Workplace bullying and sleep problems are more connected than many realize. New research suggests that bullying at work doesn’t just affect employees during the day but can also disrupt their sleep at night. Even more surprisingly, these sleep problems can extend to their partners, creating a ripple effect beyond the workplace.
Looking at the Research
A study from the University of East Anglia, Complutense University of Madrid, and Seville University followed two groups of participants to better understand how workplace bullying affects sleep over time. The first study tracked 147 employees over five days, while the second monitored 139 couples over a two-month period. Participants reported their experiences with workplace bullying, their tendency to ruminate on work-related anger, and their sleep quality.
The researchers found that workplace bullying was linked to increased sleep disturbances, including difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, and waking up too early. However, the effects of bullying on sleep were not immediate; they intensified over time, supporting the idea that stress accumulates and leads to prolonged strain on sleep health.
Interestingly, the study also identified that partners of bullied employees were indirectly affected, with their sleep quality declining as well. This suggests that sleep disruptions caused by workplace bullying may spread within households, further amplifying the negative consequences of these experiences.
Examining Sleep Health
Researchers used a three-factor model based on a Spanish validation study to gain a deeper understanding of how workplace bullying affects sleep. This model, which provided a better fit than a single summed score, analyzed sleep disturbances through three distinct components:
- Sleep Severity – Examining difficulties in falling asleep, staying asleep, and waking up too early.
- Sleep Satisfaction – Measuring how satisfied individuals are with their overall sleep quality.
- Sleep Impact – Assessing how sleep disturbances interfere with daily life, including their noticeability, distress, and impact on functioning.
By breaking sleep quality into these components, the researchers were able to better understand the nuanced ways in which workplace bullying contributes to different aspects of insomnia.
When Work Stress Follows You Home
For employees experiencing frequent nighttime awakenings, their partners were also more likely to wake up during the night. The study found:
- The severity of an employee’s sleep issues was directly linked to their partner’s sleep problems.
- Sleep disturbances were more likely to be shared between partners, particularly when one person struggled with frequent awakenings.
- However, overall sleep satisfaction remained independent, meaning partners might experience the same disruptions but perceive their sleep quality differently.
These findings highlight how stress from workplace bullying doesn’t just affect the individual — it can have a ripple effect on their personal lives as well.
Sleep Problems Get Worse Over Time
The study also found that workplace bullying has an accumulating effect on sleep problems. In the short-term study, bullying indirectly contributed to sleep disturbances through rumination — employees who dwelled on workplace mistreatment had more trouble sleeping. In the long-term study, bullying had a direct impact on sleep severity. Showing that chronic exposure to bullying leads to worsening sleep problems, even without continued rumination. This suggests that the longer an employee is exposed to workplace bullying, the more their sleep health deteriorates. Making it even harder to recover from stress.
The Bigger Picture
This research sheds new light on how workplace stressors extend beyond the work environment. Sleep disturbances caused by bullying can lead to long-term health issues, decreased work performance, and even strained relationships. By understanding the lasting impact of workplace mistreatment on sleep, this study provides important insights into how work stress doesn’t just stay at work. It follows employees home, influencing their well-being and their personal lives.
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