Justice at the Workplace : A Review

Modern work life is characterized by constant change, reorganizations, and requirements of efficiency, which make the distribution of resources and obligations, as well as justice in decisionmaking, highly important. In the work life context, it is a question not only of distributing resources and obligations, but also of the procedures and rules that guide the decisionmaking in the organization. Studies of these rules and procedures have provided the basis for a new line of research that evaluates leadership and social relationships in working communities; that is, distributive, procedural, and relational justice. This review follows the development of research on organizational justice from its origins in early social and motivational psychological theories to its establishment as a major line of research in modern work and organizational psychology. The adverse consequences of injustice include poor team climate, reduced productivity and well-being, and work-related illnesses.Peer reviewe

Long Working Hours and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

To summarize the evidence on the relationship between long working hours and cardiovascular disease, such as coronary heart disease and stroke. Large-scale meta-analyses with published and individual participant observational data on more than 740,000 men and women free of cardiovascular disease report a link between long working hours (>= 55 h a week) and the onset of cardiovascular events. Our meta-analytic update of summary evidence suggests a 1.12-fold (95% CI 1.03-1.21) increased risk associated with coronary heart disease and a 1.21-fold (95% CI 1.01-1.45) increased risk of stroke, although the evidence is somewhat inconsistent and the possibility of residual confounding and bias cannot be ruled out. Few studies have examined the mechanisms which may be stress-related, behavioral, or biological. The recent pooled analyses suggest that increased cardiac electric instability and hypercoagulability might play a role. The evidence that long working hours are a risk factor for cardiovascular disease is accumulating and suggests a small risk. Studies on the effects of long working hours in high-risk populations and those with pre-existing cardiovascular disease, mechanistic research, and intervention studies are needed to advance this research field.Peer reviewe

Long-term adherence to healthy dietary guidelines and chronic inflammation in the prospective Whitehall II study

Background Inflammation plays an important role in the cause of cardiovascular diseases and may contribute to the association linking an unhealthy diet to chronic age-related diseases. However, to date the long-term associations between diet and inflammation have been poorly described. Our aim was to assess the extent to which adherence to a healthy diet and dietary improvements over a 6-year exposure period prevented subsequent chronic inflammation over a 5-year follow-up in a large British population of men and women. Methods Data were drawn from 4600 adults (mean ± standard deviation, age 49.6 ± 6.1 years, 28% were women) from the prospective Whitehall cohort II study. Adherence to a healthy diet was measured using Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI) scores in 1991-1993 (50.7 ± 11.9 points) and 1997-1999 (51.6 ± 12.4 points). Chronic inflammation, defined as average levels of serum interleukin-6 from 2 measures 5 years apart, was assessed in 1997-1999 and 2002-2004. Results After adjustment for sociodemographic factors, health behaviors, and health status, participants who maintained a high AHEI score (ie, a healthy diet, n = 1736, 37.7%) and those who improved this score over time (n = 681, 14.8%) showed significantly lower mean levels of interleukin-6 (1.84 pg/mL, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.71-1.98 and 1.84 pg/mL, 95% CI, 1.70-1.99, respectively) than those who had a low AHEI score (n = 1594, 34.6%) over the 6-year exposure period (2.01 pg/mL, 95% CI, 1.87-2.17). Conclusions These data suggest that maintaining and improving adherence to healthy dietary recommendations may reduce the risk of long-term inflammation.</p

Work Stress and Satisfaction with Leadership Among Nurses Encountering Patient Aggression in Psychiatric Care : A Cross-Sectional Survey Study

We examined the associations between work stress (job strain, effort-reward imbalance), perceived job insecurity, workplace social capital, satisfaction with leadership and working hours in relation to the likelihood of encountering patient aggression (overall exposure, assaults on ward property, mental abuse, physical assaults). We conducted a cross-sectional survey for nurses (N = 923) in 84 psychiatric units. Both work stress indicators were associated higher odds for different types of patient aggression. Poorer satisfaction with leadership was associated with higher odds for overall exposure to patient aggression. These findings were robust to adjustment for several nurse and work characteristics, and unit size.Peer reviewe

Unemployment Trajectories and the Early Risk of Disability Pension among Young People with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Nationwide Study in Sweden

