Research

Mixed

Working quick returns (less than 11 hours between shifts) is not associated with increased anxiety or depression.

While quick returns significantly increase your risk of sleep disorders, they do not appear to directly increase your risk of anxiety or depression. Focus on managing your sleep and fatigue rather than assuming your mental health struggles are directly caused by your schedule.

GoodRefutesHIGH confidence
Anxiety and depression were not related to working quick returns.
Maria Fagerbakke Eldevik et al. · PLoS ONE · 2013

Why this rating

Large sample size and adjusted analyses, though cross-sectional design limits causal inference.

Source

Insomnia, Excessive Sleepiness, Excessive Fatigue, Anxiety, Depression and Shift Work Disorder in Nurses Having Less than 11 Hours in-Between Shifts

Maria Fagerbakke Eldevik et al. · PLoS ONE · 2013

DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0070882

cross_sectional · n=1990Cited 253×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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