Individual differences in shift work tolerance

Shift work is a key feature of our contemporary 24/7 society, employing several successive work teams to sustain around-the-clock operations. However, numerous studies imply that frequently shifting the periods of sleep and wakefulness poses a serious threat to the shift worker’s physical, mental and psychosocial health. One of the major issues related to the adverse consequences of shift work concerns the impact of inter-individual differences. Some workers tolerate shift work well, whereas others develop symptoms of chronic illness.
The aim of this thesis is to investigate shift work tolerance, focused on inter-individual variability in response to shift work and the search for potential baseline predictors, using both cross-sectional and longitudinal data.