Depression and anxiety are associated with unemployment and disability pension, while autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is less studied. We aimed to first identify unemployment trajectories among young adults with and without ASD, and then to examine their social determinants. Finally, we used the trajectories as determinants for subsequent disability pension. We used a population-based cohort, including 814 people who were 19–35 years old, not on disability pension, and who had their ASD diagnosis between 2001 and 2009. A matched reference population included 22,013 people with no record of mental disorders. Unemployment follow-up was the inclusion year and four years after. Disability pension follow-up started after the unemployment follow-up and continued through 2013. We identified three distinctive trajectories of unemployment during the follow-up: (1) low, then sharply increasing (9%,) (2) low (reference, 67%), and (3) high then slowly decreasing (24%). People with ASD had higher odds of belonging belong to the trajectory groups 1 (OR 2.53, 95% CI 2.02–3.18) and 3 (OR 3.60, 95% CI 3.08–4.19). However, the mean number of unemployment days was relatively low in all groups. A disability pension was a rare event in the cohort, although memberships to groups 1 and 3 were associated with the risk of a future disability pension. More knowledge is needed about factors facilitating participation in paid employment among people with ASD

Association between alexithymia and substance use : A systematic review and meta-analysis

Alexithymia has been associated with substance use, but the magnitude of the association has not been evaluated and sub-group differences, if any, are unknown. The aim of this meta-analysis is to systematically review the association between alexithymia and substance use (alcohol or illicit drugs). We identified studies through a systematic review of PubMed and Web of Science and obtained a total of 52 publications using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 scale. Random effects meta-analysis was used to evaluate the overall and sub-group associations. Of the studies, 50 were cross-sectional and two longitudinal. Alexithymia was associated with any substance use (Cohen's d = 0.62, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.49-0.76), with little difference between estimates for use of alcohol or illicit drugs. A stronger association was observed for the alexithymia dimension "Difficulty in Identifying Feelings" (d = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.47-0.81) and "Difficulty in Describing Feelings" (d = 0.44, 95% CI = 0.32-0.55) than for "Externally Oriented Thinking" (d = 0.19, 95% CI = 0.09-0.28). The association was stronger in studies with clinical patient populations (d = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.62-1.05) than in those investigating general or student populations, and in studies with a majority of male rather than female participants. These findings suggest a strong overall association between alexithymia and substance use and a very strong association among clinical patient populations. The association may be stronger with the emotion-related dimensions than with the cognition-related dimension of alexithymia. As nearly all the studies were cross-sectional, more longitudinal studies are needed.Peer reviewe

Lääkärien työolot, terveys ja työkyky

English summar

Lääkärien työolot, terveys ja työkyky

English summar

Psychological Distress During the Retirement Transition and the Role of Psychosocial Working Conditions and Social Living Environment

Objectives: Mental health is determined by social, biological, and cultural factors and is sensitive to life transitions. We examine how psychosocial working conditions, social living environment, and cumulative risk factors are associated with mental health changes during the retirement transition. Method: We use data from the Finnish Retirement and Aging study on public sector employees (n = 3,338) retiring between 2014 and 2019 in Finland. Psychological distress was measured with the General Health Questionnaire annually before and after retirement and psychosocial working conditions, social living environment, and accumulation of risk factors at the study wave prior to retirement. Results: Psychological distress decreased during the retirement transition, but the magnitude of the change was dependent on the contexts individuals retire from. Psychological distress was higher among those from poorer psychosocial working conditions (high job demands, low decision authority, job strain), poorer social living environment (low neighborhood social cohesion, small social network), and more cumulative risk factors (work/social/both). During the retirement transition, greatest reductions in psychological distress were observed among those with poorer conditions (work: absolute and relative changes, p [Group x Time interactions] < .05; social living environment and cumulative risk factors: absolute changes, p [Group x Time interactions] < .05). Discussion: Psychosocial work-related stressors lead to quick recovery during the retirement transition but the social and cumulative stressors have longer-term prevailing effects on psychological distress. More studies are urged incorporating exposures across multiple levels or contexts to clarify the determinants of mental health during the retirement transition and more generally at older ages.Peer reviewe