A study of the side effects of Pandemrix influenza (H1N1) vaccine after whole-crew vaccination on board a Norwegian naval vessel

Background: The frigate His Norwegian Majesty’s ship (HNoMS) Fridtjof Nansen was participating in operations in the Gulf of Aden in support of the EU mission tasked with protecting vessels from the threat of piracy. The crew was therefore prioritized and given the first batch of Influenza A (H1N1) vaccine (Pandemrix®). Objectives: To investigate the type, frequency, and intensity of side effects after whole-crew vaccination with Pandemrix vaccine in healthy subjects in a controlled environment. Material and methods. A hundred and thirty-three members of the crew were vaccinated, and then they participated in the study. The side effects of the vaccination were evaluated through a survey. Results: Seventy-five per cent of the vaccinated sailors reported adverse reactions to the vaccine, with 9% not being able to perform their daily duties for one day. Muscle pain, headaches, malaise, and fatigue were the most frequent symptoms reported. Conclusions: The vaccination program using Pandemrix H1N1 vaccine resulted in a high rate of side effects, which were generally mild and resolved within a few days. No serious lasting side effects of the vaccination were reported or registered. The adverse effects of the vaccination did not affect the operational capacity of the vessel.publishedVersio

Veileder for evalueringer i Nye Veier. Case utbyggingsprosjekter

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En modell for evaluering av arbeid med planlegging og bygging av vegstrekninger

Rapporten presenterer et rammeverk for en modell for evaluering av arbeid med planlegging og bygging av vegstrekninger, og anvisninger for hvordan modellen kan brukes før, under og etter gjennomføring av slike vegprosjekter, anvendt på hele prosjektet eller deler av det. Modellens seks evalueringskriterier (effektivitet i prosjektgjennomføring, realisering av effekter, relevans, levedyktighet og samfunnsøkonomisk lønnsomhet) er hentet fra Concept-programmets modell for etterevaluering av store investeringsprosjekter un-der statens prosjektmodell. Et sentralt metodisk grep, i tillegg til vanlige effektstudier, er å teste prosjektets programteori (antakelser om hvorfor tiltaket skal nå sine resultat-, effekt- og samfunnsmål) og de dertil hørende endringsmekanismene (som ligger bak disse antakelsene) for å identifisere læringsmuligheter for fremtidig prosjektarbeid. Modellen legger også til rette for at læringspunktene enklere skal kunne implementeres i klientorganisasjonen. En kortfattet veileder er tilgjengelig separat.ISBN: 978-82-14-07906-7publishedVersio

Organizational prevention and management strategies for workplace aggression among child protection workers: A Project Protocol for the Oslo Workplace Aggression Survey (OWAS)

Background: Previous research has established exposure to workplace aggression as a significant risk factor for employee functioning, well-being, and health. However, less is known about effective prevention and management strategies. The main objectives of the current project were to determine the impact of physical and psychological aggression on the well-being, health, and work ability of employees in the child welfare service and to establish whether a strong psychosocial safety climate and an ethical infrastructure are effective with regard to protecting employees against aggression. This project may help identify the specific risks child welfare workers are exposed to, the impact of workplace aggression on their health and well-being, and the most effective strategies to manage the problem. Furthermore, the findings should be central for developing laws and regulations and to any political decision on measures to tackle aggression in the workplace. Methods: The study will employ two prospective data collections. Firstly, a three-wave longitudinal survey with a 6-month time lag between measurement points will be conducted among all 1,500 employees in the child welfare services in Oslo Municipality, Norway. Data will have a multilevel structure and will be linked to registry data on sickness absence. Secondly, a quantitative daily diary study over a 14-day period will include 150 of the respondents from the main survey study. The survey questionnaires mainly comprise well-established and psychometrically validated indicators of workplace aggression, health and well-being, psychosocial safety climate, ethical infrastructure, and other relevant factors. The Regional Committees for Medical and Health Research Ethics (REC) in Norway (REC South East) have approved this project (project no. 28496). Discussion: This project will identify the impact of workplace aggression on child protection workers as well as provide information on how organizations can actively manage exposure to workplace aggression. The findings may serve as a starting point for intervention studies as well as the development of policies and guidelines on how to handle workplace aggression

Human resource primacy, dispositional optimism, and chest pain: A prospective, cross-lagged study of work, personality, and health.

Chest pain (CP) is common, frightening, and often medically unexplained. Occupational psychological factors are associated with somatic pain. Personality may influence both perceived working conditions and somatic health, thereby confounding associations of work with health. Despite this, very few studies have investigated the interplay between work factors, personality and pain. The current study assessed relationships of a relatively novel work factor, human resource primacy (HRP), and a personality factor known to be relevant to health, dispositional optimism (Opt), with CP across two years (N = 6714). A series of structural equation models (SEMs) were fitted, modeling "substantive" and "confounded" relationships of psychological factors with CP. A "common latent factor" (CLF) was included to account for bias by unmeasured factors that may have influenced all variables (e.g. reporting bias) and the role of optimism as a possible confounder of the relationship between HRP and CP was investigated specifically. Independent effects of HRP and Opt on CP were observed. No effects of HRP/CP on Opt were observed. Opt appeared to confound the relationship between HRP and CP to some extent. However, best fit was observed for a "reciprocal" model with independent lagged effects from HRP/Opt to CP as well as from CP/Opt to HRP. Thus, results suggested a mutual causal dynamic between HRP and CP along with an influence of Opt on both HRP and CP-implying that working conditions influence the experience of chest pain while the chest pain also influences the experience of working conditions. Optimistic dispositions may influence the experience of both work and pain, but not to an extent that fully explains their relationship. Hence, the notion that associations of HRP with CP are mere artifacts of optimistic/pessimistic reporting was not supported. More likely, complex reciprocal relationships exist between these factors, in which mutual reinforcements occur and both vicious and virtuous cycles may result

