Identifying thriving Workplaces in Hospitals: Work Characteristics and the Applicability of Character Strengths at Work

In most of their work settings, the health and well-being of hospital physicians are at risk. Trends of work intensification and changing laws in the European Union and beyond have heightened the call for taking a closer look at the workplace and training conditions of hospital physicians. This study aims to identify specific work characteristics (such as autonomy, social support, cognitive demands, and skill adequacy), in order to determine conditions for the applicability of individual character strengths at work and in turn for increased work engagement and well-being. We examined our hypotheses based on cross-sectional (N = 173) and longitudinal self-report data (N = 72) of hospital physicians in Austria. The results identified significant indirect effects of skill adequacy, cognitive demands, autonomy, and social support at work – via the applicability of individual character strengths at work – on work engagement and general well-being. Longitudinal analyses additionally confirmed autonomy as a thriving work characteristic for promoting the applicability of individual character strengths over time (time lag: 6 months). This study revealed the value of enabling and preserving the applicability of character strengths in a hospital work setting and focused – for the first time – on its predicting work characteristics. Furthermore, it emphasizes the importance of securing skill adequacy early in the training of young physicians and encouraging, as well as, sustaining autonomy in their daily work life.

     

Abstract Thinking Increases Support for Affirmative Action

Sex Roles - Affirmative action is the proactive process of using resources to ensure that people are not discriminated against based on their group membership, such as gender or ethnicity. It is an...     

Enabling Action: Reflections upon Inclusive Participatory Research on Health with Women with Disabilities in the Philippines

People with disabilities experience health disparities arising from social, environmental, and system-level factors. Evidence from a range of settings suggests women with disabilities have reduced access to health information and experience barriers to screening, prevention, and care services. This results in greater unmet health needs, particularly in relation to sexual and reproductive health. Women with disabilities are also more likely to experience physical and sexual violence than women without disabilities, further undermining their health. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) can generate knowledge and underpin action to address such health disparities and promote health equity. However, the potential and challenges of disability inclusion in CBPR, particularly in contexts of poverty and structural inequality such as those found in low- and middle-income countries, are not well documented. In this paper, we reflect on our experience of implementing and evaluating W-DARE, a three-year program of disability-inclusive CBPR aiming to increase access to sexual and reproductive health and violence-response services for women with disabilities in the Philippines. We discuss strategies for increasing disability inclusion in research and use a framework of reflexive solidarity to consider the uneven distribution of the benefits, costs, and responsibilities for action arising from the W-DARE program.     

Neuroticism: how does one slice the PI(e)?

Costa and McCrae's operationalization of the Five-Factor Model, the Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness Personality Inventory—Revised (NEO-PI-R; Costa and McCrae, 1992a), measures five broad dimensions of personality: Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness. According to Costa and McCrae, the Neuroticism (N) domain scale subsumes six facets. Although derived rationally and tested factor analytically, the factorial structure of the facet scales has yet to be unequivocally confirmed with analytic methods imposed at the item level. Using confirmatory and exploratory factor-analytic techniques, this study examines and tests the structure of the N domain scale of the NEO-PI-R. Confirmatory factor analysis indicates poor replication of the structure of the N scale. Results of the exploratory factor analysis indicate that while three of the facets replicated quite well, the other three factors did not correspond to Costa and McCrae's formulation. Future research should elaborate on the factorial structure and construct validity of the N facet scales, especially if they are to be used and interpreted in personality and clinical assessment. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Measuring Adherence to Medical Treatments in Childhood Chronic Illness: Considering Multiple Methods and Sources of Information

Adherence to medical treatment is a significant problem for children and adolescents with chronic conditions, such as asthma, diabetes, and cystic fibrosis. The consequences of nonadherence can be serious, contributing to increased symptoms, unnecessary hospitalizations, and declines in physical functioning. The quality of data obtained from clinical trials can also be affected by poor adherence, leading to erroneous conclusions concerning the efficacy of drug treatments and the dosages that are needed to achieve those effects. Adherence problems in both clinical research and practice also lead to substantially higher health care costs. In order to further our understanding of the barriers that lead to poor adherence and identify strategies that are effective in addressing them, we need to develop reliable and valid measures of adherence behaviors. Using cystic fibrosis as a model of a serious, chronic disease that requires a difficult and time-consuming medical regimen, three different types of adherence measures are considered: self-report questionnaires, daily diary reports, and electronic monitors. The specific advantages and disadvantages of each type of measurement are reviewed, and specific recommendations are made for future research.     

