Virksomhedens sociale kapital — en ny indfaldsvinkel til det psykiske arbejdsmiljø?

Since 1990 we have been witnessing a comprehensive development in theory and research concerning the concept social capital in the fields of economy, aid to developing countries, and public health. However, the concept has only been applied to the field of work environment research to a very limited degree. In this article we introduce the concept in a work environment context. We suggest a definition of organizational social capital comprising three key factors: trust, justice, and collaborative capacity. Furthermore, we illustrate our model by analyzing data from two empirical studies: The national Danish study of psychosocial factors at work (the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ) Study) and the BEST study (Better psychosocial work environment: a study of workplace interventions). In both studies we find clear associations between organizational social capital and the quality of the psychosocial work environment. We also find positive associations between workplace social capital and job satisfaction, involvement in the workplace, general health, and measures of psychological well-being. We conclude that a theory on organizational social capital has potential as a framework for research and development covering both psychosocial work environment, productivity, and the health of the employees.Siden 1990 har der været en omfattende forskning og teoriudvikling vedrørende begrebet social kapital inden for områderne økonomi, udviklingsbistand og folkesundhed. Imidlertid har begrebet kun i meget begrænset omfang været anvendt inden for arbejdsmiljøforskningen. I denne artikel introducerer vi begrebet i en arbejdsmiljøkontekst. Vi foreslår en defi nition af virksomhedernes sociale kapital, der omfatter tre nøglefaktorer: samarbejdsevne, tillid og retfærdighed. Endvidere illustrerer vi denne model ved hjælp af to empiriske undersøgelser: den nationale undersøgelse af psykisk arbejdsmiljø (Tre-dækker undersøgelsen) samt VIPS-projektet. I begge undersøgelser er der klare sammenhænge mellem social kapital på den ene side og de ansattes psykiske arbejdsmiljø og helbred på den anden. Vi konkluderer, at en teori om virksomhedernes sociale kapital potentielt kan tjene som en ramme for forskning og handling, der omfatter psykisk arbejdsmiljø, produktivitet og de ansattes helbred og velbefi ndende

The effect of monetary incentive on survey response for vulnerable children and youths: A randomized controlled trial.

AIM:In surveys non-responders may introduce bias and lower the validity of the studies. Ways to increase response rates are therefore important. The purpose of the study was to investigate if an unconditional monetary incentive can increase the response rate for vulnerable children and youths in a postal questionnaire survey. METHODS:The study was designed as a randomized controlled trial. The study population consisted of 262 children and youth who participated in an established intervention study aimed at creating networks for different groups of vulnerable children and youths. The mean age of the participants was 16.7 years (range 11-28) and 67.9% were female. The questionnaire was adapted to three different age groups and covered different aspects of the participants' life situation, including the dimensions from the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). In the follow-up survey, participants were randomly allocated to two groups that either received a €15 voucher for a supermarket together with the questionnaire or only received the questionnaire. We used Poisson regression to estimate the differences in response rate (Rate Ratio RR) between the intervention group and the control group. RESULTS:The response rate was 75.5% in the intervention group and 42.9% in the control group. The response rate in the intervention group was significantly higher than in the control group when adjusting for age and gender (Rate Ratio, RR 1.73; 95% CI 1.38-2.17). We did not find any significant differences in scales scores between the two groups for the five scales of the SDQ. In stratified analyses, we found the effect of the incentive to be higher for males (RR 2.81; 95% CI 1.61-4.91) than for females (1.43; 95% CI 1.12-1.84). CONCLUSIONS:Monetary incentives can increase the response rate for vulnerable children and youths in surveys. TRIAL REGISTRATION:The trial was retrospectively registered at ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01741675

A work-related community characterized of trust - dentistry in Sweden and Denmark

