Work demands are related to mental health problems for older engine room officers

The aim of the present study was to analyse the main and interaction effects of age and psychosocial work demands on mental wellbeing in a sample (N = 685; age M = 47 years) of engine room officers in the Swedish merchant fleet. As expected, work demands were highly related to general mental health as well as to perceived stress, while the main effect of age only related significantly to perceived stress. The interaction effects between high work demands and high age significantly explained the variance of general mental health as well as perceived stress. The results can be understood as a consequence of the rapid technological and organisational development in the shipping industry and suggest that it ought be of high priority to provide older employees with work-related resources to support their long-term work performance as well as their health and wellbeing

The Process of Establishing a Green Climate: Face-To-Face Interaction between Leaders and Employees in the Microsystem

This study explores the processes of establishing a green organizational climate in small-scale companies. Previous studies have primarily focused on factors associated with pro-environmental behaviour in large organizations. The role of a green organizational climate—specifically, the interactional processes involved in the construction of a green climate—has largely been unexplored. Entrepreneurial small companies constitute an ideal arena in which to study the initial phase of greening processes. The present study examined the process of establishing a green organizational climate in seven small-scale Norwegian companies. This article presents a systems model that was developed to analyse how processes at different levels interact in the shaping of the green climate. The design was a longitudinal mixed-methods approach, consisting of focus-group interviews conducted in the field, a questionnaire and follow-up interviews with the leaders. Findings indicate that the construction of a green climate had a strong practise-based approach. The company founders were driven by environmental values; they sparked the initial green measures, influenced the employees—directly and indirectly—and also invited dialogue around and co-construction of the green climate. Frequent face-to-face interactions within the microsystem of the leaders/employees were decisive to the development of the green climate. The present study contributes to the understanding of the process of greening an organization: specifically, how green practice relates to the construction of a shared green climate. Contrary to previous research and theorizing, this study indicates that it is possible to “go green” without a superordinate green strategy

Do Work Beliefs Moderate the Relationship Between Work Interruptions, Wellbeing and Psychosomatic Symptoms?

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Restorative experiences across seasons? Effects of outdoor walking and relaxation exercise during lunch breaks in summer and winter

This study aimed to explore whether a walk outdoors during a lunch break would promote restorative experiences for a sample of office workers (N = 52), compared to following instructions from an online video of progressive muscle relaxation. Furthermore, the study aimed to compare the impact of a walk during winter to a walk in a summer landscape. Compared to baseline measures, walking in winter and summer were both associated with significantly increased subjective vitality and psychological detachment from work, but there were no significant differences in these specific wellbeing indicators between winter and summer conditions. The indoor muscle relaxation exercise had no effect on psychological detachment from work, but participants who had the relaxation session during summer reported a significant increase in subjective vitality. Active outdoor restoration seems to have a beneficial impact on mental wellbeing, while indoor muscle relaxation may also have some benefits.publishedVersio

The mediating and moderating role of affective rumination between work interruptions and well-being

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to examine whether physical health and well-being are affected by work rumination and the role of work interruptions as job events. It was hypothesized that stressful work interruptions, would be related to affective rumination, psychosomatic symptoms and poorer general health. OBJECTIVE: To determine the role of work rumination in the relationship between work interruptions, physical and general well-being. METHODS: Self-reports of distressing work interruptions, psychosomatic symptoms and general health data were gathered from employees (N = 139) from diverse occupational groups. RESULTS: Affective rumination acted as a partial mediator (β= 0.37) and moderator (β= 0.24) in the relationship between stressful work interruptions and psychosomatic symptoms. As a mediator affective rumination explains 34.8% of the effect of work interruptions on psychosomatic symptoms. CONCLUSION: Affective rumination about work hinders psycho-physiological recovery, and such an effect relates to stressful work interruptions. Implications for future research are discussed

The Process of Establishing a Green Climate: Face-To-Face Interaction between Leaders and Employees in the Microsystem

