Shiftwork locus of control: Scale development

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Abstract
Shiftwork is a significant feature of occupational life for many people. It can have disruptive effects on sleep, health, social activity and performance. It is likely that beliefs about personal control will influence the individual-shiftwork relationship. This paper has two aims; first, to put forward the thesis that shiftwork-specific personal control expectancies may moderate the disruptive impact of shiftwork, and second, to report the development and preliminary validation of a shiftwork-specific locus of control scale. The scale demonstrated satisfactory psychominary qualities in terms of factor structure, internal reliability, construct validity and test-retest reliability. Variables associated with better coping with shiftwork such as alertness, flexibility of sleeping habits and the structured use of time correlated positively with shiftwork locus of control. In contrast, shiftwork locus of control was found to be inversely related to shiftwork problems such as sleep disturbance, poor mental well-being and work stress.