Meagan Crowther

The current research aims to examine longitudinal changes in health behaviours in a commencing shift work cohort. Thereby, allowing for investigation of impact of commencing shift work on health behaviours. A second aim is to investigate psychosocial determinants of health behaviours in shift workers, through the development and validation of a Health Belief Model for Shift Workers scale. Developing a metric which allows for the analysis of associations between psychosocial determinants and health behaviours in shift workers will allow for the identification of patterns and risk factors that may signify which shift workers are at risk for poorer health behaviours.

Shift workers are at increased risk of poor health outcomes, indicating a need for interventions which mitigate these risks. It is anticipated that this research will present significant new knowledge by measuring, longitudinally, the changes in health behaviours as an individual commences shift work. This, in combination with the development of a metric to understand psychosocial determinants of health behaviours in shift workers, will provide the foundations for future interventions aimed at improving health behaviours and consequently, health outcomes in shift workers.