The school organisational health questionnaire: contribution to the Italian validation

AbstractTeaching is a stressful occupation, one of the professions with the highest levels of mental health problems. Some studies suggested that this may be due to professional isolation, high levels of emotional labour and main stressors may include disciplinary problems, low salaries, disagreement with colleagues or with parents. Few instruments have been validated specifically for assessing teachers stress, morale and school organisational climate: the School Organisational Health Questionnaire (SOHQ: Hart et al., 2000) is the main one, whose properties of the Italian version are here presented (337 teachers in Italy filled out a self report questionnaire including the SOHQ scales)

Smart surfaces for environmental remediation. Highly efficient photocatalytic nanocomposites incorporating metal oxides and graphene related materials.

After the Kyoto Protocol, the World Health Organization estimated in2016 that up to date one out of every nine deaths was related to outdoor/indoor air pollution[1]. As a consequence the World’s population expressed the need to have Healthier Cities and the design of new technologies to eliminate air pollutants[e.g. nitrogen oxides(NOx)and organics] by using natural sunlight, and their integration into smart cities became the centre of an ever increasing research[2]. Photocatalysts based on TiO2 are already on the market[3] and embedded in commercial products, such as cement[4]. However, they work only with the UV light λ<380nm [5], with a significant drop of performance in the visible[6]. In this work I enhanced and extend the TiO2 spectral activity by creating hybrid photocatalysts with organics (e.g perylenes), or graphene and related materials (GRM-PCs)(e.g. graphene, MoS2, WS2 and red phosphorous (RP)). We test the photocatalytic activity by monitoring the dye degradation(rhodamineB,(RhB))caused by GRM-PCs after a fixed irradiation time with respect to pristine TiO2. GRM-PCs based on TiO2 mixed with exfoliated graphite (TiO2-Gr) or with RP show ~90% higher photocatalytic activity, in terms of dye degradation, than pristine TiO2, after 20 min UV-Vis irradiation. Tests in the visible range (400<λ<800nm) how that RP is ideal for indoor applications, with a~800%improvement of photocatalytic activity with respect to TiO2, after 40min vis-light irradiation (5mW/cm2). The photocatalytic activity of TiO2-Gr is tested after mixing in an industrial concrete matrix, resulting in an increment of dye degradation of50%. These data underpin the potential of GRM-PCs for smart surfaces. In a city such as Milan, covering 15% of urban surfaces with TiO2-based cement photocatalysts would enable a reduction in pollution~50%. An efficient dispersion of the new cementitious coatings I have developed will allow to reach an abatement of the pollution of90% with2.5% surface covering. [1]http://www.who.int.[2]H.Tong,Adv.Mater,24,229(2012)[3]http://www.ti-line.net/[4]http://www.italcementigroup.com/ITA/[5]M.R.Hoffmann,Chem.Rev.,95,69(1995)[6]R.Asahi,Science,293,269,(2001

Getting older but working with forever young:Implication of an aging workforce in kindergarten and nursery school grade. (Atlanta, USA, 11th International Conference on Occupational Stress and Health: Work, Stress and Health 2015, May 6-9)

