title: Structural Properties of Shift Schedules, Employment of Partners, and Their Effects on Workers' Family and Leisure Activities.
abstract: To answer the question whether different properties of workers' shift schedules lead to different psychosocial impairments in different domains, depending on the rigidity of the time schedules imposed by other members of the family, analyses of variance were computed with the employment of the partner (as an example of the restrictions on the time schedule imposed by family members), the presence of children at home, and selected characteristics of the shift schedule as independent variables. The sample consisted of 931 male members of the German police force, with subsamples according to the presence or absence of children and types of partners' employment. The questionnaire data support the hypothesis that characteristics of shift schedules interact with restrictions imposed by the time schedules of other family members in affecting social impairment. Without employment of the partner and the presence of children at home, greater flexibility allows the shift worker to make better use of his hours off work for interaction with his partner or to participate in interest-representation groups, even if the shift system involves compressed working hours or late changeover times on night shift. Consequences for research and for construction of shift schedules are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, FB 5, AE Arbeits-und Organisationspsychologie, Birkenweg 3, D-26111 Oldenburg, Germany. grzech-sukalo@psychologie-uni-oldenburg.de
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Grzech-Sukalo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Nachreiner