Social support moderates the relationship between stressors and task performance through self-efficacy

This study examined the relationship between social support and objective task performance in a field setting. A sample of 197 participants, mean age 23.13 years (SD 3.56) completed measures of stressors, social support, and self-efficacy prior to performance. Moderated hierarchical regression analysis revealed significant(p < .05) main effects for stressors (R2 = .12) and social support (ΔR2 = .14) in relation to performance, in the hypothesized directions. A significant interaction (ΔR2 = .06) suggested that social support moderated (buffered) the relationship between stressors and task performance. Moderated mediation analysis demonstrated that social support was associated with increases in self-efficacy, and self-efficacy was associated with enhanced performance, but that this effect was only salient at moderate to high levels of stressors

Working conditions and Work-Family Conflict in German hospital physicians: psychosocial and organisational predictors and consequences

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Germany currently experiences a situation of major physician attrition. The incompatibility between work and family has been discussed as one of the major reasons for the increasing departure of German physicians for non-clinical occupations or abroad. This study investigates predictors for one particular direction of Work-Family Conflict – namely work interfering with family conflict (WIF) – which are located within the psychosocial work environment or work organisation of hospital physicians. Furthermore, effects of WIF on the individual physicians' physical and mental health were examined. Analyses were performed with an emphasis on gender differences. Comparisons with the general German population were made.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data were collected by questionnaires as part of a study on <it>Psychosocial work hazards and strains of German hospital physicians </it>during April–July 2005. Two hundred and ninety-six hospital physicians (response rate 38.9%) participated in the survey. The Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ), work interfering with family conflict scale (WIF), and hospital-specific single items on work organisation were used to assess WIF, its predictors, and consequences.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>German hospital physicians reported elevated levels of WIF (mean = 74) compared to the general German population (mean = 45, <it>p </it>< .01). No significant gender difference was found. Predictors for the WIF were lower age, high quantitative demands at work, elevated number of days at work despite own illness, and consequences of short-notice changes in the duty roster. Good sense of community at work was a protective factor. Compared to the general German population, we observed a significant higher level of quantitative work demands among hospital physicians (mean = 73 vs. mean = 57, <it>p </it>< .01). High values of WIF were significantly correlated to higher rates of personal burnout, behavioural and cognitive stress symptoms, and the intention to leave the job. In contrast, low levels of WIF predicted higher job satisfaction, better self-judged general health status, better work ability, and higher satisfaction with life in general. Compared to the German general population, physicians showed significantly higher levels of individual stress and quality of life as well as lower levels for well-being. This has to be judged as an alerting finding regarding the state of physicians' health.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In our study, work interfering with family conflict (WIF) as part of Work-Family Conflict (WFC) was highly prevalent among German hospital physicians. Factors of work organisation as well as factors of interpersonal relations at work were identified as significant predictors for WIF. Some of these predictors are accessible to alteration by improving work organisation in hospitals.</p

Alcohol use and misuse: What are the contributions of occupation and work organization conditions?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This research examines the specific contribution of occupation and work organization conditions to alcohol use and misuse. It is based on a social-action model that takes into account agent personality, structures of daily life, and macro social structures.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data come from a representative sample of 10,155 workers in Quebec, Canada. Multinomial regression models corrected for sample design effect have been used to predict low-risk and high-risk drinking compared to non-drinkers. The contribution of occupation and work organization conditions (skill used, decision authority, physical and psychological demands, hours worked, irregular work schedule, harassment, unionization, job insecurity, performance pay, prestige) have been adjusted for family situation, social network outside the workplace, and individual characteristics.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Compared to non-qualified blue-collars, both low-risk and high-risk drinking are associated with qualified blue-collars, semi-qualified white-collars, and middle managers; high-risk drinking is associated with upper managers. For constraints-resources related to work organization conditions, only workplace harassment is an important determinant of both low-risk and high-risk drinking, but it is modestly moderated by occupation. Family situation, social support outside work, and personal characteristics of individuals are also associated with alcohol use and misuse. Non-work factors mediated/suppressed the role of occupation and work organization conditions.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Occupation and workplace harassment are important factors associated with alcohol use and misuse. The results support the theoretical model conceptualizing alcohol use and misuse as being the product of stress caused by constraints and resources brought to bear simultaneously by agent personality, structures of daily life, and macro social structures. Occupational alcohol researchers must expand their theoretical perspectives to avoid erroneous conclusions about the specific role of the workplace.</p

Work-Related Mental Health and Job Performance: Can Mindfulness Help?

Work-related mental health issues such as work-related stress and addiction to work impose a significant health and economic burden to the employee, the employing organization, and the country of work more generally. Interventions that can be empirically shown to improve levels of work-related mental health – especially those with the potential to concurrently improve employee levels of work performance – are of particular interest to occupational stakeholders. One such broad-application interventional approach currently of interest to occupational stakeholders in this respect is mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs). Following a brief explication of the mindfulness construct, this paper critically discusses current research directions in the utilization of mindfulness in workplace settings and assesses its suitability for operationalization as an organization-level work-related mental health intervention. By effecting a perceptual-shift in the mode of responding and relating to sensory and cognitive-affective stimuli, employees that undergo mindfulness training may be able to transfer the locus of control for stress from external work conditions to internal metacognitive and attentional resources. Therefore, MBIs may constitute cost-effective organization-level interventions due to not actually requiring any modifications to human resource management systems and practises. Based on preliminary empirical findings and on the outcomes of MBI studies with clinical populations, it is concluded that MBIs appear to be viable interventional options for organizations wishing to improve the mental health of their employees

