Psychological Distress and Sleep Disturbance Among Female Nurses: Anxiety or Depression?

Introduction: Sleep quality is an important issue in nurses’ mental and general health. Long-term psychological distress leads to increased sleep disturbances among nurses. However, which forms of psychological distress are most associated with sleep disturbances is unclear among female nurses. Methodology: To determine which psychological distress factors are associated with sleep disturbances among female nurses. A total of 119 female Taiwanese nurses were recruited and surveyed using the Occupational Stress Indicator–2, Beck Anxiety Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory–II, and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Results: Overall, 68.9% of the nurses were poor sleepers, and 20.2% and 11.7% of them had more than moderate levels of anxiety and depression, respectively. A logistic regression analysis showed that sleep disturbances were associated with higher levels of depression and poorer general health. Discussion: Compared with anxiety, depression more heavily influences sleep disturbances among female nurses. Depression prevention should thus be a focus of mental health promotion for female nurses.