Organizational work stress interventions in a theoretical, methodological and practical context

Este artigo discute uma série de questões metodológicas e teóricas relacionadas à pesquisa no campo da intervenção em fatores psicossociais do trabalho. Essas intervenções podem ocorrer em diferentes níveis, do individual ao nível macro da sociedade. Além disso, as intervenções podem ser primárias (redução de estressores no trabalho), secundárias (redução de estresse, burnout etc.) e terciárias (redução das conseqüências de longo prazo do estresse relacionado ao trabalho). Até aqui, a maior parte das pesquisas nesse campo têm ocorrido no nível individual e costumam ser dos tipos secudário e terciário. Isso se explica pela preferência por esse tipo de intervenção que gestores e psicólogos tiveram no passado. A atividade de pesquisa nesse campo expandiu-se e aperfeiçoou-se nos últimos anos, mas alguns desafios ainda permanecem. Alguns dos problemas mais importantes são: 1) Falta de análise apropriada; 2) Desenhos de intervenção pobres; 3) Problemas com viés de seleção e com fatores de confusão; 4) Pouca distinção entre estudos etiológicos e de viabilidade. Os autores enfatizam que questões práticas relacionadas a fatores estruturais, econômicos, legais e psicológicos no local de trabalho freqüentemente impõem restrições aos pesquisadores, o que significa que são forçados a aceitar desenhos de intervenção e períodos de acompanhamento menos adequados do que aqueles que seriam desejáveis. Na conclusão, recomendam para a futura pesquisa em intervenção o uso de estudos de múltiplos casos.This article deals with a number of methodological and theoretical questions in connection with intervention research in the field of psychosocial factors at work. These interventions can take place at different levels from the individual to the macro level of society. Also, the interventions can be primary (reducing stressors at work), secondary (reducing stress, burnout, etc.) and tertiary (reducing the long term consequences of work-related stress). Most research in this field has so far has been at the individual level and of the secondary/tertiary type. This is explained by the fact that both managers and psychologists have preferred this type of intervention in the past. The research activity in the field has been expanding and improving during the last years, but a number of challenges still remain. Some of the important problems are: 1) Lack of a proper analysis; 2) Poor intervention designs; 3) Problems with selection and confounding factors; 4) Poor distinction between aetiological and feasibility studies. It is emphasized that practical issues relating to structural, economic, legal and psychological factors at the workplace often will put restrictions on the researcher, which means that less than optimal designs and follow-up periods has to be accepted. In the conclusion the authors recommend the use of multiple case studies in future intervention research

Dim light, sleep tight, and wake up bright:Sleep optimization in athletes by means of light regulation

Despite an elevated recovery need, research indicates that athletes often exhibit relatively poor sleep. Timing and consolidation of sleep is driven by the circadian system, which requires periodic light–dark exposure for stable entrainment to the 24-hour day, but is often disturbed due to underexposure to light in the morning (e.g. low-level indoor lighting) and overexposure to light in the evening (e.g. environmental and screen-light). This study examined whether combining fixed sleep schedules with light regulation leads to more consolidated sleep. Morning light exposure was increased using light-emitting goggles, whereas evening light exposure was reduced using amber-lens glasses. Using a within-subject crossover design, twenty-six athletes (14 female, 12 male) were randomly assigned to start the intervention with the light-regulation-week or the no light-regulation-week. Sleep was monitored by means of sleep diaries and actigraphy. Due to low protocol adherence regarding the fixed sleep-wake schedules, two datasets were constructed; one including athletes who kept a strict sleep-wake schedule (N = 8), and one that also included athletes with a more lenient sleep-wake schedule (N = 25). In case of a lenient sleep-wake schedule, light regulation improved self-reported sleep onset latency (Δ SOL = 8 min). This effect was stronger (Δ SOL = 17 min) and complemented by enhanced subjective sleep quality in case of a strict sleep-wake schedule. None of the actigraphy-based estimates differed significantly between conditions. To conclude, light regulation may be considered a potentially effective strategy to improve subjective sleep, but less obtrusive methods should be explored to increase protocol compliance.</p

Workdays, in-between workdays and the weekend: a diary study on effort and recovery

Contains fulltext : 55892.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)16 p

Investigating the Associations among Overtime Work, Health Behaviors, and Health: A Longitudinal Study among Full-time Employees

