Predictors of post-traumatic stress symptoms following occupational accidents: A longitudinal study

Objective: Occupational accidents are highly stressful events that frequently occur and impact both the physical and mental health of workers. The aim of this study was to longitudinally assess a predictive model of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in workers who have suffered a recent accident. Method: Two hundred and forty-four workers (77.8% men), aged 18 to 73 years, who had experienced an accident during the last month that resulted in hospitalization and/or ten or more days of sick leave, were surveyed. A second survey was carried out six months later. Regression analyses included psychological predictors (i.e. subjective severity of event, brooding and positive and negative religious coping), along with objective predictors (i.e. hospitalization, sick leave days and unemployment). Results: It was found that the main predictors of PTSS were brooding, negative religious coping, days of sick leave and unemployment, with a large effect size (R²?=?.45). Conclusions: The discussion is based on the usefulness of including selected psychological and objective predictors for detecting people more susceptible to developing psychopathology due to the stress following an accident. Identifying at-risk people for developing PTSS after an accident may help to introduce selective preventive strategies or early interventions in this population.     

Differences in occupational stress in three European countries

In this study, the reliabilities of the Dutch translation of the Occupational Stress Inventory, which is based on the theory of Cooper (Cooper & Marshall, 1976), was investigated. The sample comprised 436 nurses. A comparison is made of the individual and job satisfaction stress levels of Dutch and British nurses (N = 546), and of British managers (N =123) and German managers (N =133). The differences in the reliabilities of the Dutch version, compared to the British and German, are small. The differences between the stress and satisfaction scores are found to be greater between occupational groups than between nations.     

Negative affectivity,perceived occupational stress,and health during organisational restructuring: A follow-up study

Abstract

This paper presents a survey of the relationships among multiple indicators of perceived occupational stress, trait negative affectivity, and later mental and physical health symptoms, among 157 Australian public servants during organisational restructuring. It was hypothesised that individual differences in negative affectivity would inflate the relationships between perceived stress and later strain as assessed by health symptoms in the follow-up phase. The possible role of negative affectivity in moderating the stress-strain relationships was also investigated. Multiple regression analyses conducted with depressive and physical health outcomes separately indicate that the only significant predictors of depressive symptoms were negative affectivity and role insufficiency, whereas the significant predictors of physical health symptoms were role ambiguity, physical environment, and negative affectivity. None of the interaction terms involving occupational stress and negative affectivity was found to be significant Implications of the findings are discussed in the context of the research literature on work stress, particularly the role of negative affectivity in inflating the stress-strain relationship and indications for future research.     

The use of the occupational stress indicator (OSI) in factory workers in China

The purpose of the study was to investigate occupational stress among Chinese factory workers (N=342), from three cities of South East China, using the shortened version of the Occupational Stress Indicator (OSI)-2. The results showed that the reliabilities and predictive validity of the OSI-2 subscales and other subscales used for the study were reasonably high. Quite a high percentage of workers perceived high work pressure. The main sources of stress were intrinsic to the job; and the coping strategies that were most frequently used to tackle stress were “control” methods. In addition, “satisfaction on environmental condition” seemed to be a common predictor for job satisfaction, and mental and physical well-being. The logical relationships between job satisfaction, mental well-being and physical well-being in Chinese workers have provided support to the findings obtained in Western countries.     

Job demands,coping, and impacts of occupational stress among journalists: a systematic review

This paper systematically reviews empirical research published from 2002 to July 2015 investigating journalists’ occupational stressors, coping strategies, and the impacts of these variables on the health and well-being of such professionals, whether on their daily work or as special envoys to critical scenarios. A meta-analytic approach was displayed to analyse the association between exposure to traumatic events during work and journalists’ symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Twenty eight articles met the inclusion criteria and revealed that very few studies distinguish (and none compare) the distress of journalists in their daily work from the distress of reporting major disasters, not a single study addressed positive emotional responses and only one research study focused on an in-depth analysis of the most commonly used coping strategies by journalists. The impacts of occupational stress among these professionals were sorely negative (e.g., burnout, PTSD), and no study was found to address the design and assessment of preventive interventions for these impacts on the health and well-being of journalists. Thirteen studies were included in a random-effects model meta-analysis and a small to moderate effect size (r = 0.272) between exposure to traumatic events during assignments and PTSD was found. The article closes with directions for future studies.     