Background Earlier research emphasizes the importance of positive work relations for dentists’ perception of opportunities for quality in handicraft and patient relations. A scale for positive work relations, Community with Trust, has been developed and its psychometrical properties evaluated. Objectives. The aim of the study was a) to compare mean scores on Community with Trust across subgroups based on organizational affiliation; b) to analyse associations between work factors (size of practice, common breaks, formalized managerial education of the daily leader, influence on work, profession-oriented and productivity-oriented practice climate) and Community with Trust; and c) to assess the correlation between the scales for Community with Trust and Overall Job Satisfaction. Methods. A questionnaire was sent to 1835 general dental practitioners, randomly selected from dental associations in Sweden and Denmark. The response rate was 68%. Kruskal Wallis test and Pearson’s correlation were applied and a hierarchical linear multiple regression model with the outcome variable Community with Trust was built. Results. Significant differences in mean score of Community with Trust were found for dentists working in different organizational forms. The final regression analysis explained 49 % of the variation and showed that factors such as common breaks, influence on work, and a practice climate with values corresponding with those of the profession contributed to explanation of the differences in average among dentists with different organizational affiliation. Community with Trust and Overall Job Satisfaction were moderately to strongly correlated (0.52). Conclusion. The study pointed to the relevance of addressing the professional ethos when organizing and managing dentistry for a sustainable work environment supporting quality in handicraft and in relations with patients

The use of COPSOQ measures in dentistry

Background and aim: In the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ)measures of community at workplace, horizontal and vertical trust have been developed, but the validity of the measures in a specific context as dentistry is unknown. The aim was to apply the measurements from COPSOQ to a population of general dental practitioners from Denmark and Sweden, comparing factor solutions and scoring norms to the original results. Materials and methods: In 2008, a questionnaire was sent to 1835 general dental practitioners, randomly selected among members of the dental associations in Sweden and Denmark. The response rate was 68% after two reminders. Distribution analyses of two items concerning the importance of colleagues and relationship with patients were performed. Principal Components Analysis with Varimax rotation (PCA) was applied to seven COPSOQ items on trust and two on community together with three new developed questions. The analyses were performed for the total sample and for subgroups according to gender, country, employment sector and managerial responsibility. Results: The PCA resulted in two stable factors, interpreted as “trust” and “hindered information flow". Conclusions: The suggested concepts from COPSOQ: vertical and horizontal trust and community could not be reproduced in the present study. Consequently, the constructs cannot be regarded as valid for small enterprises as dentistry in Sweden and Denmark. The authors wish to acknowledge the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research, Malmö University and The Danish Dental Association for financial support

Measurement of social support, community and trust in dentistry

Background and aim: Relationships among people at work have previously been found to contribute to the perception of having a good work. The aim of the present paper was to develop scales measuring aspects of social support, trust, and community among dentists, and to evaluate psychometric properties of the scales. Material and methods: In 2008, a questionnaire was sent to 1835 general dental practitioners randomly selected from the dental associations in Sweden and Denmark. The response rate was 68% after two reminders. Principal Component Analysis was applied to 14 items and scales were established based on the resulting factors. Internal consistency was evaluated by Cronbach’s alpha. Differential Item Functioning (DIF) with respect to gender, nationality and employment sector was analysed using ordinal logistic regression methods. Construct validity was assessed in relation to selfrated health and a range of work satisfaction outcomes. Results: The percentage of missing values on the items was low (range 0.7%–3.8%). Two scales (range 0–100) were established to measure ‘Community with Trust’ (nine items, mean = 79.2 [SD = 13.4], Cronbach’s alpha = 0.89) and ‘Collegial Support’ (five items, mean = 70.4 [SD = 20.8], Cronbach’s alpha = 0.89). DIF of only minor importance was found which supported cultural equivalence. The two scales were weakly positively correlated with each other. ‘Community with Trust’ was in general more strongly correlated with work satisfaction variables than ‘Collegial Support’ was. Conclusions: Stability and internal consistency of the scales were considered as satisfactory. Content validity and construct validity were considered as good. Further validation in other populations is recommended