The Italian educational system is facing, more than other helping profession, an increasing aging trend of the teaching staff (OCSE, 2014; Argentin, 2013). This phenomenon is of primary interest in the kindergarten and nursery school grade In where job’s relational, cognitive and physical demands, are central dimensions in the daily care of young children (Macciocu et al., 2005) and where the teacher’s wellbeing is strictly linked to the wellbeing and development of children. Poor staff conditions in many nurseries turned out to be the crucial stress source, along with large groups, insufficient teacher-child ratio, time pressure, having to deal with parents that treat school as a child-minding service and having to perform more nonteaching tasks, such as mothering young children (Kelly, Berthelsen; 1995; Tsai, Fung, Chow, 2006; Jungbauer, Ehlen, 2014). In addition there is a higher involvement of the physical and bodily dimension in the daily interaction with young children not yet self-sufficient that could increase muscle-skeletal pain, headache, backache and reduce work ability (Grant, Habes, Tepper, 1995; Gratz et al., 2002; McGrath, Huntington, 2007). International studies dedicated to observe the health and psychological conditions of this teacher population in relation to the aging process, are quite rare and inconsistent, particularly in Italy. The aim of the study is to observe psycho-physical health conditions in a sample of nursery and kindergarten teachers in Northern Italy, taking into account age-related differences.Procedures: A self-reported questionnaire, filled out by 734 nursery and kindergarten teachers included a demographic section and an Italian adaptation of scales to measure psychophysical health dimensions: Burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory Education Survey by Sirigatti, Stefanile, 1993); Depression symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire, PHQ- 9, Mazzotti et al., 2003); Work Ability (Work Ability Index, Costa et al., 2005); Muscle-skeletal Pain (Cronic Pain Grade, Salaffi et al, 2006).Analysis: Data were analyzed using PASW 20. In order to analyze psycho-physical symptoms’ incidence and age and professional task-related differences, descriptive and two-way ANOVAs were performed.Results: Descriptive analysis highlight medium or high level of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization respectively for the 53.4% and 50% of participants, while 18.5% showed low levels of personal accomplishment. 38.9% of participant reported moderate levels of work ability and 5.6% poor levels. Limiting muscle skeletal ranged from moderate to severe in 42.9% of the sample. Two-way ANOVA analysis indicates how age and professional task affect emotional exhaustion (Fage= 7.165 p=.00; Fpt= 4.604, p=.032) personal accomplishment (Fage 2.790 p=.017) and muscle skeletal pain (Fage=7.283; p=.00; Fpt=5.592, p=.018) (even after controlling for BMI). Age differences are shown in depression (F= 3.063 p=.010) (even after controlling for adverse life events) and work ability (F=12.212 p=.00) (even after controlling for the BMI). No relevant differences are shown for depersonalization.Conclusions: Final data indicate a specific trend in the levels of psychological wellbeing and physical health in relation to age and professional task (Kindergarten teachers vs Nursery teachers) : burnout and depression worsen as age increase confirming previous studies (Kinnuen, Parkatti, Rasku, 1994); at the same time there’s a deterioration of the physical health and the ability to cope with the physical demanding work feature confirming other studies (McGrath, Huntington 2007; Ilmarinen, 2001). Emotional Exhaustion is higher among Nursery younger (25-34) and older teachers (over 60), however, Personal Accomplishment is higher among Kindergarten teachers but it significantly declines in the older subgroup (over 60). At the same time, muscle-skeletal pain affects more nursery teachers than the Kindergarten ones, maybe due to specific physical demands that cannot be reduced in the educational context (recipients are ‘forever young’ and forever demanding in this sense).<br/

The Interplay between Job Control, SOC Strategies, and Age in SustainingWork Ability in a Sample of Administrative Employees

In recent years, the average age of workers has risen. Because of that, work ability is reducing in many sectors, especially in a public context. Given the above, it is necessary to investigate the individual and organisational resources that can play a role in the protection of work ability. This study investigates the work ability of administrative workers, examines selection, optimisation, and compensation (SOC) as a form of mediation between job control and work ability, and explores the relationship of job control, age, work ability, and SOC strategies via moderated mediation models. The findings indicate that job control, SOC strategies, and age correlate to work ability, but the effect of these factors is different. Job control and SOC strategies are positively related to work ability, and job control positively relates to the use of optimisation and compensation. However, only optimisation and compensation strategies mediate the association between job control and work ability. Finally, age moderates the effect of job control on work ability. The findings suggest that interventions, such as SOC training, promotion, and job control, may help to sustain work ability among elderly administrative workers

Feeling Guilty Or Not Guilty. Identifying Burnout Profiles Among Italian Teachers

This study aimed at the assessment of psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Spanish Burnout Inventory (SBI-Ita) in a sample of Italian teachers and the analysis of burnout profiles based on a model that includes four dimensions: Enthusiasm toward job, Psychological exhaustion, Indolence, and Guilt. A self-reported questionnaire was filled out by 689 Italian teachers. Data analyses performed Multi-sample Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis. Results confirmed the hypothesized four-factor structure and the discriminant role of Guilt in differentiating clusters. Results highlights the reliability of the SBI-Ita in the assessment of teachers' burnout. Furthermore, results evidence for a new typology of burnout that differentiate guilty from non-guilty professionals