The effect of shift work on behavioral addictions

Although behavioral addiction causes negative consequences, especially in physical, social, psychological and economic issues, it can be defined as excessive and repetitive behavior, excessive desire for behavior and loss of control over behavior. Biopsychosocial factors play a role in the etiology of behavioral addictions, similar to alcohol and substance use disorders. One hundred day workers and one hundred shift workers without any history of organic disease who applied to Fırat University Hospital Mental Health and Diseases polyclinic for examination in 2024 were included in the research. Sociodemographic and clinical data form, South Oaks Gambling Screen Test (SOKTT), Internet Addiction Scale (IAS), Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Form (SAS-SF), Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS), Exercise Addiction Scale (EAS), Compulsive Online Buying Scale (COBS), Barrat Impulsivity Scale-11 Short Form (BIS-11-SF) and Workload Scale were administered to the participants. While the SAS-SF (p=0.008) and BIS-11-SF (p=0.013) scores of the day workers group were significantly higher than the shiftworkers group, the workload scale (p=0.006) score was significantly lower. The IAS (p=0.006) and BSMAS (p=0.016) scores of singles were found to be significantly higher than the scores of married people. The SOCTT (p=0.001) and BIS-11-SF (p=0.023) scores of those who consumed alcohol were significantly higher than the scores of those who did not consume alcohol. The SOCTT (p=0.001) score of smokers was found to be significantly higher than the score of non-smokers. As a result, findings have been found that there may be a relationship between some behavioral addictions and shift work, workload, impulsivity and a number of sociodemographic variables. The contribution of the findings to the literature is important because there are very few studies investigating the relationship between factors such as shift work, workload, and impulsivity with behavioral addictions. Keywords: Internet, Gambling, Smartphone, Social Media, Workload