Computer use and stress, sleep disturbances, and symptoms of depression among young adults – a prospective cohort study

BACKGROUND: We have previously studied prospective associations between computer use and mental health symptoms in a selected young adult population. The purpose of this study was to investigate if high computer use is a prospective risk factor for developing mental health symptoms in a population-based sample of young adults. METHODS: The study group was a cohort of young adults (n = 4163), 20–24 years old, who responded to a questionnaire at baseline and 1-year follow-up. Exposure variables included time spent on computer use (CU) in general, email/chat use, computer gaming, CU without breaks, and CU at night causing lost sleep. Mental health outcomes included perceived stress, sleep disturbances, symptoms of depression, and reduced performance due to stress, depressed mood, or tiredness. Prevalence ratios (PRs) were calculated for prospective associations between exposure variables at baseline and mental health outcomes (new cases) at 1-year follow-up for the men and women separately. RESULTS: Both high and medium computer use compared to low computer use at baseline were associated with sleep disturbances in the men at follow-up. High email/chat use was negatively associated with perceived stress, but positively associated with reported sleep disturbances for the men. For the women, high email/chat use was (positively) associated with several mental health outcomes, while medium computer gaming was associated with symptoms of depression, and CU without breaks with most mental health outcomes. CU causing lost sleep was associated with mental health outcomes for both men and women. CONCLUSIONS: Time spent on general computer use was prospectively associated with sleep disturbances and reduced performance for the men. For the women, using the computer without breaks was a risk factor for several mental health outcomes. Some associations were enhanced in interaction with mobile phone use. Using the computer at night and consequently losing sleep was associated with most mental health outcomes for both men and women. Further studies should focus on mechanisms relating information and communication technology (ICT) use to sleep disturbances

Cognitive Interview as an Effective Method in Cross-Cultural Research: A Study of Organizational Leaders in Sweden and India

This research attempts to demonstrate the effectiveness of cognitive interview (CI) techniques in the process of finalizing the survey instrument by establishing the conceptual equivalence of ethical values among managers from Sweden and India, from four different sectors namely, Corporate, Health, Education and Information Technology. CI was helpful in identifying items, which were difficult to answer or to understand, and with improper response categories. The results provided substantive insight into the cultural influence in the understanding of various values in the organizations. The paper highlights the types and applications of CI in different fields of the study of human behavior

Perceived connections between information and communication technology use and mental symptoms among young adults - a qualitative study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Prospective associations have been found between high use of information and communication technology (ICT) and reported mental symptoms among young adult university students, but the causal mechanisms are unclear. Our aim was to explore possible explanations for associations between high ICT use and symptoms of depression, sleep disorders, and stress among young adults in order to propose a model of possible pathways to mental health effects that can be tested epidemiologically.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We conducted a qualitative interview study with 16 women and 16 men (21-28 years), recruited from a cohort of university students on the basis of reporting high computer (n = 28) or mobile phone (n = 20) use at baseline and reporting mental symptoms at the one-year follow-up. Semi-structured interviews were performed, with open-ended questions about possible connections between the use of computers and mobile phones, and stress, depression, and sleep disturbances. The interview data were analyzed with qualitative content analysis and summarized in a model.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Central factors appearing to explain high quantitative ICT use were personal dependency, and demands for achievement and availability originating from the domains of work, study, social life, and individual aspirations. Consequences included mental overload, neglect of other activities and personal needs, time pressure, role conflicts, guilt feelings, social isolation, physical symptoms, worry about electromagnetic radiation, and economic problems. Qualitative aspects (destructive communication and information) were also reported, with consequences including vulnerability, misunderstandings, altered values, and feelings of inadequacy. User problems were a source of frustration. Altered ICT use as an effect of mental symptoms was reported, as well as possible positive effects of ICT on mental health.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The concepts and ideas of the young adults with high ICT use and mental symptoms generated a model of possible paths for associations between ICT exposure and mental symptoms. Demands for achievement and availability as well as personal dependency were major causes of high ICT exposure but also direct sources of stress and mental symptoms. The proposed model shows that factors in different domains may have an impact and should be considered in epidemiological and intervention studies.</p

Inclusion, sustainability, and equality: how can research contribute?