Managing stress and managing illness: Survival and quality of life in chronic disease

Interest has been steadily building in the impact of stress on psychological and physiological functioning, in particular on immune system responses, furthering the concept of a strong connection between the mind and the body. Implications for prevention of disease onset or treatment of stress-induced illness or immunocompromised conditions have been explored through the implementation of stress management techniques. Cognitive behavioral stress management interventions, biofeedback, relaxation, guided imagery, hypnosis, individual and group psychotherapy, aerobic exercise, and guided self-efficacy treatment are briefly reviewed to identify possible treatment mechanisms that may affect immune function and promote quality of life. The application of behavioral techniques to reduce distress and sharpen coping skills has great promise in reducing the costs associated with chronic disease and in enhancing quality of life among those afflicted.Presented at the APA Presidential Miniconvention, To Your Health: Psychology Through the Life Span, Session VIII, Assuring a Healthy Lifestyle: Psychology Delivers. Chair: Diane J. Willis, Ph.D. The third author received partial funding through the Terry Fox Research Fellowship 5257, National Cancer Institute of Canada.     

An examination of gender differences for job satisfaction,mental health,and occupational stress among senior U. K. civil servants

This study found that gender differences exist within senior U.K. civil servants. Females within the civil service were significantly more job dissatisfied, and suffered from poorer mental and physical ill health. They also showed more concern about their role at work, the factors associated with their particular job, the job's relationship to the home environment, and the constraints of the job. Males were more affected by how much control they felt they had at work, and by their hard-driving and achievement oriented behavior.     

“矛盾”视角下非体面工作从业者矛盾职业认同形成机制

非体面工作是指那些维持社会正常运转所必需的, 但被社会公众所贬低或不喜欢的职业。非体面工作从业者身份认同过程较为复杂, 很难处于有意识的认同或不认同选择的两端, 他们对自身职业或多或少持有矛盾心理。然而, 现有研究关于从业者何时及如何形成矛盾职业认同尚不明晰。本研究拟基于悖论视角, 提出从业者矛盾职业认同形成机制的研究构想。预期研究成果有助于解决现有文献关于从业者要么职业认同要么职业不认同的研究争议, 指出矛盾职业认同在非体面工作情景中更加贴合实际; 实践上可以帮助和引导从业者构建有尊严的职业身份, 并为组织完善底层工作群体管理提供启发。     

Rational Thinking and Stress Management in Health Workers: A Psychoeducational Program

The paper describes the rationale and contents of a graduate-level practicum on stress management. The course objective is consistent with the current call for improved training in psychological issues in medical education. Participants were 39 occupational health practitioners (physicians, industrial hygienists, nurses, and physiotherapists) in the Tel-Aviv University Medical School graduate program in occupational health. Twenty-five students in the same program who did not participate in the practicum were included as comparison subjects. The course was based on a cognitive-behavioral model (Rational-Emotive Behavior Training) developed by Ellis. The one-semester practicum aimed to reduce irrational/dysfunctional thinking patterns which are considered to be causal factors in stress etiology. Irrationality was significantly reduced by the end of the course and perceived psychosocial professional efficacy was increased. The improvements in such personal anti-stress resources may benefit health workers and clients alike. It is recommended to include such courses to the professional training of all health care practitioners.     

A stress and coping perspective on health behaviors: theoretical and methodological considerations

Health behaviors such as eating and exercising have been linked to stress in many studies, and researchers suggest that these links are in large part due to the use of health behaviors to cope with stress. However, health behaviors in the context of coping have received relatively little research attention. In this paper, we briefly survey the literature linking stress, coping, and health behaviors, noting that very little research has explicitly examined health behaviors as coping with stress. We address critical theoretical and methodological issues that arise in applying a stress and coping perspective to health behaviors. We conclude with potential directions for interventions, including the need for conceptually solid and methodologically rigorous research and the development of new measures, and with suggestions for future research. The concepts of self-regulation and stress management and their implications in health behavior research and interventions are also discussed.     

Job Stress and Burnout Among Correctional Officers: A Literature Review

This literature review presents an overview of occupational stress and burnout in correctional institutions, based on 43 investigations from 9 countries. First, the prevalence of various stress reactions among correctional officers (COs) is discussed: turnover and absenteeism rates, psychosomatic diseases, and levels of job dissatisfaction and burnout. Next, empirical evidence is summarized for the existence of 10 specific stressors in the CO's job. It appears that the most notable stressors for COs are role problems, work overload, demanding social contacts (with prisoners, colleagues, and supervisors), and poor social status. Finally, based on 21 articles, individual-oriented and organization-oriented approaches to reduce job stress and burnout among COs are discussed. It is concluded that particularly the latter (i.e., improving human resources management, professionalization of the CO's job, and improvement of the social work environment) seems to be a promising avenue for reducing job stress and burnout in correctional institutions.     

Organizational stress and stress management programs

There is a growing awareness of how stress adversely affects organizational efficiency. The implementation of stress management programs to counteract this problem has been slow. This study examined such programs in companies who claimed that they were active and successful in stress management for their employees. The successful features of these organizational stress management programs are identified, discussed, and a model for organizations is presented.     

