Assessment of job stress factors in a context of organizational change

IntroductionResearch consistently showed that stress and organizational change are closely related.ObjectiveThis study was conducted to identify the psychosocial job characteristics that are responsible for psychological stress in a context of organizational change.MethodAn expanded 30-item version of the Job Content Questionnaire was used to measure psychological demands, decision latitude, supervisor support, coworker support, and organizational difficulties. Online survey responses from 973 employees from the university of Strasbourg were analyzed.ResultsConfirmatory Factor Analyses indicated a poor fit of the five-factor model based on 30 items but an acceptable to good fit of a reduced five-factor model based on 26 items. Results from a stepwise regression showed that the organizational difficulties dimension was the second most important predictor of psychological stress.ConclusionThe implications of these findings for further work on health outcomes of organizational changes closed this study.     

Mapping the field of the whole human: Toward a form psychology

The concept of personality has served as the model of the whole human being within modern psychology for most of the 20th century. However, the original reasons for this selection were based on philosophical assumptions that have since come to be rejected by philosophers of science. Other approaches to the whole human have been identified within psychology, as well as philosophy and theology, which can also serve as models of the whole human in psychology, and which highlight additional, distinctly human kinds of psychological wholeness. The value of a number of the most important models will be discussed, and it will be suggested that the concept of form could serve as a higher-order concept for the psychological subdiscipline of the whole human being.     

Gender and Age Differences in Social Skills Among Children with ADHD: Peer Problems and Prosocial Behavior

Abstract

Gender differences in peer problems and prosocial behavior among children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were examined. Parents and teachers rated social functioning on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) among 592 children (age 5–10?years) with ADHD and among 215 children (age 6–10?years) in a community sample. Results in the clinical group revealed significant interaction effects where older boys showed fewer peer problems than younger boys, but older girls had similar peer problems as younger girls. Teachers reported less prosocial behavior among younger girls than older girls. No gender differences in social problems emerged for the nonclinical comparison group.     

The Chronotype-Academic Performance Model (CAM): Daytime sleepiness and learning motivation link chronotype and school performance in adolescents

Many adolescents experience a discrepancy between their biological time, which is shifted toward eveningness, and early school starting times. Due to this social jetlag, eveningness is negatively correlated with school performance. On the basis of the here presented data, we derived a model for the association of chronotype and school performance, the Chronotype-Academic Performance Model (CAM), including daytime sleepiness and achievement motivation as mediating factors. The sample comprised N = 273 adolescents aged 14–16 years. Circadian preference, daytime sleepiness, learning and achievement motivation, and information about participants’ last school certificate were assessed online. Chronotype was not directly related to academic performance, but was mediated by daytime sleepiness and learning motivation. Morning-orientation was negatively associated with daytime sleepiness and positively with learning motivation, which, in turn, affected performance. In evening-types, we found the strongest association between sleepiness and refusal to work. The CAM suggests that chronotype may not directly influence academic performance, but be mediated by daytime sleepiness and learning motivation. Evening types seem to be at high risk to suffer from daytime sleepiness and to display dysfunctional attitudes toward work. Measures of reducing sleepiness and modifying attitudes toward academic achievement might attenuate the disadvantages of evening-types due to social jetlag.     

Weekly work engagement and flourishing: The role of hindrance and challenge job demands

Two studies were conducted to examine how home healthcare nurses stay engaged in their work and maintain their psychological well-being. In Study 1, we hypothesized that nurses would perceive work pressure more as a hindrance demand than as a challenge demand, and that the reverse would be true for emotional demands. We approached 120 home healthcare nurses who filled in a survey. Results of a series of paired sample t-tests supported our hypotheses. In Study 2, we used the JD-R model to hypothesize that weekly job demands can either facilitate or undermine the positive impact of personal resources on work engagement and flourishing, depending on the nature of the job demand (hindrance vs. challenge). A sample of 63 nurses filled in a questionnaire at the end of the working week during three consecutive weeks (N = 3 × 63 = 189 occasions). Results of hierarchical linear modeling showed that emotional job demands strengthened the effect of personal resources on weekly well-being, whereas work pressure undermined this effect. Taken together, the present findings challenge the idea that whether job demands act as hindrances or challenges is the same for all occupations and for all individuals.     

