Relationship Difficulties Among U.K. Military Personnel: Impact of Sociodemographic, Military, and Deployment-Related Factors

© 2015, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. Military work, especially operational deployments, may impact the romantic relationships of military personnel. Using a subsample of 7,581 participants from a cohort study of U.K. military personnel (data collected between 2007 and 2009), the prevalence of relationship difficulties and associations with sociodemographic, military-, and deployment-related characteristics was examined. Most participants did not report experiencing relationship difficulties. Adjusted regression analyses indicate that childhood adversity, limited support for and from partners, being in unmarried relationships, financial problems, deploying for more than 13 months in 3 years, and work being above trade, ability, and experience were key factors associated with relationship difficulties. The likelihood of U.K. military personnel experiencing relationship difficulties is increased because of personal vulnerabilities that may be exacerbated in the military context

The spatial implications of homeworking: a Lefebvrian approach to the rewards and challenges of home-based work

In this theoretical article we propose an approach to the spatial implications of homeworking derived from the work of social theorist Henri Lefebvre. By highlighting the processes involved in the inherently contested and (re)constructed nature of space in the demarcated home/work environment we draw on Lefebvre to suggest a collapse of this demarcation. We consider the impact of such a collapse on questions relating to the rewards and challenges of home-based work for both workers and their co-residents. In contrast to our approach to the spatial implications of home-based work derived from Lefebvre, we argue that a traditional, Euclidean conception of space risks ignoring the important, symbolic nature of social space to the detriment of both the effective research and practice of homeworking

Proactive and politically skilled professionals: What is the relationship with affective occupational commitment?

The aim of this study is to extend research on employee affective commitment in three ways: (1) instead of organizational commitment the focus is on occupational commitment; (2) the role of proactive personality on affective occupational commitment is examined; and (3) occupational satisfaction is examined as a mediator and political skills as moderator in the relationship between proactive personality and affective occupational commitment. Two connected studies, one in a hospital located in the private sector and one in a university located in the public sector, are carried out in Pakistan, drawing on a total sample of over 400 employees. The results show that proactive personality is positively related to affective occupational commitment, and that occupational satisfaction partly mediates the relationship between proactive personality and affective occupational commitment. No effect is found for a moderator effect of political skills in the relationship between proactive personality and affective occupational commitment. Political skills however moderate the relationship between proactive personality and affective organizational commitment

Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Soldiers’ Experiences of Being Married and Serving in the British Army

© 2016, Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. ABSTRACT: Research suggests certain aspects of military life, especially operational deployments, may negatively impact military marriages. However, much of this research is from the United States and uses deductive quantitative methods. Qualitative research investigating the lived experiences of forming and maintaining marriages was conducted with six male U.K. Army personnel. Semistructured interviews were analyzed, using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, identifying five themes, each representing different dilemmas the soldiers’ had to balance to maintain successful marriages and Army careers. These five themes are best understood as practical, emotional, and cultural dilemmas that can be alleviated with practical and emotional methods; such factors could be used to build resilience in soldier’s marriages. These possible resilience factors could shape the content of interventions to increase resiliency in military marriages

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