Making Space for Community Critical Methodology: Stories from the Australian Context

Our collective account considers the ways community critical methodologies can inform academic endeavors. Methodology is understood to be the theorizing of methods that produce and legitimate knowledge claims. For us, community critical approaches incorporate poststructural and other forms of critical theory in the questioning of taken for granted assumptions. This forms a valuable foundation for community praxis as it focuses not just on social issues outside, but on an examination within; on the institution of psychology itself. We find “examining within” a vital process for our research, teaching, and community engagement. Above all it is important to ask whose interests are served by the construction and presentation of knowledge in particular ways. We present three pieces of practice which engaged with critical methodologies. The first examines collaborative research methodologies developed with young people in rural Australia who are primary carers for a family member. The second examines tensions involved in trying to employ critical methodologies in multi‐stakeholder work between community organizations, communities, and researchers. The third examines opportunities and barriers when employing critical methodologies in learning and teaching with undergraduate students. We reflect upon the intersecting threads of commonality and difference between them and consider the implications for practice.     

Work behavior in the school psychology service: Conceptual framework and construct validity approached by two different methodologies

A conceptual framework for work behavior (WB) in the school psychology service (SPS) in Norway is discussed, focusing on differences at the individual and the systemic level. A four-factor measurement model of selected tasks was hypothesized and empirically assessed by joint application of generalizability (G) theory and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Self-reported WB was investigated among 190 SP counselors in Study 1 and 470 SP counselors within 121 offices in Study 2. The hypothesized four-factor solution was supported. In accordance with international findings, G studies demonstrated that the SPS as a whole allocates different priorities to aspects of WB, in favor of traditional child-centered work when approaching existing problems. A two-level model of factor analysis was tested, indicating little difference between offices in service delivery. On the contrary, the generalizable differentiation between the four hypothesized WB categories as provided by the G framework indicated individual differences among SP counselors in their priorities to aspects of WB. Because higher priority to prevention and systems intervention have been requested in general, future research should explore possible variables that may have an effect on SP counselors choice of different aspects of WB, as well as differences in the associations between aspects of WB on the one hand and important behavioral and attitudinal outcomes among jobholders on the other.     

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.     

Work engagement interventions can be effective: a systematic review

Work engagement is associated with important individual and organisational outcomes (e.g. employee health and well-being, performance). This narrative systematic review aims to synthesise the increasing number of work engagement interventions and inform future research by exploring: (1) the specific intervention foci, delivery methods and content of engagement interventions; (2) intervention effectiveness; and (3) underlying mediators and moderators. A systematic search for interventions employing a validated engagement measure revealed 40 studies. Five were personal resource building, twelve job resource building, three leadership training, eighteen health promotion, and two job and personal resource building. Twenty (50%) studies observed significant positive effects on work engagement, two (5%) had a negative effect, and eighteen (45%) had no effect. Job and personal resources, job demands and well-being were important mediators. Moderators included the specific intervention focus and delivery method, employee participation, manager support, and intervention level (top-down vs bottom-up). Bottom-up interventions, and job crafting and mindfulness interventions particularly, were most successful. Implementation difficulties were common, including poor response and attrition rates, and adverse factors (e.g. organisational restructuring, redundancy, economic downturn). We highlight implications for research and practice and stress the need to test underlying theories to build knowledge around how, why, and when interventions work.     

Santé fragilisée et construction d’un travail soutenable

The number of workers with weakened health is increasing and situations combining poor health and work/job search are multiplying due to a combination of factors: changes in work, therapeutic treatments, greater attention to mental disorders, a rise in the retirement age and the ageing of the “active” population. Understanding the relationship between health and work through infra-pathological disorders and chronic diseases leads to several decompartments: temporal, disciplinary, of actors and spaces. This dossier aims to give visibility to these renewed approaches from a multi-disciplinary, theoretical and practical perspective.     

Prévenir et agir sur les problèmes de santé au travail : les services de santé au travail à la croisée des chemins

This article presents an ongoing research regarding work-related health issues as they are perceived and identified by professionals practicing in occupational health services. The study is based on interviews with occupational doctors, nurses, technicians in prevention of occupational hazards and assistants, employed in two general services. The article starts with an overview of the recent changes in the workplace and in the practicing conditions of the professionals in the services. It then analyses the types of issues they identify among the employees they have in charge. Finally, the article examines the actions that can be done by the services, and the limitations of these actions. The professionals appear to be negotiating with various strains.     

On the temporal stability of self-determined work motivation profiles: a latent transition analysis

ABSTRACT

This study extends the research and theory on work motivation by examining temporal stability and change in employees’ self-determined work motivation profiles and their differential relations to various predictors and outcomes. We gathered data at two time points over a 24-month period from a sample of 438 newly registered public health care nurses. Results of latent profile and latent transition analyses revealed four distinct profiles (strongly, moderately, self-determined, and poorly motivated), estimated from the position of global and specific behavioural regulations on the motivation continuum proposed by self-determination theory. These profiles were entirely stable at the within-sample level, although within-person changes in profile membership occurred for 30–40% of employees. Of particular interest, perceptions of job resources were consistently associated with greater likelihood of membership in the strongly and moderately motivated profiles. These profiles were also consistently associated with lower emotional exhaustion and intentions to leave the occupation and the organization and with higher in-role performance compared to the self-determined and poorly motivated profiles.     

The conscientious retiree: The relationship between conscientiousness,retirement, and volunteering

The current study examined the relationship between conscientiousness, work status, and volunteering utilizing two large samples, the St. Louis Personality and Aging Network (SPAN) and the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). It was hypothesized that conscientious adults who were retired would be more likely to volunteer because, after retirement, they gain a substantial amount of free time, while losing an outlet for their industrious and achievement-striving tendencies. Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses revealed that conscientious, retired individuals were more likely to volunteer than conscientious, working individuals. Further analyses revealed that facets of conscientiousness provide differential information from the general trait. These findings indicate that volunteering during retirement fills an important niche for high-striving, conscientious individuals.