of BD. Subjective sleep quality was measured with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and chronotype with the Composite Scale of Morningness. Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, psychotropic treatment, psychiatric comorbidities and blood samples were collected. In our sample, 22.4% of individuals with BD presented with a metabolic syndrome, 53.7% had sleep disturbances, 25.4% were considered as having an evening chronotype and 12.6% as having a morning chronotype. Independently of potential confounders, euthymic patients with sleep disturbances had a higher abdominal circumference, and patients with evening chronotype had a significantly higher level of triglycerides. There was an association between evening chronotype and an increased atherogenic index of plasma (OR = 4.8, 95%CI = 1.6–14.7). Our findings contribute the scant literature on the relationship between sleep quality, chronotype and cardiometabolic components in euthymic individuals with BD and highlight the need to improve quality of sleep and patient education about healthier sleep-hygiene practices.     

Chronotype and depressive symptoms in students: An investigation of possible mechanisms

ABSTRACT

Individuals with an evening chronotype are at increased risk of experiencing emotional problems, including depressive symptoms. However, the mechanisms underlying these associations remain unclear. The present study aimed to determine whether poor sleep quality, substance use and cognitive emotion regulation difficulties – which have been implicated in the etiology of depression – mediate the relationship between chronotype and depressive symptoms in a student sample, which was assessed cross-sectionally and after 1 year. A total of 742 Dutch students (75% women, mean age 21.4 ± 2.9 years) completed the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology, the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, a questionnaire assessing alcohol, caffeine, tobacco and cannabis use, the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire and the Behavioral Inhibition/Activation Scale. A subsample (n = 115) was assessed 1 year later with the same questionnaires. Cross-sectional analyses showed that evening chronotype was associated with more depressive symptoms, adjusted for age and gender (β = ?0.082, p = 0.028). The relationship between eveningness and depressive symptoms was mediated by sleep quality, alcohol consumption and the cognitive emotion regulation strategies of self-blame and positive reappraisal. In longitudinal analyses, eveningness at baseline predicted more depressive symptoms at follow-up, adjusted for age and gender (β = ?0.29, p = 0.002); after additional adjustment for baseline depressive symptoms, chronotype remained a significant predictor of depressive symptoms at T2 (β = ?0.16, t = ?2.01, p = 0.047). Only poor sleep quality at follow-up was a significant mediator of this relationship. Even though the effect is small in terms of explained variance, eveningness is related to depressive symptoms and this relationship is mediated by poor sleep quality, also in a prospective design. Self-blame and reduced positive reappraisal are correlated with eveningness. Further research is needed to assess the efficacy of chronotherapeutic interventions for the prevention of depression, in addition to sleep education and cognitive approaches.     

Sleep quality and methylation status of core circadian rhythm genes among nurses and midwives

Poor sleep quality or sleep restriction is associated with sleepiness and concentration problems. Moreover, chronic sleep restriction may affect metabolism, hormone secretion patterns and inflammatory responses. Limited recent reports suggest a potential link between sleep deprivation and epigenetic effects such as changes in DNA methylation profiles. The aim of the present study was to assess the potential association between poor sleep quality or sleep duration and the levels of 5-methylcytosine in the promoter regions of PER1, PER2, PER3, BMAL1, CLOCK, CRY1 CRY2 and NPAS2 genes, taking into account rotating night work and chronotype as potential confounders or modifiers. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 710 nurses and midwives (347 working on rotating nights and 363 working only during the day) aged 40–60 years. Data from in-person interviews about sleep quality, chronotype and potential confounders were used. Sleep quality and chronotype were assessed using Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Questionnaire (PSQI) and Morningness–Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ), respectively. Morning blood samples were collected. The methylation status of the circadian rhythm genes was determined via quantitative methylation-specific real-time PCR assays (qMSP) reactions using DNA samples derived from leucocytes. The proportional odds regression model was fitted to quantify the relationship between methylation index (MI) as the dependent variable and sleep quality or sleep duration as the explanatory variable. Analyses were carried out for the total population as well as for subgroups of women stratified by the current system of work (rotating night shift/day work) and chronotype (morning type/intermediate type/evening type). A potential modifying effect of the system of work or the chronotype was examined using the likelihood ratio test. No significant findings were observed in the total study population. Subgroup analyses revealed two statistically significant associations between a shorter sleep duration and 1) methylation level in PER2 among day workers, especially those with the morning chronotype (OR = 2.31, 95%CI:1.24–4.33), and 2) methylation level in CRY2 among subjects with the intermediate chronotype, particularly among day workers (OR = 0.52, 95%CI:0.28–0.96). The study results demonstrated a positive association between average sleep duration of less than 6 hours and the methylation level of PER2 among morning chronotype subjects, and an inverse association for CRY2 among intermediate chronotype subjects, but only among day workers. Both the system of work and the chronotype turned out to be important confounders and modifiers in a number of analyses, making it necessary to consider them as potential covariates in future research on sleep deficiency outcomes. Further studies are warranted to explore this under-investigated topic.     

