The role of educational track in adolescents' school burnout: A longitudinal study

Background Transition from comprehensive school to later educational tracks is challenging for many adolescents. The present three‐wave longitudinal study conducted in Finland considers this issue from the perspective of school burnout. Aims The study investigated the extent to which school‐related burnout (exhaustion, cynicism, and feelings of inadequacy) changes during the transition from comprehensive school to an academic or vocational track. Sample The participants of the present study were 658 ninth graders, who filled in questionnaires twice during their final term of comprehensive school and once after the transition to post‐comprehensive schooling. Methods The participants filled in the school burnout inventory and supplied background information on gender and academic achievement. The data have analysed by latent growth curve modelling. Results The results showed that adolescents on an academic track experienced more exhaustion at school than those on a vocational track. Moreover, among adolescents on an academic track both the level of cynicism and inadequacy at school increased across time. In turn, among adolescents on a vocational track inadequacy at school decreased across time while cynicism increased before the school transition and decreased thereafter. Girls experienced more overall school burnout than boys, and adolescents whose academic achievement was lower experienced a higher level of burnout than adolescents who did better at school. Conclusions The results support the stage‐environment fit theory according to which the nature of the environments in academic and vocational education are more important than the transition per se for changes in how adolescents think and feel about school (see Eccles & Midgley, 1989 ).     

压力情境认知评价与工作倦怠的关系

为探讨压力情境认知评价与工作倦怠的关系,选取北京、河南两家公司的303名员工进行了调查。分层结果分析发现,在控制了人口统计学因素之后,挑战评价对玩世不恭存在显著正向预测作用,控制评价对情绪衰竭、玩世不恭和成就感低落存在显著负向预测作用;进一步分析发现,控制评价在情绪中心应对和情绪衰竭、问题中心应对与成就感低落之间按的关系上具有调节作用。结果表明,压力情境认知评价是影响员工工作倦怠的重要因素。     

The impact of a subsequent pregnancy on grief and emotional adjustment following a perinatal loss

The present study examined the impact of a subsequent pregnancy on emotional adjustment associated with a previous perinatal loss and on the following components of parental grief—active grief, difficulty coping, despair. Participants included 25 women and 24 partners who were expecting a baby for the first time since their loss and 25 women and 18 partners who were not expecting and had not had a child or pregnancy after their loss. Depressive symptomatology, anxiety, marital adjustment, as well as active grief, despair, and difficulty coping were measured. Mothers who were not pregnant were experiencing significantly higher levels of despair and difficulty coping than pregnant mothers, independently from the effect of time elapsed since the loss. For the fathers, no significant group effect in emotional distress or intensity of grief was found. Women reported significantly higher levels of negative affectivity than men. A new pregnancy may be associated with a beneficial effect on the mourning process of women with a previous perinatal loss, primarily by decreasing their despair and difficulty coping. However, in our sample, grief intensity remained high, suggesting that the mourning process may not be hindered by a subsequent pregnancy.     

Components of Burnout,Resources, and Gender-Related Differences1

The present study examined gender-related differences in the ways social support and coping contribute to burnout, as measured by the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). Specific hypotheses were made regarding relationships between antecedent conditions and MBI subscales, including emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and lack of personal accomplishment. Respondents were teachers, and data from 2 waves (1 year apart) were examined. Using LISREL structural equation analyses, results were that in women, co-worker support led to lower emotional exhaustion, and in men, supervisor and co-worker support led to higher personal accomplishment. Higher levels of internal control were associated with greater accomplishment in men only. Results were discussed from a gender role perspective.     

How job demands, resources, and burnout predict objective performance: a constructive replication

The present study uses the Job Demands-Resources model (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007) to examine how job characteristics and burnout (exhaustion and cynicism) contribute to explaining variance in objective team performance. A central assumption in the model is that working characteristics evoke two psychologically different processes. In the first process, job demands lead to constant psychological overtaxing and in the long run to exhaustion. In the second process, a lack of job resources precludes actual goal accomplishment, leading to cynicism. In the present study these two processes were used to predict objective team performance. A total of 176 employees from a temporary employment agency completed questionnaires on job characteristics and burnout. These self-reports were linked to information from the company's management information system about teams' (N=71) objective sales performance (actual sales divided by the stated objectives) during the 3 months after the questionnaire data collection period. The results of structural equation modeling analyses did not support the hypothesis that exhaustion mediates the relationship between job demands and performance, but confirmed that cynicism mediates the relationship between job resources and performance suggesting that work conditions influence performance particularly through the attitudinal component of burnout.     

