Citation

Craig A, Tran Y, Wijesuriya N, Boord P. Biol. Psychol. 2006; 72(1): 78-87.

Affiliation

Department of Health Sciences, University of Technology, P.O. Box 123 Broadway, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia. a.craig@uts.edu.au

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.biopsycho.2005.07.005

PMID

16137817

Abstract

Driver fatigue is associated with risks of road accidents that result in injury and death. Research has been limited by several issues such as confusion over definitions, how best to measure fatigue, and the contribution of psychological factors to fatigue. This study addressed these limitations by investigating the relationship between psychological factors and fatigue. Participants were assessed and were required to perform a monotonous task till they tired. Results found few psychological factors to be related to physiological and performance decrement fatigue outcome measures. However, psychological factors were found to correlate consistently with self-reported fatigue. The results suggest that fatigue is associated with a predisposition to be anxious, depressive, less self-assured, more conscientious (rule bound), less socially bold, less adaptable and low vigour. The results indicate that future research should employ a range of fatigue outcome measures in order to best understand what factors contribute to fatigue.

Language: en