Walking While Memorizing: Age-Related Differences in Compensatory Behavior

This study investigated predictions of the life-span theory of selection, optimization, and compensation, focusing on different patterns of task priority during dual-task performance in younger and older adults. Cognitive (memorizing) and sensorimotor (walking a narrow track) performance were measured singly, concurrently, and when task difficulty was manipulated. Use of external aids was measured to provide another index of task priority. Before dual-task testing, participants received extensive training with each component task and external aid. Age differences in dual-task costs were greater in memory performance than in walking, suggesting that older adults prioritized walking over memory. Further, when given a choice of compensatory external aids to use, older adults optimized walking, whereas younger adults optimized memory performance. The results have broad implications for systemic theories of cognitive and sensorimotor aging, and the costs and benefits of assistive devices and environmental support for older populations.     

Gender differences in presentation and conceptualization of adolescent self-injurious behaviour: Implications for therapeutic practice

The UK is reported to have the highest rate of self-injurious behaviour (SIB) in Europe. It is no longer underrepresented in adolescent male populations, and further appears to correlate significantly with the increase in young male completed suicides. Early research suggested mental health professionals view males as being psychologically healthier than females. Gender differences in behavioural presentation and conceptual understanding of SIB may account for such disparity. The fields of counselling psychology and psychotherapy are in the advantageous position of embracing broader perspectives in which to challenge methodological and conceptual biases within existing medical frameworks. Differential gender biases in the nosology of comorbid conditions, psychodiagnosis, and treatment decisions are identified. Mental health workers across disciplines continue to find the management of SIB a challenge despite the wealth of theoretical models available to inform practice. Some techniques and promising therapies (dialectical behaviour therapy and problem-solving therapy) are highlighted as practicable approaches for counselling psychologists. Conclusions reveal future research may benefit from incorporating broader definitions of SIB expressed across the sexes. Further investigation into treatment efficacy with particular emphasis on the impact of gender role socialization is also indicated.     

Nonshared environmental processes in social‐emotional development: an observational study of identical twin differences in the preschool period

Differences in mothers’ parenting behaviors toward their identical twin preschoolers were examined to identify nonshared environmental processes in social‐emotional development. The study included 62 pairs of 3½‐year‐old same‐sex identical twins. Indicators of each child’s social‐emotional development (temperament, prosocial behavior, behavior problems and noncompliance) and parenting environment (warmth and negativity, positive and negative control, responsiveness) were assessed using observers’, interviewers’, and parents’ ratings. Mothers treated their identical twins differently, and this differential treatment covaried in expected ways with identical twin differences in social‐emotional adjustment. The twin who received more supportive and less punitive forms of parenting was also higher in positive mood and prosocial behaviors and lower in negative mood and behavior problems when compared to her or his twin.     

Evidence for the abstractive encoding of superficial position information in visual patterns

When presented a series of patterns inside a frame, subjects unintentionally retained information concerning the frame-relative location of the elements composing the patterns; they could use this superficial information to estimate the frequency with which the elements occurred at various locations within the frame. There were two aspects of the results that supported the hypothesis that this superficial element-location information was abstractively encoded and, therefore, retrievable independent of the patterns comprising the elements: (1) Correlations between actual and estimated frequency remained significant after the effects of pattern recall were partialled out, and (2) correlations were enhanced by assuming that the frequency estimate for each location was affected by the imprecise coding of position for elements falling in surrounding locations. Additional experiments indicated that an orienting task emphasizing pattern recall resulted in very inaccurate estimation of element-location frequency, and intentional instructions improved the precision of position coding for individual elements.