“SPIRITUALITY’S IMPACT ON WORK ENGAGEMENT AND WELL-BEING AMONG RELIGIOUS SISTERS: A CASE STUDY OF COPING STRATEGIES AND SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING IN THE WORKPLACE”

ABSTRACT

THE ADVERSE IMPACT OF SLEEP PROBLEMS ON CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS’ HEALTH AND  DEVELOPMENT RAISES CONCERN IN THE COMMUNITY. ALTHOUGH SOME STUDIES HAVE EXAMINED  THE ASSOCIATION OF SLEEP PROBLEMS WITH BEHAVIOURAL PROBLEMS AND ACADEMIC  PERFORMANCE, FEW HAVE BEEN DONE IN MACAU, ESPECIALLY FOR THE CHILDREN POPULATION AND  REGARDING ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE. HENCE, THE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF THE PRESENT STUDY WAS  TO IDENTIFY SLEEP PROBLEMS OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS IN MACAU AND EXPLORE ITS  RELATIONSHIP WITH BEHAVIOURAL PROBLEMS AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE. 948 PARTICIPANTS  (466 CHILDREN AND 482 ADOLESCENTS) FROM MACAU WERE INCLUDED IN THE STUDY. DATA WAS  COLLECTED USING THE ACHENBACH SYSTEM OF EMPIRICALLY BASED ASSESSMENT (ASEBA)  FORMS: CBCL, TRF AND YSR. CHILDREN SLEEP PROBLEMS WERE ASSESSED BY THE REPORTS OF  MOTHER AND FATHER, IN ADDITION SELF-REPORT WAS ALSO INCLUDED TO MEASURE ADOLESCENTS  SLEEP PROBLEMS. BEHAVIOURAL PROBLEMS WERE REPORTED BY MOTHER, FATHER AND TEACHER FOR  CHILDREN, AS WELL AS SELF-REPORT FOR ADOLESCENTS. ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE WAS THE AVERAGE  OF TEACHER’S RATING OF ALL ACADEMIC SUBJECTS. THE PREVALENCE OF SLEEP PROBLEMS WAS  10.1% IN CHILDREN AND 17.4% IN ADOLESCENTS. THE RESULTS SHOWED SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE  BETWEEN CHILDREN’S SLEEP PROBLEMS AND THEIR MOTHER AND FATHER-REPORTED TOTAL  BEHAVIOURAL PROBLEMS, BUT NOT WITH TEACHER-REPORTED TOTAL BEHAVIOURAL PROBLEMS.  HOWEVER, WHEREAS THE T-TEST FOUND THAT ADOLESCENT’S SLEEP PROBLEMS SIGNIFICANTLY  PREDICTED ALL INFORMANTS REPORTED TOTAL BEHAVIOURAL PROBLEMS, THE CHI-SQUARE TEST FOUND  NO SIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE TWO FACTORS IN TEACHER’S RATINGS, SUGGESTING THAT  WHILE ADOLESCENTS WHO HAD MORE SLEEP PROBLEMS DID SHOW A HIGHER FREQUENCY OF TOTAL  BEHAVIOURAL PROBLEMS IN THE TEACHER’S PERSPECTIVE, BUT THEY MAY NOT BE SEVERE ENOUGH  TO BE CONSIDERED CLINICAL. IN ADDITION, SIGNIFICANT ASSOCIATION BETWEEN ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AND SLEEP PROBLEMS WERE ONLY OBSERVED IN CHILDREN BUT NOT IN ADOLESCENTS;  AND NO SIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIP WAS FOUND BETWEEN SLEEP PROBLEMS AND GRADE RETENTION.  FINDINGS PROVIDED FURTHER SUPPORT FOR SOME ASSOCIATIONS OF SLEEP PROBLEMS WITH  BEHAVIOURAL PROBLEMS AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE. IN GENERAL, THE FINDINGS OF MACAU  WERE SIMILAR TO THOSE IN OTHER COUNTRIES. GIVEN THAT CHRONIC SLEEP PROBLEMS CREATE  MULTIPLE NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES TO STUDENTS’ LIVES, PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS ARE PROVIDED  TO HELP LOWER IT THROUGH THE COLLABORATION BETWEEN PARTIES, EDUCATION ABOUT SLEEP  HYGIENE AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF HEALTHY SLEEPING HABITS.  KEYWORDS: SLEEP PROBLEMS; BEHAVIOURAL PROBLEMS; ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE; CHILDREN;  ADOLESCENTS