The role of career competencies in the Job Demands — Resources model

This study investigated the role of career competencies as a mediator in the Job Demands — Resources model. Structural equation modeling with data from 305 young employed persons aged 16–30 years showed that career competencies are positively related to job resources and work engagement, but not to job demands and emotional exhaustion. Furthermore, career competencies had a partially mediating effect on the relationship between job resources and work engagement, and job resources had a partially mediating effect on the relationship between career competencies and work engagement. These findings suggest that career competencies may act in a similar way as personal resources in fostering work engagement. Our results underline the importance of combining research on job design and career development, and suggest that career competencies may have a role in stimulating employee wellbeing. Career counselors and HR programs may benefit from this insight by simultaneously increasing job resources and career competencies to increase employee wellbeing.     

The Coping Strategies Questionnaire – Swedish Version: Evidence of Reliability and Validity in Patients with Fibromyalgia

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of a Swedish version of the Coping Strategies Questionnaire in patients with fibromyalgia. A total of 275 patients from 4 sites in Sweden filled out the questionnaire and other health status and quality of life instruments at the beginning of treatment programs. A total of 28 subjects at 1 site served as wait-listed controls for 12 weeks. Cronbach's Alpha for the subscales ranged from 0.3 3 to 0.86. Coping Strategies Questionnaire subscales correlated significantly with other scales. The treated group had significant positive changes on several Coping Strategies Questionnaire subscales. Principal components analysis found a 3-factor solution consisting of cognitive coping/suppression, pain control/rational thinking and behavioral activity. Analysis by item replicated 4 of the 8 subscales. A further principal components analysis using 27 items replicated an earlier 6-factor solution. The Swedish version of the Coping Strategies Questionnaire has subscales that are reliable, valid and sensitive to change in patients with fibromyalgia.     

“Whow—when I was going to pretend drinking it tasted coke for real!” Second-language learners' out-of-frame talk in peer pretend play: A developmental study from preschool to first grade

Much research has pointed to the importance of out-of-frame negotiations in peer pretend play for preschool children's social, cognitive and literacy development. However, few studies have investigated the longitudinal relations between out-of-frame talk in preschool and children's oral-language skills when entering school, or the pragmatic language competencies second-language learning children have to draw upon to be involved in this planning and negotiating phase of play. In this study, a group of children, who had Turkish as their first language and Norwegian as their second language, was followed for two years, from preschool to first grade, and videotaped in play with peers (N = 15 at age 4, and N = 23 at ages 5 and 6). In the first part of the analysis, relations between out-of-frame talk in preschool and vocabulary skills and story comprehension in first grade were investigated. The second part of the analysis focused on how children developed in regulating their peers through addressing and opposing others in out-of-frame negotiations. The main findings indicate that out-of-frame talk in the preschool years explained variance in oral-language skills in first grade, and that these second-language learners developed to increasingly address and oppose their peers over this two-year period.     

Measuring acceptance of prevention programmes in children

The present paper describes the development of a scale to measure social validity in elementary-school children. A standardized assessment of children's opinions about prevention programmes can be helpful in ensuring successful implementation and effectiveness. The results show that the scale consists of three factors: importance of goals, importance of effects and appropriateness of methods. Correlations with parental reports as well as gender differences were analysed. It can be concluded that measuring social validity with the newly developed scale can help researchers in the field of developmental psychology to tailor prevention programmes to the target group.     

Satisfaction profile (SAT-P) in 732 patients: Focus on subjectivity in hrqol assessment

Abstract

A 32-item questionnaire aimed at assessing patient's satisfaction about every day life is presented. In the Satisfaction Profile (SAT-P) patients are asked to evaluate their own satisfaction level on 32 daily life aspects concerning the last month. 732 participants were enrolled into the study: 490 in-patients suffering from different types of chronic diseases (e.g., chronic heart failure, severe respiratory failure, coronary heart disease) and 242 healthy persons of working age. SAT-P validity was confirmed by comparing its scores with the NHP, EPQ and STAI-X2 scores. The factor analysis extracted 5 factors which corresponded to the hypothesised areas (54% of variance explained). Test-retest reliability and internal consistency were confirmed: Pearson's coefficients were ranging from 0.45 to 0.93 and Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.92. SAT-P responsiveness, evaluated by comparing baseline and 6 months follow up scores from 45 chronic heart failure patients, resulted to be satisfatory, although further studies are needed. These results, together with the “user-friendly” structure, the brief administration and scoring time, the simple graphic representation, suggest to consider the SAT-P a useful complementary tool in HRQoL assessment. The Italian, English and French versions are available.