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Current recruitment and retention issues within the armed forces draw links with breach of the psychological contract – the dynamics of the employee–employer relationship. Compared with civilian contexts, a military position is unique, however, there is a dearth of conceptual investigation regarding the lived experiences of military personnel, particularly with respect to how such contracts form. This paper combined a phenomenological approach with the critical decision method to investigate the lived experiences informing contract formation and contract trajectory of ex-military personnel. Lived experiences pointed to the formulation of ‘fuzzy’ contracts, impressions from defence force recruitment, specific tipping points around organisational commitment, and large differences between the fidelity of the idealised and actualised self/job. Seven superordinate themes are elicited that trace the formation and trajectory of the contract. A schematised account of findings is developed to provide avenues to investigate how beliefs form in a military contract context and their outcomes.

Sleep deprivation and time of day have been shown to play a critical role in decreasing ability to sustain attention, such as when driving long distances. However, a gap in the literature exists regarding external factors, such as workload. One way to examine workload is via modulating time on task. This study investigated the combined effect of sleep deprivation, time of day, and time on task as a workload factor on driving performance. Twenty-one participants (18–34 years, 10 females) underwent 62 h of sleep deprivation within a controlled laboratory environment. Participants received an 8-h baseline and 9.5-h recovery sleep. Every 8 h, participants completed a Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT), Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS), 30-min monotonous driving task and NASA-Task Load Index (TLX). Driving variables examined were lane deviation, number of crashes, speed deviation and time outside the safe zone. Workload was measured by comparing two 15-min loops of the driving track. A mixed model ANOVA revealed significant main effects of day and time of day on all driving performance measures (p < .001). There was a significant main effect of workload on lane deviation (p < .05), indicating that a longer time on task resulted in greater lane deviation. A significant main effect of day (p < .001) but not time of day for the NASA-TLX, PVT and KSS was found. Time on task has a significant further impact on driving performance and should be considered alongside sleep deprivation and time of day when implementing strategies for long-distance driving.

Objectives: This study examines the impacts of peak summer demand on operator workload and fatigue in a maritime environment. Methods: Participants (n = 12) were senior shipboard personnel who were working during the summer “double sailing” period for a roll-on roll-off ferry service. Wrist actigraphy was used to determine sleep opportunity and sleep duration, as well as prior sleep, total wake time, performance and alertness at the beginning and end of work periods. Results: Contrary to expectations, sleep was significantly greater, and both subjective estimates of fatigue and objective neurobehavioral performance were not impacted negatively by periods of increased work intensity. Conclusions: This study highlights a number of features of a fatigue-risk management system that appear to have been instrumental in ensuring adequate sleep and performance was maintained throughout periods of increased operational intensity. As a simple colloquial description of the fatigue-risk management system at play in this operation, it was fine to “work hard” if you were able to “sleep hard” as well. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

This study investigates the effect of passenger and phone conversations on sleep-restricted driving. Six volunteers (50% male, mean age 24.8 +/- 4.3years) had their sleep restricted to 4h in bed followed by a 20-min simulated drive on three separate occasions. Each drive included either a passenger conversation, a mobile phone conversation or a quiet passenger. The effect size of a phone conversation on lane deviation was large while passenger conversation was small. The main effect of conversation on lane deviation was non-significant (F(2,10)=2.57, p=0.126). Combining sleep-restricted driving with conversations warrants further investigation. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

There is no standard definition of shift work universally, and no validated report of complete biological adjustment to shift work in workers. Similarly, the evidence for shift work tolerance is limited due to a small number of studies and a narrow range of outcome measures. This paper discusses evidence to date regarding individual differences in shift work tolerance and highlights areas for future research and recommendations for workplace practice. The few factors that are consistently associated with perceived or actual shift work tolerance are young age, low scores of morningness or being a late chronotype, low scores of languidity and neuroticism, high scores on extraversion, internal locus of control and flexibility and male sex. An important first step is to differentiate between factors that are potentially modifiable, such as those that are determined by lifestyle choices, and those factors specific to the working time arrangement. Identifying determinants of shift work tolerance and the ability to adjust to shift work, whether they are innate and/or acquired mechanisms, is important so workers who are less likely to tolerate shift work well can be self-identified and supported with appropriate harm/risk minimization strategies. This paper also identifies important areas for future research with the goal of increasing the evidence base on which we can develop evidence-based harm mitigation strategies for shift workers. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