Perceived collective burnout: a multilevel explanation of burnout

Building up on the socially induced model of burnout and the job demands-resources model, we examine how burnout can transfer without direct contagion or close contact among employees. Based on the social information processing approach and the conservation of resources theory, we propose that perceived collective burnout emerges as an organizational-level construct (employees' shared perceptions about how burned out are their colleagues) and that it predicts individual burnout over and above indicators of demands and resources. Data were gathered during the first term and again during the last term of the academic year among 555 teachers from 100 schools. The core dimensions of burnout, exhaustion, and cynicism were measured at the individual and collective level. Random coefficient models were computed in a lagged effects design. Results showed that perceived collective burnout at Time 1 was a significant predictor of burnout at Time 2 after considering previous levels of burnout, demands (workload, teacher-student ratio, and absenteeism rates), and resources (quality of school facilities). These findings suggest that perceived collective burnout is an important characteristic of the work environment that can be a significant factor in the development of burnout.     

PARTNER LOSS IN LATER LIFE: GENDER DIFFERENCES IN COPING SHORTLY AFTER BEREAVEMENT

This longitudinal study aimed to explain coping responses of older women (n = 60)and men (n = 43) at about 1 year following partner loss using a general theory of coping. The theory of mental incongruity predicts that behavioral and mental coping are responses to experienced loneliness and that they are facilitated by actual and perceived opportunities or resources. Results show that the availability of social relationships and better general health encourage coping responses among the bereaved, as well as, unexpectedly, higher social anxiety and financial stress. Results reveal opposite effects for women and men. As time elapses since the death of the partner, men more often share their emotions with others than women. Also, the results suggest that resources play different roles in coping responses of recently bereaved women and men. Among widowers financial stress may impede emotional coping responses, while among widows higher education and having a best female friend seem to function as riskfactors in coping with loss. Relative health, or the feeling one is better off than comparable others, may protect against the negative effects of partner death, particularly among recently bereaved women. It is concluded that the proposed theory offers useful concepts in understanding how recently bereaved individuals cope with partner death; however,it is not helpful in explaining the gender differences found in the present study. Further, the findings question the supposed less favorable health position of older widows and the more favorable social position of older widows and socioeconomic position of older widowers.     

Stress,Sex Differences,and Coping Strategies Among College Students

The sources of stress (academics, financial, family, social, and daily hassles) and coping strategies (self-help, approach, accommodation, avoidance, and self-punishment) of 166 college students were examined. The relationship between sex, specific sources of stress, and coping strategies was also investigated. Students completed a stress assessment inventory and a stress coping inventory based on a 5-factor revised COPE model (Zuckerman and Gagne Journal of Research in Personality, 37:169–204, 2003). Results found that college women reported a higher overall level of stress and greater use of emotion-focused coping strategies than college men. College men and women also reported different coping strategies for different stressors; however the use of emotion-focused coping strategies dominated over problem-solving strategies for both men and women. These results have implications for designing stress reduction workshops that build on the existing adaptive emotion-focused strategies of college students.     

日记式追踪研究高校教师职业枯竭的产生原因及内部关系

该研究针对职业枯竭研究领域存在争议的两大理论问题——产生机制与内部过程,使用日记研究方法对重点高校教师进行了追踪调查。得到以下结果:1)在枯竭的成因部分:压力感、付出-回报的不平衡对耗竭存在显著正向的预测作用,且不平衡还是压力感与耗竭之间的部分中介变量。此外,二者还可完全通过耗竭作用于讥诮维度。自足资源对耗竭和讥诮均无显著影响,它只对职业效能有显著的正向预测作用,且是职业效能的唯一前因变量。2)在枯竭三维度的内部关系部分:耗竭与讥诮存在显著的正向联系,且解释风格在其中起到调节作用,即越将负性事件归因于外部环境或他人,耗竭对讥诮的正向预期作用就越强。而职业效能维度显示出与耗竭及讥诮相分离的态势,与后二者均无显著的相关关系。     

Constructions of work stress and coping in a female- and a male-dominated department

In the present study the nature of stress and coping was investigated and considered as socially constructed. Thirty small group interviews were performed using the Critical Incident Technique in one female- and one male-dominated customer service department of a telecom company. The main themes about stress among both women and men were often expressed as collective phenomena and were connected to the organizational change and downsizing process, problems when carrying out the work and lack of autonomy. However, a striking difference between female and male interviews was found in the way that women to a greater extent expressed lack of autonomy and their working situation was described as strictly regulated. The findings illustrate that a traditional gender difference regarding autonomy could be found when comparing a female- and a male-dominated department even though they were performing the same type of job. Both women and men portrayed coping as a mixture of collective and individual strategies. They often mentioned collective acceptance, resignation and hardening. There is a need for further research about women and men at work, taking into consideration the interpersonal context and the collective nature of stress and coping.     