This study explores the processes of establishing a green organizational climate in small-scale companies. Previous studies have primarily focused on factors associated with pro-environmental behaviour in large organizations. The role of a green organizational climate—specifically, the interactional processes involved in the construction of a green climate—has largely been unexplored. Entrepreneurial small companies constitute an ideal arena in which to study the initial phase of greening processes. The present study examined the process of establishing a green organizational climate in seven small-scale Norwegian companies. This article presents a systems model that was developed to analyse how processes at different levels interact in the shaping of the green climate. The design was a longitudinal mixed-methods approach, consisting of focus-group interviews conducted in the field, a questionnaire and follow-up interviews with the leaders. Findings indicate that the construction of a green climate had a strong practise-based approach. The company founders were driven by environmental values; they sparked the initial green measures, influenced the employees—directly and indirectly—and also invited dialogue around and co-construction of the green climate. Frequent face-to-face interactions within the microsystem of the leaders/employees were decisive to the development of the green climate. The present study contributes to the understanding of the process of greening an organization: specifically, how green practice relates to the construction of a shared green climate. Contrary to previous research and theorizing, this study indicates that it is possible to “go green” without a superordinate green strategy.publishedVersio

Towards an integration of recovery and restoration theories

The attempts to balance between the actual and preferred states of activation or relaxation has been studied from a recovery and a restoration perspective. There are many noticeable parallels between restoration and recovery. Both traditions depart from understanding the need for the individual to regain finite resources that has been used to meet and handle external demands. There is some disagreement of the phenomena, and the terminology may differ as well as the implied meaning of the underlying concepts. Both traditions although consider resource use on one hand, and the processes to return to a state where these resources are replenished, on the other hand. To integrate the recovery and restoration traditions a tentative model is proposed, recognizing that both traditions departs from an interactive process perspective, where the need to replenish resources are consciously perceived.publishedVersio

Relationen mellan fritidsaktiviteter, överengagemang och ältande över jobbet

Kvardröjande kognitiva representationer av stressorer kan bidra till att stressreaktiviteten inte upphör trots att exponeringen avslutats. Hittills är dock kunskapen begränsad om vilka faktorer som kan påverka dessa kognitiva processer. I denna dagboksstudie visas att typen av fritidsaktiviteter relaterar till frekvensen av kognitivt ältande över problem i arbetet under fritiden. Styrkan i dessa relationer kvarstår i stor utsträckning efter kontroll för överengagemang för arbetet

An Ocean of Stress? The relationship between psychosocial workload and mental strain among engine officers in the Swedish merchant fleet

Objectives. The first purpose of this study was to compare the psychosocial working conditions and mental health of our sample of maritime engine officers with a sample of British shorebased professional engineers. The second purpose was to analyse the relationship between the psychosocial working conditions onboard and mental strain for the Swedish maritime engine officers. Material and methods. There were a total of 731 engine officers in the Swedish merchant fleet, almost all males with higher education. The British comparison sample consisted of consisted 312 professional shore-based engineers. A questionnaire was distributed to the Swedish engine officers with a modified version of the JCQ for the DC-S model, the Role conflict and Ambiguity scale, and two items on family–work inter-role conflicts (WFI/FWI), as workload indicators. The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ12) and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS10) were used as strain indicators. Results. There were no significant differences in perceived job stain or in WFI/FWI between the Swedish engine officers and the British professional engineers in perceived job strain. While the British shore-based engineers reported significantly higher role ambiguity the Swedish engine officers perceived a significantly higher degree of role conflict and higher perceived stress. Hierarchic linear regression analysis showed that the Role Stress was strongly related to perceived stress (R2 = 0.319) as well as to mental health (R2 = 0.222). When introduced in the second step the DC-S model was significantly related to the outcome measures, as was WFI/FWI when finally introduced. Conclusions. The main source of the high degree of perceived stress among the engine officers does not seem to be the job content but may rather be understood from an interactional perspective, where conflicting requirements are directed towards the individual officer. It can be assumed that the fast technological and organizational changes and the increased pressure for economic profitability that characterize the shipping industry have attenuated these role conflicts