Sukob radnih i obiteljskih uloga i zadovoljstva u medicinskih sestara u Hrvatskoj s različitim sustavima smjenskoga rada

The objective of this study was to examine the perception of conflict between work and family roles and job, family, and life satisfaction among nurses in Croatia. One hundred and twenty-nine nurses (married mothers) working in hospitals in Zadar, Šibenik, and Split were divided in four groups according to their worktime schedule. The participants completed a survey, which included a set of sociodemographic-type questions, questions about the level and allocation of family responsibilities between spouses, and scales measuring the perceived negative effects of worktime, psychological demands of the work, work-family conflict, and semantic differential scales for measuring the affective and cognitive-evaluative component of job, family, and life satisfaction. This was the first study in Croatia to deal with work-family conflict among nurses or workers with different shift systems. The results of this study indicate that nurses working morning shifts only experienced less conflict between work and family than other groups of nurses, who worked the morning, afternoon, and the night shift. The cognitive-evaluative component of job satisfaction was the highest among morning shift nurses and the lowest in nurses who worked 12-hour shifts, while the affective component of life satisfaction was the lowest in nurses working irregular and backward rotated shifts. These results confi rm that shiftwork makes the work-family role conflict even worse. They also support the view that the type of shift rotation matters.Cilj je ovoga istraživanja bio ispitati percepciju sukoba između radnih i obiteljskih uloga i radno, obiteljsko i životno zadovoljstvo kod medicinskih sestara s obzirom na različite vrste organizacije radnoga vremena. 129 udatih medicinskih sestara majki koje rade u bolnicama u Zadru, Šibeniku i Splitu podijeljeno je u 4 skupine s obzirom na vrstu organizacije radnoga vremena. Sudionice su ispunile upitnik koji je uključivao set pitanja sociodemografskoga tipa, pitanja o količini i raspodjeli obiteljskih odgovornosti među supružnicima i skale koje mjere percipirane negativne efekte radnoga vremena, psihološke zahtjeve posla, sukob između radne i obiteljske uloge te skale semantičkoga diferencijala za mjerenje afektivne i kognitivnoevaluativne komponente radnog i obiteljskog zadovoljstva i života općenito. Ovo je prvo istraživanje provedeno u Hrvatskoj u kojem je ispitivan sukob radne i obiteljske uloge kod medicinskih sestara ili općenito radnika s različitim sustavima smjenskoga rada. Rezultati pokazuju da sestre koje rade u stalnim jutarnjim smjenama doživljavaju manje sukoba zbog ometajućih utjecaja rada na obitelj od grupe medicinskih sestara koje su radile u tri smjene (u koje je uključena noćna smjena). Kognitivno-evaluativna komponenta zadovoljstva poslom bila je najviša kod medicinskih sestara s jutarnjim smjenama, a najniža kod onih koje su radile u 12-satnim smjenama. Afektivna komponenta zadovoljstva životom bila je najniža kod medicinskih sestara koje su radile u iregularnim i unatrag rotiranim smjenama. Ovi su rezultati dodatan pokazatelj različitih i više ili manje negativnih efekata smjenskoga rada na sukob između radnih i obiteljskih uloga te dodatno upozoravaju na važnost uzimanja u obzir vrste rotacije smjena

Childbearing and Economic Work: The Health Balance of Women in Accra, Ghana

Objectives: This study aims to investigate (1) whether the health of working women with young children differs from that of working women without young children, and (2) which social factors mediate the relationship between economic and maternal role performance and health among mothers with young children. Methods: The analyses uses panel data from 697 women present in both waves of the Women's Health Study for Accra (WHSA-I and WHSA-II); a community based study of women aged 18 years and older in the Accra Metropolitan Area of Ghana conducted in 2003 and 2008-2009. Change in physical and mental health between the survey waves is compared between women with a biological child alive at WHSA-II and born since WHSA-I and women without a living biological child at WHSA-II born in the interval. To account for attrition between the two survey waves selection models were used with unconditional change score models being used as the outcome model. Results: We found in our sample of working women that those who had a child born between WHSA-I and WHSA-II who was still alive at WHSA-II did not experience a change in mental or physical health different from other women. Among working women with young children, educational status, relationship to the household head and household demography were associated with change in mental health at the 5 % level, whilst migration status and household demography was associated with change in physical health scores. Conclusion: The results suggest there are no health penalties of combining work and childbearing among women with young children in Accra, Ghana

High rates of burnout among maternal health staff at a referral hospital in Malawi: A cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Burnout among maternal healthcare workers in sub-Saharan Africa may have a negative effect on services provided and efforts to mitigate high maternal mortality rates. In Malawi, research on burnout is limited and no empirical research has been conducted specifically among maternal health staff. Therefore, the aims of the study were to examine the prevalence and degree of burnout reported by healthcare workers who provide antenatal, intrapartum, and postnatal services in a district referral hospital in Malawi; and, to explore factors that may influence the level of burnout healthcare workers experience.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In the current cross-sectional study, levels of burnout among staff working in obstetrics and gynaecology at a referral hospital in Malawi were examined, in addition to individual and job characteristics that may be associated with burnout.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In terms of the three dimensions of burnout, of the 101 participants, nearly three quarters (72%) reported emotional exhaustion, over one third (43%) reported depersonalization while almost three quarters (74%) experienced reduced personal accomplishment.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Based on these findings, burnout appears to be common among participating maternal health staff and they experienced more burnout than their colleagues working in other medical settings and countries. Further research is needed to identify factors specific to Malawi that contribute to burnout in order to inform the development of prevention and treatment within the maternal health setting.</p