Gender Differences in Coping Styles of Chinese Military Officers Undergoing Intensive Training

This study investigated gender differences in anxiety and coping styles under the stress of intense military training. We surveyed Chinese female (n = 470) and male (n = 379) military officers who were surveyed during the third month of a 10-month intensive training program. Results indicated that state and trait anxiety were highly correlated in both women and men. In general, female officers had higher levels of anxiety, greater negative coping tendencies, and less perceived self-efficacy than their male counterparts. When compared with the norm, both women and men had significantly more positive coping strategies. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed factors that influenced male and female state anxiety. Avoidance, which was chosen by women more often than men, in general was less useful for female officers. The most common positive coping style for female officers was problem solving, whereas for men it was help seeking. We suggested that even female officers with lower mental health levels than their male counterparts made active cognitive changes to their coping styles when undergoing intense military training.     

Job Conditions and Wellness among Finnish Upper Secondary School Teachers

The aim of the present study was to compare the work situation of Finnish upper secondary school teachers to that of average European teachers and to examine to what extent various job conditions and coping strategies explain their well-being. The Finnish data (n = 232) were gathered in the spring term of 1998 by postal questionnaires (response rate 62%). The European reference sample consisted of 1950 upper secondary school teachers from ten European countries. The Finnish upper secondary school teachers assessed, in particular, their job conditions (e.g., lower job demands and higher job control), but also their well-being (higher level of job satisfaction and lower level of depersonalisation and somatic complaints) as better than their European colleagues. Job demands and control had only main effects on well-being: high demands explained low job satisfaction, high emotional exhaustion and high depersonalisation, and high control explained high job satisfaction and high personal accomplishment. The additional job conditions and coping strategies increased the explained variance of somatic complaints, emotional exhaustion, and personal accomplishment.     

Does equity sensitivity moderate the relationship between effort–reward imbalance and burnout

The model of effort–reward imbalance (ERI) received considerable research attention in the job stress literature. However, very scarce research investigated individual differences as moderators between ERI and stress. The present study is aimed at examining the combined effects of ERI, overcommitment (OVC), and the interaction between ERI and overcommitment on burnout (i.e., emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and inefficacy) and the moderating role of equity sensitivity. A questionnaire measuring ERI, burnout, and equity sensitivity was administered to 159 employees. Regression analyses were conducted to test the proposed relations and moderating hypotheses. ERI was negatively related to inefficacy and overcommitment was positively related to emotional exhaustion and cynicism. In addition, equity sensitivity was found to moderate the effect of overcommitment on emotional exhaustion and inefficacy. The findings emphasize the detrimental effect overcommitment may have on employee's mental health and suggest that the ERI model components may be closely related to perceptions of organizational justice.     

HIGHLY ANXIOUS PUPILS IN FORMAL AND INFORMAL PRIMARY CLASSROOMS; THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INFERRED COPING STRATEGIES AND: I—COGNITIVE ATTAINMENT

Summary . This study was carried out in conjunction with the Teaching Styles project (Bennett, 1976). Questionnaire measures of ‘anxiety’ and ‘achievement motivation’, together with cognitive tests of English, mathematics and reading were administered to a sample of 956 primary school pupils in classes taught by teachers representing formal, informal and mixed teaching styles at the beginning and towards the end of the final year in primary school. Based on the premise that self-report measures of ‘anxiety’ and ‘achievement motivation’ may be indicative of coping strategies, zonal analyses of post-test data were carried out separately by sex and within teaching style. Results showed higher levels of attainment for highly anxious highly motivated pupils (an inferred coping strategy of approach) than for highly anxious low motivated pupils (an inferred coping strategy of avoidance). Further analyses indicated a close link between anxiety, motivation and ability for girls, a finding interpreted in terms of sex-related conformity, but for boys considerable discrepancies in attainment in relation to the inferred coping strategies were still in evidence at the lower ability level under all teaching styles. At the upper ability level significant discrepancies in attainment were shown only for boys in formal classrooms, where an inferred coping strategy of ‘approach’ was found to be associated with the highest level of attainment and an inferred coping strategy of ‘avoidance’ was associated with the lowest level of attainment. These findings are interpreted in terms of extrinsic motivational incentives, success and failure experience and possible parental influence. Further analysis indicated that ‘avoiders' tended to be introverted and ‘approachers' extraverted in personality. This finding is interpreted in the light of Gray's 1970 postulate that introverts are relatively more susceptible to punishment/non-reward, whereas extraverts are relatively more susceptible to reward.     