# The Author(s) 2010. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com Background It has often been suggested that high levels of overtime lead to adverse health outcomes. One mechanism that may account for this association is that working overtime leads to elevated levels of stress, which could affect worker’s behavioral decisions or habits (such as smoking and lack of physical activity). In turn, this could lead to adverse health. Purpose The present study examined this reasoning in a prospective longitudinal design. Data from the prospective 2-year Study on Health at Work (N=649) were used to test our hypotheses. Methods Structural equation analysis was used to examine the relationships among overtime, beneficial (exercising, intake of fruit and vegetables) and risky (smoking and drinking) health behaviors, and health indicators (BMI and subjective health). Results Working overtime was longitudinally related with adverse subjective health, but not with body mass

Impact of employment contract changes on workers' quality of working life, job insecurity, health and work-related attitudes

Contains fulltext : 102606.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)Impact of Employment Contract Changes on Workers' Quality of Working Life, Job Insecurity, Health and Work-related Attitudes: Alfred F. WAGENAAR, et al. Behavioural Science Institute, Department of Work and Organizational Psychology, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands-Objectives: Changes in employment contracts may impact the quality of working life, job insecurity, health and work-related attitudes. We examined the validity of two partly competing theoretical approaches. Based upon a segmentation approach, we expected no change in scores among stable trajectories, whereas upward trajectories were expected to be for the better and downward trajectories to be for the worse (Hypothesis 1). As turnover theories suggest that this hypothesis may only apply to workers who do not change employer, we also examined these contract trajectories stratified for a change of employer (Hypothesis 2). Methods and Results: Drawing on the 2007 and 2008 waves of the Netherlands Working Conditions Cohort Study (N=9,688), repeated measures analysis of covariance showed little across-time change in the criterion variables, thus largely disconfirming our first hypothesis. These results could (at least partly) be explained by employer change; this was generally associated with improved scores among all contract trajectories (Hypothesis 2). However, workers receiving a less stable contract from the same employer were found to be at risk for health and well-being problems. Conclusions: Segmentation theory-based assumptions on contract trajectories primarily apply to stable and downward contract trajectories at the same employer, whereas assumptions from turnover theories better apply to contract trajectories combined with a change of employer. Future research should focus more closely on factors predicting "involuntary" downward trajectories into precarious temporary employment or unemployment.11 p

Effects of new ways of working on work hours and work location, health and job-related outcomes

<p>New ways of working (NWW) is a type of work organization that is characterized by temporal and spatial flexibility, often combined with extensive use of information and communication technologies (ICT) and performance-based management. In a three-wave intervention study, we examined the effects of NWW on both the organization of work (changes in control over time and place of work; working hours and work location; and other key job characteristics), and on employees’ outcomes (work–nonwork balance; health and well-being; and job-related outcomes). We applied a quasi-experimental design within a large Dutch financial company (<i>N</i> = 2,912). We studied an intervention group (<i>n</i> = 2,391) and made comparisons with a reference group (<i>n</i> = 521). There were three study waves: (i) one/two months before, and (ii) 4 months and (iii) 10 months after implementation of NWW. Repeated measures analyses of covariance (involving 361 participants from the intervention group and 80 participants from the reference group) showed a large and significant shift from hours worked at the office to hours worked at home after implementation of NWW. Accordingly, commuting time was reduced. Employees remained working on week days and during day time. Psychosocial work-characteristics, work–nonwork balance, stress, fatigue, and job-related outcomes remained favourable and largely unaffected, but the health score in the intervention group decreased (medium effect). These findings suggest that the implementation of NWW does not necessarily lead to changes in psychosocial work characteristics, well-being or job-related outcomes.</p

Mean (SD) scores of emotional exhaustion, overall fatigue, need for recovery, sleep quality, sleep duration, self-efficacy, and physical fitness pre (T0) and post intervention (T1), at follow-up after 4 weeks (T2) and at follow-up after 12 weeks (T3) per condition.

<p>Mean (SD) scores of emotional exhaustion, overall fatigue, need for recovery, sleep quality, sleep duration, self-efficacy, and physical fitness pre (T0) and post intervention (T1), at follow-up after 4 weeks (T2) and at follow-up after 12 weeks (T3) per condition.</p