Fatigue is a significant contributor to motor-vehicle accidents and fatalities. Shift workers are particularly susceptible to fatigue-related risks as they are often sleep-restricted and required to commute around the clock. Simple assays of performance could provide useful indications of risk in fatigue management, but their effectiveness may be influenced by changes in their sensitivity to sleep loss across the day. The aim of this study was to evaluate the sensitivity of several neurobehavioral and subjective tasks to sleep restriction (SR) at different circadian phases and their efficacy as predictors of performance during a simulated driving task. Thirty-two volunteers (M +/- SD; 22.8 +/- 2.9 years) were time-isolated for 13-days and participated in one of two 14-h forced desynchrony protocols with sleep opportunities equivalent to 8 h/24 h (control) or 4 h/24 h (SR). At regular intervals during wake periods, participants completed a simulated driving task, several neurobehavioral tasks, including the psychomotor vigilance task (PVT), and subjective ratings, including a self-assessment measure of ability to perform. Scores transformed into standardized units relative to baseline were folded into circadian phase bins based on core body temperature. Sleep dose and circadian phase effect sizes were derived via mixed models analyses. Predictors of driving were identified with regressions. Performance was most sensitive to sleep restriction around the circadian nadir. The effects of sleep restriction around the circadian nadir were larger for simulated driving and neurobehavioral tasks than for subjective ratings. Tasks did not significantly predict driving performance during the control condition or around the acrophase during the SR condition. The PVT and self-assessed ability were the best predictors of simulated driving across circadian phases during SR. These results show that simple performance measures and self-monitoring explain a large proportion of the variance in driving when fatigue-risk is high. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

There is some evidence that short interstimulus intervals (ISIs) on the Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT) are associated with longer and more varied reaction times (RTs). Preparation processes may impede RT following short ISIs, resulting in additional unexplained variance. The aims of this study were to investigate whether there is an effect of ISI on RT and errors within the PVT, and whether such an effect changes with three elements of fatigue: time of day, prior wake and time on task. Twelve male participants completed 49 PVTs across 7× 28 h periods of forced desynchrony. For analysis, RTs, reciprocal reaction times (1/RT), false starts and lapse responses within each 10 min session were assigned to a 1-s ISI group, a 2-min time of task group, a 2.5-h PW level and a 60° phase of the circadian rhythm of core body temperature (as a measure of time of day). Responses following short ISIs (2–5 s) were significantly slower and more varied than responses following longer ISIs (5–10 s). The likelihood of a lapse was also higher for short ISIs, while the probability of a false start increased as a function of ISI. These effects were independent of the influences of time of day, prior wake and time on task. Hence, mixed model ANOVAs comprising only long ISIs (5–10 s) contained stronger effect sizes for fatigue than a model of all ISIs (2–10 s). Including an ISI variable in a model improved the model fit and explained more variance associated with fatigue. Short ISIs resulted in long RTs both in the presence and absence of fatigue, possibly due to preparation processes or ISI conditioning. Hence, omitting short ISI trials from RT means or including an ISI variable in analysis can reduce unwanted variance in PVT data, improving the sensitivity of the PVT to fatigue. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

The impact of sleep restriction on the endogenous circadian rhythms of hunger and satiety were examined in 28 healthy young men. Participants were scheduled to 2 ˆ 24-h days of baseline followed by 8 ˆ 28-h days of forced desynchrony during which sleep was either moderately restricted (equivalent to 6 h in bed/24 h; n = 14) or severely restricted (equivalent to 4 h in bed/24 h;n = 14). Self-reported hunger and satisfaction were assessed every 2.5 h during wake periods using visual analogue scales. Participants were served standardised meals and snacks at regular intervals and were not permitted to eat ad libitum. Core body temperature was continuously recorded with rectal thermistors to determine circadian phase. Both hunger and satiety exhibited a marked endogenous circadian rhythm. Hunger was highest, and satiety was lowest, in the biological evening(i.e., ~17:00–21:00 h) whereas hunger was lowest, and satiety was highest in the biological night(i.e., 01:00–05:00 h). The results are consistent with expectations based on previous reports and may explain in some part the decrease in appetite that is commonly reported by individuals who arerequired to work at night. Interestingly, the endogenous rhythms of hunger and satiety do not appearto be altered by severe—as compared to moderate—sleep restriction Refereed/Peer-reviewed

