Team adaptability and task cohesion as resources to the non-linear dynamics of workload and sickness absenteeism in firefighter teams

ABSTRACT

The current study builds on the non-linear Dynamic Systems (NDS) perspective to test the assumption that change in sickness absenteeism is non-linear, and that such change is due to workload, team adaptability and task cohesion. Participants were 37 firefighter teams (n = 250 individuals) from a main European capital city. The research hypotheses were tested using SPSS and the “cusp” package, in the statistical software R. The results suggest that change in sickness absenteeism behaviours over time is non-linear, with the cusp catastrophe model predicting such behaviours better than the linear and logistic models. In our model, task cohesion functions as an asymmetry factor (i.e., the independent variable that determines the strength and discrepancy between the two stable states of the dependent variable) leading to a linear change in sickness absenteeism. Interestingly, both workload and team adaptability function as bifurcation (i.e., the independent variable that determines the change between the two stable states of the order parameter) and asymmetry factors leading to non-linear and linear change in sickness absenteeism over time. This study contributes to the growing evidence that incorporating the NDS perspective enables a better understanding of action teams, namely those working in extreme environments.     

Patterns of suicide among hospitalized mentally disordered offenders

The case records of 29 mentally disordered offenders who committed suicide in a state hospital were reviewed. Information was collected on demographic and clinical characteristics; time, method and location of the suicides; and the presence of suicide indicators. Comparisons were made between the characteristics of the suicide patients and those of the current hospital population. Major findings were: 80 percent of the suicides were committed by psychotic patients and 66 percent were by patients with diagnoses which included paranoia; 48 percent of the suicide patients had been charged with or convicted of murder or attempted murder; most suicides occurred in individual patient rooms; nearly 50 percent of the patients had a history of suicide attempts; and other common indicators of suicide risk were often masked by psychotic symptomatology. Several recommendations for identifying and managing potentially suicidal patients in this population are presented.