Late chronotype and high social jetlag are associated with burnout in evening-shift workers: Assessment using the Chinese-version MCTQshift

Chronotypes are associated with shift work tolerance and sleep in shift workers, and sleep mediates the impact of shift work on mental health. However, the role of chronotype in the association between shift work and mental health has not been clarified. In this study, we aimed to examine the association between chronotype and burnout in shift workers, using the validated Munich ChronoType Questionnaire for shift workers (MCTQ^shift). A total of 288 shift workers with irregular shift frequencies were recruited and completed the Chinese-version MCTQ^shift and the Morningness–Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ). Chronotypes were assessed by the calculation of corrected mid-sleep time (MSF_SC) from mid-sleep time on free days (MSF) based on their exact shift schedules. Another 26 evening-shift nurses were monitored with actigraphy for at least two consecutive evening shifts and the following two free days. Burnout was evaluated using the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory. We found that MSF^E_SC, MSF^E and mid-sleep time on workdays (MSW^E) had normal distributions and correlated significantly with MEQ scores (r = ? 0.47, ?0.45 and ?0.47, respectively; all p < 0.001). MSW was more closely correlated with actigraphy-derived mid-sleep time on the free day before workdays than that on workdays (r = 0.61 and 0.48, respectively, p < 0.05). Sleep duration was significantly longer on workdays among evening-shift workers who slept late on workdays than those who slept early (β = 0.59, p < 0.001). After demographic and work characteristics were adjusted for in linear regression models, late chronotype and high social jetlag were associated with burnout scores in evening-shift workers. In conclusion, the Chinese-version MCTQ^shift is a valid tool for chronotype assessment. Interventions to improve sleep in shift workers should be tailored to chronotype due to variations in sleep behavior. Late chronotype may be an inherent feature of mental health problems, because the association with burnout was significant in both day workers in previous studies and shift workers.     

Chronotype and Body Composition in Bipolar Disorder

We explored whether obesity in patients with bipolar disorder is associated with their chronotype. A group of 29 patients with bipolar I disorder, not currently experiencing an affective episode, were assessed for total body fat, mood symptoms, and self-reported circadian chronotype and sleep quality. Chronotype explained 19% of the variance in body fat, after age, sex, mood state, and sleep quality were accounted for. This association suggested that evening chronotype patients have a higher percentage of total body fat. Evening chronotype could be a proxy for as yet unknown specific causes of the high rate of obesity and obesity-related diseases in bipolar disorder.     

The Chinese Morningness-Eveningness-Stability-Scale improved (MESSi): validity,reliability, and associations with sleep quality,personality, affect and life satisfaction

ABSTRACT

Individual differences in time of day preference have important correlates. Morningness is associated with greater well-being, while eveningness is associated with more maladaptive behaviors, psychological distress, and disorder. The availability of valid, reliable, questionnaire scales is central to this ongoing research. The recently developed Morningness–Eveningness-Stability-Scale improved (MESSi) utilizes items from previously established scales to assess the dimensions of Morning Affect (MA), Eveningness (EV), and amplitude of diurnal variation/distinctness (DI). The current study developed a Chinese version of the MESSi scale. A sample of 767 Chinese university students completed the translated MESSi, the reduced Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (rMEQ), and scales assessing sleep quality, positive and negative affect, the big five personality dimensions, and life satisfaction. An independent sample of 80 undergraduates completed the MESSi twice over a 14–19 day period. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis both supported the original three-factor structure of the MESSi, with the subscales of MA, EV, and DI. Internal consistency and test–retest reliability were acceptable/good, and expected correlations with other measures were found, including: MA correlated positively with the rMEQ, conscientiousness, positive affect, and life satisfaction; EV correlated negatively with rMEQ and conscientiousness; DI correlated positively with poor sleep quality, negative affect, and neuroticism. Overall, the results support the validity and reliability of the Chinese version of the MESSi.