Social support,occupational stress and anxiety

When occupational stressors, that is stress-producing environmental circumstances (SPECs) in the workplace, lead to anxiety, this anxiety is considered work-related strain. Social support is frequently recommended as a treatment of such strain, because it is expected to help in one of three ways: by directly reducing the anxiety, by interacting with SPECs to reduce the strength of their effects on anxiety, and by weakening the strength of the SPECs themselves. Future research on anxiety and social support in conjunction with work-related SPECs could shed new light on the relations among these three, variables by employing one or more of three approaches: designing investigations that allow stronger causal inference, testing hypotheses derived from theory, and examining potential cross-cultural differences in the nature of and reactions to social support.     

Managing Job Stress in the Netherlands

Compared with other countries, in the Netherlands work pressure and sickness absenteeism and work incapacitation rates due to work-related mental health problems are quite high. About a decade ago a new Working Conditions Act (WCA) was introduced that had far-reaching consequences for the way job stress is dealt with in organizations. The WCA emphasizes the central role to be played by commercially operating Occupational Health and Safety Services (OHSSs), and it defines a new kind of professional—the Work & Organizational Expert—who is primarily responsible for the assessment and prevention of job stress. Recently, a number of instruments have been developed for psychosocial risk assessment that are now widely used on a regular basis in a way prescribed by the WCA. Preventive measures are increasingly taken by organizations in order to reduce job stress and sickness absenteeism. Based on the Dutch approach some lessons may be learned. Recommendations pertain to (1) the role of government, (2) legal recognition of psychosocial work factors, (3) the privatization of the occupational health and safety sector, and (4) evaluation of job stress prevention programs.     

Job burnout and job leaving in public school teachers: Implications for stress management

This study addressed the questions of whether selected teacher and organizational variables contributed to (a) significant amounts of variance in teachers' scores on three components of burnout, and (b) teachers' intentions to leave special education teaching. Study participants (N =490) included a sample of respondents to a survey of all of the 1096 special education teachers in Hawaii. Instruments used in this study included the Maslach Burnout Inventory, the Porter Need Satisfaction Questionnaire, and the Special Education Teacher Survey. Results of multiple regression analyses indicated that for the burnout components, Emotional Exhaustion and Depersonalization, relatively large and significant amounts of variance could be accounted for by a set of predictor variables. For the third burnout component, Personal Accomplishment, the variance accounted for by a set of predictor variables was significant but small. Stepwise discriminant function analysis was used to distinguish between teachers who stated they did or did not intend to leave special education teaching. Eight variables were identified as predictors of Intention to leave special education teaching, correctly classifying 73% of teachers into the appropriate Yes-Leaving and No-Leaving groups.This research was conducted in partial fulfillment of requirements for the Doctoral dissertation by the first author.     

Amotivation and the occupational decision: an investigation of Australian senior high school students

This exploratory study investigated the occupational decision-related processes of senior high school students, in terms of the extent to which they may be amotivated in choosing a future occupation. Data were gathered using a newly developed questionnaire, which was largely adapted from a number of psychometrically proven instruments, and administered to 492 Grade 11 students attending a stratified random sample of six independent high schools in Sydney, Australia. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data. The major findings of the study include the development of a new empirically supported model that relates amotivation and vocational decision-related processes. The findings may be used by career advisors, psychologists, educators, and family members to advise and assist amotivated senior high school students to make occupational decisions.     

Effectiveness of a smartphone-based worry-reduction training for stress reduction: A randomized-controlled trial

Objective: Perseverative cognition (e.g. worry) and unconscious stress are suggested to be important mediators in the relation between stressors and physiological health. We examined whether a smartphone-based worry-reduction training improved a physiological marker of stress (i.e. increased heart rate variability [HRV]) and unconscious stress.

Design: Randomised-controlled trial was conducted with individuals reporting work stress (n = 136). Participants were randomised to the experimental, control or waitlist condition (resp. EC, CC, WL). The EC and CC registered emotions five times daily for four weeks. The EC additionally received a worry-reduction training with mindfulness exercises.

Main Outcome Measures: Primary outcome was 24-h assessments of HRV measured at pre-, mid- and post-intervention. Secondary outcomes were implicit affect and stress. Effects on heart rate and other psychological outcomes were explored.

Results: A total of 118 participants completed the study. No change from pre- to post-intervention was observed for the primary or secondary outcomes. The change over time was not different between conditions.

Conclusion: Findings suggest that the training was ineffective for improving HRV or psychological stress. Future studies may focus on alternative smartphone-based stress interventions, as stress levels are high in society. There is need for easy interventions and smartphones offer possibilities for this.