Self-Care Practices as a Mediator between Workaholism and Sleep–Wake Problems during COVID-19

Self-care practices are considered an important resource for workers ' psychophysical well-being. These resources were especially relevant during the COVID-19 outbreak, during which both workaholism and sleep-wake problems were documented. Our study aimed to examine whether workaholism could predict sleep-wake quality through the mediating effects of self-care practices. A convenient sample of 405 Italian workers (71.1% females; mean age = 42.58 +/- 10.68 years) completed the Self-Care Practices Scale, Mini-Sleep Questionnaire, and Working Excessively and Working Compulsively Scale during the first lockdown in Italy in 2020. The main results showed that workaholism directly affected sleep-wake quality, suggesting that high levels of workaholism increased the likelihood of sleep-wake problems being reported. At the same time, people with high levels of workaholism reported scarce use of self-care practices and, in turn, lower sleep-wake quality. Our findings confirm the importance of monitoring the quality of life at work to protect workers ' sleep-wake cycle quality and investing in self-care. Both individual and organizational efforts can help break the vicious cycle of workaholism and sleep-wake disorders.