Chronic, but not acute, fatigue predicts self-reported attentional driving errors in mothers attending infant children

Abstract

Mothers attending infant children usually experience high levels of fatigue, and fatigue has been shown to be related to car crashes through attentional errors, among other causes. The current study investigates the effects of fatigue on the attentional errors while driving of women attending infant children. A sample of 112 women—67 attending infant children and 45 not attending—filled out self-report questionnaires assessing acute fatigue, chronic fatigue, and attention-related driving errors. A mediational analysis showed that women attending infant children had higher levels of fatigue, and that chronic fatigue, but not acute fatigue, was related to attentional errors while driving.

New Parents and Driver Safety: What's Sleep Got to Do with it? A Systematic Review

“…A key metric for assessing fatigue-related driving is the performance of the task itself, including attention related errors, lane deviation, and harsh braking. Despite the importance of these metrics, just three studies included an assessment of driver performance, though measurement strategies vary widely and make comparison difficult (Harpham et al 2015;Sánchez-García et al, 2019;Sedgley et al, 2012). In addition, driving performance data collected in the 6-8 weeks post-birth (Harpham et al 2015;Sedgley et al, 2012), may be confounded by physical recovery post-birth.…”

“…This study found that those who had reported a crash or near miss reported poorer sleep outcomes, in addition to greater rates of having fallen asleep while driving in the past (Malish & Arastu, 2016). Another study showed that 6% of women attending infant children (i.e., caregivers of children) reported having had a 'driving incident' since the birth of their childthough the definition of 'driving incident' is unclear (Sánchez-García et al, 2019). Study 2 of the Mackenzie (2016b) thesis asked 137 new mothers to report how frequently they had experienced a range of impairment related incidents since the birth of their child.…”

“…Three studies included measures of driving performance (Harpham et al 2015;Sánchez-García et al, 2019;Sedgley, Rickard, & Morris, 2012). One study compared self-reported attention-related driving errors in samples of new mothers and controls (women with either no children or children aged > 6 years), and found similar rates of errors, despite seeing far higher rates of daytime fatigue in new mothers (Sánchez-García et al, 2019). Just one study investigated driving performance using a driving simulator with a population of new mothers.…”

“…Four studies included subjective reports of vehicle crashes (Mackenzie, 2016b;Malish & Arastu, 2016;Sánchez-García et al, 2019;Sedgley et al, 2012). One study compared groups of new parents who had, and had not, experienced a near miss or motor vehicle crash.…”

The Relationship between Fatigue in Mothers and the Age of Their Less-Than-24-Month-Old Newborns

“…One important issue that must be addressed is the duration of the fatigue suffered by mothers during the first few months of raising the infant. This fatigue is, in part, a product of the lack of sleep associated with the infant’s feeding, care and sleep rhythm—since the newborn’s sleep rhythms are not yet well-established and their needs for food, affection, cleanliness and activity are not synchronized with the rhythms of the parents—and also with other factors that can cause the fatigue to become chronic [ 20 ] and evolve into other, more serious problems such as chronic stress or depression [ 21 , 22 ]. Thus, although mothers’ may sleep for longer once the infant matures, the pressure of the abovementioned tasks—which had been postponed because they were regarded as less urgent—is still present, delaying the recovery from fatigue beyond the first few months.…”