Around a fifth of all road accidents can be attributed to fatigued drivers. Previous studies indicate that driving performance is influenced by time of day and decreases with sustained wakefulness. However, these influences occur naturally in unison, confounding their effects. Typically, when people drive at a poor time of day and with extended wake, their sleep is also restricted. Hence, the aim of the current study was to determine the independent effects of prior wake and time of day on driving performance under conditions of sleep restriction. The driving performance of fourteen male participants (21.8 ± 3.8 years, mean ±SD) was assessed during a 10 min simulated driving task with speed/lane mean, variability and violations (speeding and crashes) measured. Participants were tested at 2.5 h intervals after waking, across 7 × 28 h days with a sleep:wake ratio of 1:5. By forced desynchrony each driving session occurred at 9 doses of prior wake and within 6 divisions of the circadian cycle based on core body temperature. A mixed models ANOVA revealed significant main effects of circadian phase, prior wake and sleep debt on lane violations. In addition, three significant two-way interactions (circadian phase × prior wake, prior wake × sleep debt, sleep debt × circadian phase) and one three-way interaction (circadian × prior wake × sleep debt) were identified. The presence of the large interaction effects shows that the influence of each factor is largely dependent on the magnitude of the other factors. For example, the presence of the time of day influence on driving performance is dependent on the length of prior wake or the presence of sleep debt. The findings suggest that people are able to undertake a low-difficulty simulated drive safely, at least for a short period, during their circadian nadir provided that they have had sufficient sleep and have not been awake too long. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2015. Includes bibliographical references. Shiftwork and fatigued driving are two current issues of focus in sleep and circadian research. Modern 24-hour society has led to both of these behaviours being highly prevalent and costly in terms of accidents, errors and loss of life. Managing the adverse effect of fatigue depends on our understanding of its determinants and the identification of what constitutes high risk conditions. Questions remain on how the body’s sleep-wake and timekeeping processes combine to bring about observed changes in performance. This thesis investigates the influence of prior wake, sleep loss and time of day, over a wide range of combinations, to map the relative combinations that lead to neurocognitive and driving performance deficits.

Partial sleep deprivation refers to the habitual reduction of sleep duration to a level that produces cognitive, behavioral, and health decrements. Examining the cost of sleep deprivation and the capacity of the body to go without sleep can help policy makers regulate safe working times, as well as providing insight into the functions of sleep and the sleep–wake systems. Selective sleep stage deprivation is the targeted suppression of one stage of sleep to gain insight into its specific purpose or to replicate some sleep disorders such as sleep apnea. This article outlines the methodologies used to investigate partial and selective sleep-stage deprivation in humans and animals, and discusses the neurobehavioral, physiological, and psychosocial consequences of reduced and disrupted sleep.

Conclusions: The performance consequence of sleep restriction in our study was prominent during the biological night, even when the prior wake duration was short, and this performance consequence was in forms of waking state instability. This result is likely due to acute homeostatic sleep pressure remaining high despite the sleep episode. Study Objectives: The homeostatic-circadian regulation of neurobehavioral functioning is not well understood in that the role of sleep dose in relation to prior wake and circadian phase remains largely unexplored. The aim of the present study was to examine the neurobehavioral impact of sleep dose at different combinations of prior wake and circadian phase. Design: A between-participant design involving 2 forced desynchrony protocols varying in sleep dose. Both protocols comprised 7 repetitions of a 28-h sleep/wake cycle. The sleep dose in a standard protocol was 9.33 h per 28-h day and 4.67 h in a sleep-restricted protocol. Setting: A time-isolation laboratory at the Centre for Sleep Research, the University of South Australia. Participants: A total of 27 young healthy males participated in the study with 13 in the standard protocol (age 22.5+- 2.2 y) and 14 in the sleep-restricted protocol (age 21.8 +-3.8 y). Interventions: Wake periods during both protocols were approximately 4 h delayed each 28-h day relative to the circadian system, allowing performance testing at different combinations of prior wake and circadian phase. The manipulation in sleep dose between the 2 protocols, therefore, allowed the impact of sleep dose on neurobehavioral performance to be examined at various combinations of prior wake and circadian phase. Measurements and Results: Neurobehavioral function was assessed using the psychomotor vigilance task (PVT). There was a sleep dose x circadian phase interaction effect on PVT performance such that sleep restriction resulted in slower and more variable response times, predominantly during the biological night. This interaction was not altered by prior wakefulness, as indicated by a nonsignificant sleep dose x circadian phase x prior wake interaction. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