Polarisation, segregation, exclusion, inequality, and vulnerability are real threats to our societies. What kind of research can identify and explain the mechanisms involved in creating what we need to strive for integration, inclusion, equality, and social sustainability? What kind of questions shall we raise? How can we decrease the gap between research and practice? In fact, striving to keep to the standards of excellent science might result in missing important aspects and new perspectives. There is a risk that within disciplines, science is too abstract and narrow-minded. My intention here is to share some reflections on how we can learn from earlier experiences of research on inequalities and to discuss some alternative ideas on approaches that might contribute applicable knowledge

Understanding the organisational impact on working conditions and health

It has long been known that organisational conditions affect working conditions and occupational health. However, the transfer of knowledge about risk factors from traditional occupational health research into prevention requires insight into the organisational context. Moreover, there is a breach between organisational research and health research in terms of concepts, theories, and methodologies, and there is a lack of useful theories and models for how organisational conditions are linked to working conditions and health. One argument for the development of concepts, theoretical models, and methodological tools for studies of the organisational impact on psychosocial working conditions and health is that working life is changing. Another argument is that organisation at the meso level and work practices at the worker level are greatly interdependent. Thus, when the organisation of work changes, our understanding of how organisations, work practices, and working conditions affect health must be scrutinised. We cannot take it for granted that traditional theories are still valid. This report discusses some suggestions for the design and methodology of empirical studies aimed at bridging the gap between research on organisations and research on individual working conditions and health. This approach in work-life research can be described as organisation-oriented work and health research. Our main aim is to discuss the conceptual, theoretical, analytical, and empirical difficulties and options involved with such an approach. Using the examples of a number of research projects with different specific questions and different empirical designs, we attempt to detect some of the most common stumbling blocks and to find some pragmatic solutions to the problems which arise in this type of research. We discuss some specific problems with the integration of organisational studies and health research, and draw conclusions about the application of such research results to prevention and intervention. There are several conceptual and theoretical challenges associated with the design of studies that try to integrate organisational-level data with working conditions and health data at the individual level. Firstly, there is a wide gap between organisational research and occupational health research in the use of theoretical concepts, in the choice of focal units of analysis, and in data treatment. Secondly, in relation to intervention and prevention, not all factors that affect working conditions and health may be equally easy to change, and there is thus a need to focus on factors that the employer and the representatives of the workers may be willing to adjust. Finally, although powerful statistical techniques such as multilevel analysis are available to link organisational and micro-level data, understanding of the causal mechanisms becomes even more complicated when individual and organisational conditions are to be interpreted. Thus, there is a need for improved analytical tools in order to understand such complex associations. There are also a number of empirical issues involved in the linking of organisations and individuals. One is the determination of what aspects at the organisational level are important and another is how such organisational aspects can be measured and assessed. It is also important to decide what level within organisations is most relevant to a specific study. Another problem that is particularly important, as many contemporary organisations are volatile and have diffuse boundaries, is how organisations should be defined and how individual employees should be linked to a specific part of an organisation. This means, for example, that formal and informal power and responsibility structures for coping with the psychosocial work environment are very complex in contemporary organisations. Some of our most important observations have arisen as a consequence of an attempt to empirically explore contemporary organisations. One conclusion is that selection mechanisms should be taken into