Loneliness and social support in shift work employees

Loneliness, a discrepancy between the desired quantity and quality of one’s relationships and their current relationships, has been connected to increases in mortality, as well as lower job performance, reduced job satisfaction, and increased burnout. However more recent studies indicate that the recipient may not always perceive the support as beneficial, resulting in “unhelpful social support. The present study examined how helpful and unhelpful social support relate to loneliness among healthcare shift workers, a population that may be prone to fatigue and health risks. I hypothesized that helpful support would be negatively related to loneliness and that unhelpful support would be positively related and that these relationships would be moderated by shift. Results supported the hypotheses regarding the relationships between both kinds of support and loneliness, but the moderating effect of shift on the relationship between any form of support and loneliness was not supported.