Study Objectives: The state instability hypothesis posits that increasing sleep drive brings about escalating state instability in attention, making neurobehavioral performance increasingly variable. This hypothesis predicts that performance variability is a function of prior wake, circadian phase, and time on task. These predictions have been supported when wakefulness is beyond the habitual wake period. Our study aimed to test these predictions within the habitual wake period. Design: A 12-calendar-day 28-h forced desynchrony protocol consisting of 7 repetitions of a 28-h sleep/wake cycle, with two-thirds time awake and one-third time in bed. Each wake period included 7 equally spaced 1-h testing sessions. Setting: A time-isolation sleep laboratory. Participants: Thirteen young healthy males. Interventions: Wake periods during the protocol were 4 h delayed each 28-h "day" relative to the circadian system, such that they were distributed across the whole circadian cycle. This allowed performance testing at different combinations of prior wake of a habitual length (i.e., < 18 h) and circadian phase. Measurements and Results: Performance variability was indexed by standard deviation of response times within a 10-min psychomotor vigilance task. We found that response times became more variable with increasing wakefulness and towards circadian nadir, i.e., when sleep drive was increasing. These changes in response time variability were however not dependent on time on task, which is likely due to the modest level of sleep drive in our study. Conclusions: The state instability hypothesis, as an explanation for the responsiveness of neurobehavioral performance to increasing sleep drive, is supported during the habitual wake period. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

Shiftworkers are often required to sleep at inappropriate phases of their circadian timekeeping system, with implications for the dynamics of ultradian sleep stages. The independent effects of these changes on cognitive throughput performance are not well understood. This is because the effects of sleep on performance are usually confounded with circadian factors that cannot be controlled under normal day/night conditions. The aim of this study was to assess the contribution of prior wake, core body temperature, and sleep stages to cognitive throughput performance under conditions of forced desynchrony (FD). A total of 11 healthy young adult males resided in a sleep laboratory in which day/night zeitgebers were eliminated and ambient room temperature, lighting levels, and behavior were controlled. The protocol included 2 training days, a baseline day, and 7 × 28-h FD periods. Each FD period consisted of an 18.7-h wake period followed by a 9.3-h rest period. Sleep was assessed using standard polysomnography. Core body temperature and physical activity were assessed continuously in 1-min epochs. Cognitive throughput was measured by a 5-min serial addition and subtraction (SAS) task and a 90-s digit symbol substitution (DSS) task. These were administered in test sessions scheduled every 2.5 h across the wake periods of each FD period. On average, sleep periods had a mean (± standard deviation) duration of 8.5 (±1.2) h in which participants obtained 7.6 (±1.4) h of total sleep time. This included 4.2 (±1.2) h of stage 1 and stage 2 sleep (S1-S2 sleep), 1.6 (±0.6) h of slow-wave sleep (SWS), and 1.8 (±0.6) h of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. A mixed-model analysis with five covariates indicated significant fixed effects on cognitive throughput for circadian phase, prior wake time, and amount of REM sleep. Significant effects for S1-S2 sleep and SWS were not found. The results demonstrate that variations in core body temperature, time awake, and amount of REM sleep are associated with changes in cognitive throughput performance. The absence of significant effect for SWS may be attributable to the truncated range of sleep period durations sampled in this study. However, because the mean and variance for SWS were similar to REM sleep, these results suggest that cognitive throughput may be more sensitive to variations in REM sleep than SWS. Read More: http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/07420528.2010.488621 Refereed/Peer-reviewed

Neurobehavioral function deteriorates with increasing homeostatic sleep pressure during wakefulness. It has been claimed that some individuals exhibit a quicker rate of such deterioration than others, thus being more vulnerable than others to the detrimental impact of increasing homeostatic sleep pressure. Evidence supporting the claim, however, has been limited by methodological issues. To overcome these limitations, the current study used a 12-calendar-day, 28-h forced desynchrony (FD) protocol (sleep:wake period = 1:2) to study individual differences in the rate of change in neurobehavioral performance with increasing homeostatic sleep pressure. Neurobehavioral performance was assessed with a psychomotor vigilance task and a serial addition subtraction task. A significant performance decline on both tasks was revealed within as short as 17 h of wakefulness. The rates of decline of individual performance trajectories were, however, not different from the group average rate. This suggests that individuals are not differentially vulnerable to the detrimental impact of increasing homeostatic sleep pressure.

Refereed/Peer-reviewed