account, as many individuals move between occupational conditions. Additionally, these changes may be very different for different groups, depending on individual and organisational conditions. As a consequence of this insight, workers and managers cannot be seen as passive victims of conditions at the workplace or in the organisation, but must be viewed as elective and active humans. This is the case even when there are strong restrictions on their room for manoeuvre.Det har sedan länge varit känt att organisatoriska förhållanden påverkar arbetsförhållanden och anställdas hälsa. Att överföra kunskap om riskfaktorer från arbetshälsoforskning till interventioner på arbetsplatser kräver kunskap om den organisatoriska kontexten. Organisationsforskning och arbetshälsoforskning är tydligt åtskilda. Det saknas fortfarande användbara teorier och modeller över hur organisatoriska förhållanden är länkade till arbetsförhållanden och hälsa. Ett argument för att utveckla begrepp, teoretiska modeller och metodologiska verktyg för studier av organisatoriska förhållandens inflytande på psykosociala arbetsförhållanden och hälsa är att arbetslivet förändras. Ett annat skäl är att organisation och arbetsförhållanden är ömsesidigt beroende av varandra. När organiseringen av arbete förändras måste därför vår förståelse av hur arbetsorganisation, arbetspraktiker och arbetsförhållanden granskas kritiskt. Vi kan inte längre lita på att traditionella teorier är giltiga. Denna rapport diskuterar några förslag på design och metoder för studier som söker överbrygga gapet mellan forskning om organisationer och forskning om individuella arbetsförhållanden och hälsa. Denna ansats inom arbetslivsforskningen föreslås benämnas organisationsorienterad arbetshälsoforskning. Syftet med denna rapport är att diskutera begreppsliga, teoretiska och metodologiska svårigheter och möjligheter inom en sådan forskningsansats och att föreslå lösningar på några av de problem vi stött på i ett antal olika studier av både organisationer och individuella arbetsförhållanden. Några specifika problem i integreringen av organisationsforskning och arbetshälsoforskning diskuteras och slutsatser dras för applicering av resultat av sådan forskning för prevention och intervention. Det finns flera begreppsliga och metodologiska utmaningar när organisationsforskning och arbetshälsoforskning ska integreras. För det första rör sig organisationsforskning och arbetshälsoforskning på olika nivåer för datainsamlig och analys. För det andra, är många organisatoriska förhållanden svåra att påverka vilket har betydelse för intervention och prevention. Vi behöver därför särskilt intressera oss för sådana förhållanden som inblandade parter är villiga att förändra. Slutligen, även om det finns kraftfulla statistiska analysmetoder som flernivåanalyser lämpade för att integrera data på olika nivåer, är förståelsen av kausala mekanismer mycket komplex och vi behöver utveckla bättre analysmetoder för att förstå sådana samband. Det finns också ett antal empiriska frågor som behöver lösas. En har att göra med vilka organisatoriska aspekter och fenomen som är relevanta att studera och hur de kan studeras och värderas. Det är också viktigt att bestämma vilken nivå inom organisationer som är relevant att studera när det handlar om att undersöka hur psykosociala arbetsförhållanden påverkas. Ett annat problem som är särskilt viktigt då många av dagens organisationer är mycket rörliga och har oklar avgränsning till andra organisationer, är hur en organisation ska definieras och avgränsas och hur individer ska länkas till en specifik arbetsplats. Detta innebär bland annat att formella och informella makt och ansvarsrelationer för den psykosociala arbetsmiljön kompliceras i dagens organisationer. Några av våra viktigaste iakttagelser har uppstått ur egna empiriska studier av ett stort antal organisationer i olika branscher. Många individer i dagens arbetsliv rör sig mellan olika arbetssituationer och sådana förändringar kan vara mycket olika för olika grupper av arbetskraften beroende på både individuella och organisatoriska förhållanden. En slutsats är därför att selektionsmekanismer behöver tas hänsyn till i förståelsen av hur organisation och arbetsförhållanden hänger ihop. En konsekvens av detta är att anställda och chefer inte kan betraktas som passiva offer för omständigheter, utan som aktiva människor med möjlighet att, oavsett situation, välja handlingsalternativ

Onödiga och oskäliga arbetsuppgifter bland läkare : Samband mellan illegitima arbetsuppgifter och stress kartlagt i enkätstudie

I föreliggande studie har vi riktat fokus på läkaryrket som profession och på sambandet mellan avgränsning av arbetsuppgifter och anspänning och utmattning.Studien har finansierats genom ett forskningsanslag från AFA försäkring. Sveriges läkarförbund har bidragit både finansiellt och med kunskap och stöd från förbundets arbetslivsgrupp.</p