Collective and individualistic coping with stress at work

In the present study, coping was viewed as both an individualistic and a collective phenomenon, and the investigation assessed how use of collective and individualistic coping strategies was related to sex of respondent and organizational level. These strategies were measured by responses to Swedish versions of the Strategic Approach to Coping Scale and the COPE Inventory. Data were collected by means of an Internet-based questionnaire completed by 950 female (n = 502) and male (n = 448) employees at both the managerial (n = 171) and nonmanagerial (n = 764) levels, working in customer service in a Swedish telecom company. The mean age of the participants was 47 yr. (SD = 9.7). Analysis showed women more often used collective strategies, but so also did both women and men managers. Men did not use problem-focused individualistic coping strategies more often than women. No interactions between sex and organizational level were found. Separate analyses for women and men indicated that coping was more related to organizational level than to sex.     

An intervention study of the effects of the coping strategy of "finding positive meaning" on positive affect and health

Previous research has shown that positive affect (PA) is associated with the coping strategies of "searching for and finding positive meaning." The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the coping strategy of "finding positive meaning" and PA using an intervention method. Additionally, inasmuch as previous research has revealed that PA is associated with physical and mental health status, the current study measured health status in order to carry out a preliminary test as to whether PA increased by the intervention can also improve health. Participants in the intervention group (Japanese graduate students; 13 men and 16 women) reported the most stressful event during the past 3 days and its positive meaning, while those in the control group (13 men and 15 women) reported the most stressful event alone. Both groups reported twice a week for 5 successive weeks using e-mails. Three questionnaires, the Japanese version of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule scales for measuring positive and negative affects (NA), the situational version of the General Coping Questionnaire for coping strategies, and the Japanese version of the General Health Questionnaire for health status, were administered to all participants just before the start of the intervention, after the conclusion of the intervention, and at the 5-week follow-up session. Results revealed that the "finding positive meaning" coping strategy and PA were enhanced by the intervention in the follow-up for men and women with no changes in NA. For the health scales of the General Health Questionnaire, no significant group-related effects were observed. Thus, the intervention had no significant influence on NA or health status. Implications of these findings for future research are discussed along with a few limitations in this study.     

Effect sizes and cut-off points: a meta-analytical review of burnout in latin American countries

Burnout is a highly prevalent globalized health issue that causes significant physical and psychological health problems. In Latin America research on this topic has increased in recent years, however there are no studies comparing results across countries, nor normative reference cut-offs. The present meta-analysis examines the intensity of burnout (emotional exhaustion, cynicism and personal accomplishment) in 58 adult nonclinical samples from 8 countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela). We found low intensity of burnout but there are significant differences between countries in emotional exhaustion explained by occupation and language. Social and human service professionals (police officers, social workers, public administration staff) are more exhausted than health professionals (physicians, nurses) or teachers. The samples with Portuguese language score higher in emotional exhaustion than Spanish, supporting the theory of cultural relativism. Demographics (sex, age) and study variables (sample size, instrument), were not found significant to predict burnout. The effect size and confidence intervals found are proposed as a useful baseline for research and medical diagnosis of burnout in Latin American countries.     

Religiousness and Religious Coping in a Secular Society: The Gender Perspective

Women are found to be more religious than men and more likely to use religious coping. Only few studies have explored religious gender differences in more secular societies. This population-based study comprised 3,000 Danish men and women (response rate 45 %) between 20 and 40 years of age. Information about demographics, religiousness and religious coping was obtained through a web-based questionnaire. We organized religiousness in the three dimensions: Cognition, Practice and Importance, and we assessed religious coping using the brief RCOPE questionnaire. We found substantial gender differences in both religiousness and religious coping. Nearly, 60 % of the women believed in some sort of spirit or in God compared to 40 % of the men. Generally, both men and women scored low on the RCOPE scale. However, for respondents reporting high levels of religiousness, the proportion of men who scored high in the RCOPE exceeded the proportion of women in using positive and especially negative coping strategies. Also, in a secular society, women are found to be more religious than men, but in a subset of the most religious respondents, men were more inclined to use religious coping. Further studies on religious coping in secular societies are required.     

Hospital downsizing,individual resources,and occupational stressors in nurses

Abstract

Restructuring and downsizing are occurring increasingly throughout the workplace. As a result, many individuals are losing their jobs. Many others experience job insecurity as a result of the threat of downsizing. As with most other work spheres, several hospitals are closing, resulting in thousands of layoffs. Since nurses constitute one of the main groups employed in hospitals, they are faced with increasing job shortages. This study examines psychological reactions of nurses in response to stressors resulting from hospital downsizing. Individual resources, particularly coping strategies and self-efficacy, can affect the extent to which individuals experience distress as a result of downsizing. A self-report, anonymous questionnaire was filled out and returned by 1363 nurses employed in hospitals in Canada. Results of this study show that amount of work was a consistent and significant stressor in nurses. The greater the nurse's workload, the greater her emotional exhaustion, cynicism, depression and anxiety. Further results reported here indicated that control coping and self-efficacy lessened distress on the job and increased job satisfaction, while escape coping was associated with greater psychological distress and less job security.