How are work engagement and workplace psychological safety related to sleep complaints in Japanese elementary school teachers? A nationwide cross-sectional study.

Aim: Teachers experience a heavy workload and mental stress, which contributes to significant sleep problems. This study investigated the relationships between sleep complaints (sleep induction, awakenings during the night, poor overall quality of sleep, and sleepiness during the day), work engagement, and workplace psychological safety in public elementary school teachers in Japan.

Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among 96,421 elementary school teachers in Japan. Participants reported on their sleep complaints, work engagement, workplace psychological safety, and demographic and work-related characteristics (age, sex, and years of experience, working hours per day). Multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationships between work engagement, workplace psychological safety, and sleep complaints.

Results: The study confirmed the high prevalence of sleep complaints among Japanese elementary school teachers. Both work engagement and workplace psychological safety were negatively associated with sleep complaints. Specifically, teachers working more than 13 h a day were significantly more likely to report complaints related to sleep induction and awakenings during the night. After adjusting for the confounding effects of working hours, the associations between work engagement, workplace psychological safety, and sleep complaints remained statistically significant.

Conclusion: The findings suggest that addressing teachers' sleep complaints requires not only alleviating workload but also fostering a supportive organizational environment that promotes work engagement and workplace psychological safety. These insights can inform the development of policies and support measures to improve teachers' working conditions and overall well-being.