The relationship among sleep reactivity, job-related stress, and subjective cognitive dysfunction: a cross-sectional study using path analysis

Insomnia, job-related stress, and cognitive dysfunction affect the mental health of workers. However, the relationships among sleep reactivity, job-related stress, and subjective cognitive dysfunction in workers remains not fully understood. Therefore, this study seeks to investigate the relationships among these variables in Japanese adult workers. In total, 536 adult workers in Japan were evaluated using the Japanese version of Ford Insomnia Response to Stress Test, Brief Job Stress Questionnaire, and Cognitive Complaints in Bipolar Disorder Rating Assessment to assess sleep reactivity, job-related stress, and subjective cognitive function, respectively. Path analysis was also carried out. The results of the path analysis showed that sleep reactivity significantly influenced on subjective cognitive dysfunction directly and indirectly via job stressors and stress reaction. Our results may not be generalizable to underage workers because only adult workers were included, which is a limitation of this study. The results of the present study suggest that job-related stress mediates the effect of sleep reactivity on subjective cognitive dysfunction in Japanese adult workers. This underscores the need to evaluate the mediating effect of job-related stress in addressing the subjective cognitive dysfunction associated with insomnia in workers.