Sweet Dreams Are Made of This: A Person-Centered Approach Toward Understanding the Role of Sleep in Chronic Fatigue

Previous studies show that sleep is essential in preventing symptoms related to chronic levels of fatigue. In the present study, we move beyond the traditional variable-centered approach and adopt a person-centered approach by considering antecedents and outcomes of sleep profiles. Specifically, we consider job characteristics (i.e., workload, job control, and their interaction) as predictors of sleep profiles and indicators of chronic fatigue (i.e., prolonged fatigue and burnout) as outcomes. In establishing sleep profiles, we consider levels as well as the variability of the sleep dimensions across a week. Based on daily diary data from 296 Indonesian employees, the present article uses latent profile analysis to identify sleep profiles based on both weekly averages of several sleep dimensions (i.e., sleep quality, fragmentation, duration, bedtime, and wake-up time) and their intraindividual variability. Moreover, it explores the relationship between the identified profiles to prolonged fatigue and burnout 2 weeks later as outcomes, as well as to baseline workload, job control, and their interaction as predictors. We find four different profiles ("Average Sleepers," "Deep Owls," "Short Sleep Compensators," and "Restless Erratic Sleepers"). While workload, job control, and their interaction could not predict profile membership, these profiles relate differently to prolonged fatigue and burnout. As such, our study shows the importance of understanding the combination of sleep levels and variability across a week through sleep profiles, and how they differentially relate to symptoms of chronic fatigue. Our findings also highlight the need to study indicators of sleep variability alongside sleep levels.