Assessing Workplace Bullying and Its Outcomes: The Paradoxical Role of Perceived Power Imbalance Between Target and Perpetrator

This study investigates the role of perceived power relation between target and perpetrator regarding victimization and turnover intent following exposure to bullying behavior at the workplace. We hypothesized that (1) targets of bullying behavior who self-label as victims experiences a larger power imbalance with the perpetrator compared to targets who do not self-label as victims, and (2) that the association between exposure to bullying behavior and intent to leave the job is stronger when there is power balance between target and perpetrator than when there is a power imbalance. The hypotheses were tested in a probability sample of employees working in the child welfare service in Oslo municipality, Norway, and that had been exposed to at least one instance of mistreatment from a colleague at their workplace (N = 374). Targets of bullying behavior whom self-labeled as victims reported a larger power imbalance with the perpetrator. Supporting the study hypothesis, and representing a reverse buffering effect, exposure to bullying behavior was most strongly associated with intent to leave among targets in power balance with the perpetrator. For targets in a perceived power imbalance, both low and high exposure to bullying behavior were associated with higher levels of intent to leave. These findings highlight the importance of implementing measures directed at preventing bullying and other forms of mistreatment, irrespective of the power relation between the two parties.publishedVersio

Are Leadership Fairness, Psychological Distress, and Role Stressors Interrelated? A Two-Wave Prospective Study of Forward and Reverse Relationships

While previous research has mainly considered leadership as an antecedent to psychological distress and role stressors (i.e., role ambiguity and role conflict) among subordinates, a reverse relationship where these variables influence reports of leadership is also possible. To determine the directionality of the associations this two-wave prospective study assesses bidirectional relationships between fair leadership and role stressors and examines whether psychological distress mediates the reciprocal associations between fair leadership and the role stressors. Analyses were conducted in a sample of 6,790 Norwegian employees with a 2-year time-lag between measurement points. Fair leadership was associated with lower stability adjusted role ambiguity, but not role conflict, over time. Role conflict, but not role ambiguity, was related to subsequent reports of the immediate leader as less fair. Psychological distress did neither mediate the relationship between fair leadership and subsequent reports of role stressors, nor the association between role stressors and subsequent reports of fair leadership. The findings suggest that the fair leadership – role stressor association is not a one-directional process, but that exposure to role stressors also influence subordinates’ perceptions of leadership. An implication of the findings is that theoretical models of organizational leadership should include this reverse impact of role stressors. To reduce the effects of role stressors, organizations could set consistent, clear and attractive goals and provide employees with necessary information for conducting their work tasks in order to help workers understand and master their roles at the workplace

Human resource primacy, dispositional optimism, and chest pain: A prospective, cross-lagged study of work, personality, and health

Chest pain (CP) is common, frightening, and often medically unexplained. Occupational psychological factors are associated with somatic pain. Personality may influence both perceived working conditions and somatic health, thereby confounding associations of work with health. Despite this, very few studies have investigated the interplay between work factors, personality and pain. The current study assessed relationships of a relatively novel work factor, human resource primacy (HRP), and a personality factor known to be relevant to health, dispositional optimism (Opt), with CP across two years (N = 6714). A series of structural equation models (SEMs) were fitted, modeling “substantive” and “confounded” relationships of psychological factors with CP. A “common latent factor” (CLF) was included to account for bias by unmeasured factors that may have influenced all variables (e.g. reporting bias) and the role of optimism as a possible confounder of the relationship between HRP and CP was investigated specifically. Independent effects of HRP and Opt on CP were observed. No effects of HRP/CP on Opt were observed. Opt appeared to confound the relationship between HRP and CP to some extent. However, best fit was observed for a “reciprocal” model with independent lagged effects from HRP/Opt to CP as well as from CP/Opt to HRP. Thus, results suggested a mutual causal dynamic between HRP and CP along with an influence of Opt on both HRP and CP—implying that working conditions influence the experience of chest pain while the chest pain also influences the experience of working conditions. Optimistic dispositions may influence the experience of both work and pain, but not to an extent that fully explains their relationship. Hence, the notion that associations of HRP with CP are mere artifacts of optimistic/pessimistic reporting was not supported. More likely, complex reciprocal relationships exist between these factors, in which mutual reinforcements occur and both vicious and virtuous cycles may result

Følgeforskning av planprosjektet E18 Dørdal – Grimstad

Denne rapporten presenterer resultater fra en følgeforskningsstudie av planprosjektet for kommunedelplanen for E18 Dørdal – Grimstad. Våren 2018 engasjerte Nye Veier forskningsprogrammet Concept ved NTNU, i samarbeid med SINTEF, til å følge planprosjektet frem til godkjente kommunedelplaner.publishedVersio