Evaluating OVal-9, An Instrument for Detecting Experiences of Value in Daily Occupations

The drastic increase of psychosocial ill health may point to the fact that current lifestyles produce longer lives, but with increased chronic disorders rather than greater health. Focus on current lifestyles, that is, on peoples' daily environments, are thereby warranted to develop models and methods for tracing health promoting factors inherent in people's daily participation and experiences. This study tests the content validity of OVal-9, an instrument based on the new concept; Occupational Value, among a sample of experts, students and clients. The result shows a good ability to assess the value that people experience in their daily occupations. We are convinced that measuring Occupational Value might be of importance in developing future strategies for intervention and prevention needed for the increasing incidence of mental ill-health.     

Resilience and affect balance as mediators between trait emotional intelligence and life satisfaction

The current study aimed to analyze the importance of trait emotional intelligence in life satisfaction and to extend the previous literature by investigating the potential mediating effects of resilience and affect balance in this relationship. To test the study hypotheses, self-report measures of trait emotional intelligence, resilience, positive and negative affect, and life satisfaction were administrated to 263 undergraduates. Correlation analysis indicated that trait emotional intelligence was positively correlated with life satisfaction. Mediational analyses showed that trait emotional intelligence exerted its indirect effect on life satisfaction through the simple mediating effect of affect balance and the three-path mediating effect of resilience–affect balance. In addition, resilience played as a partial mediator between trait emotional intelligence and affect balance. Furthermore, multi-group analyses showed that the mediational model was not moderated by gender. Therefore, this study makes a contribution to the complex nature of the association between trait emotional intelligence and subjective well-being.     

How Much Distress Is Too Much on Deployed Operations? Validation of the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) for Application in Military Operational Settings

The aim of this study was threefold: (a) to assess the factor structure of the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) to determine whether interpreting the scale as a single dimensional measure of psychological distress is justified in military operational setting; (b) to validate the K10 for mental health surveillance in operational settings against self-reported occupational impairment; (c) to evaluate whether the K10 has better discriminatory power than de facto standards for mental health surveillance on deployment, namely the Patient Health Questionnaire and the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist, Civilian version. A convenience sample of Canadian Armed Forces personnel serving in Afghanistan (N = 1,264) completed self-report measures of psychological distress and occupational impairment. On examination of 6 competing models, the authors determined that interpreting the K10 as a measure of unspecified psychological distress is justified. Using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, they identified new cutoff values for dichotomous and polychotomous scoring methods. After comparing the area beneath the ROC curves for each of the 3 mental health surveillance questionnaires, the authors determined that all measures perform well as predictors of self-rated occupational impairment, with values ranging from .86 to .90. These results highlight the importance of cross-setting validation and demonstrate that validating psychological screening questionnaires against self-report measures of occupational impairment can be a useful strategy for understanding the manifestation of psychological distress on deployed military operations.     

Career Plateauing and Institutional/Occupational Intention for Taiwanese Career Officers

This study examines regulatory focus as a mediator between the perception of reaching a career plateau and institutional/occupational (I/O) intention in the Taiwanese military. Empirical data were collected from 632 career officers receiving full-time training at the National Defense University. For the identification of military value, we found that Taiwanese career officers’ occupational intentions were higher than their institutional intentions. Additionally, the results indicate that prevention focus completely mediated occupational intention and that promotion focus partially mediating institutional intention. Practical management and research implications are discussed and a direction for future research is suggested.     

Social Workers and Battered Women: The Need to Study Client Violence in the Domestic Violence Field

Domestic violence is a significant issue for the United States and internationally. Although many social workers may desire to work in the domestic violence field, such work is far more difficult and challenging than many social workers would expect. In fact, many domestic violence workers are abused by their clients or their clients' family members in the course of their work. The purpose of this article is to clarify why examining client violence toward workers in the domestic violence field is critically important, describe the current state of the research, and discuss recommendations for future research in this area.     

Does home life interfere with or facilitate job performance?

The study examines whether home life influences inrole and extrarole job performance in positive or negative ways. We hypothesized that home resources would have a direct positive effect on job performance, and an indirect relationship through home–work facilitation (HWF). Home demands were predicted to negatively affect job performance through home–work interference (HWI). These hypotheses were tested on a sample of 190 male employees. In addition to employees' self-reports, wives rated their own home demands and resources (these were used as controls), and co-workers rated the men's HWI, HWF, and job performance. Results partially supported the hypotheses. Men's home demands and resources were related to self-rated HWI and HWF respectively, whereas co-worker ratings of HWI and HWF were associated with inrole and extrarole performance respectively. Men's home resources also had a direct relationship with inrole and extrarole performance. There was no convincing evidence that HWI and HWF acted as mediators in these relationships. Taken together, the positive influence of home life on job performance was stronger than the negative one.     

The prevalence,risk factors and outcomes of workplace bullying among junior doctors: a systematic review

ABSTRACT

Junior doctors’ exposure to bullying may impact their training and compromise quality healthcare, yet little is known in relation to its predictors and effects. The aim of this paper is to assess the prevalence, factors and outcomes of workplace bullying among junior doctors. Literature search was performed to identify all primary studies examining workplace bullying among junior doctors using the following electronic databases: Medline, Scopus, Web of Science, PsycINFO and Cochrane Library. A total of 18 articles were included, reporting on a total of 9,597 junior doctors. The quality of evidence can be rated as moderate according to the Newcastle Ottawa Scale. From the review, a wide range (30–95%) of bullying prevalence, significant differences in bullying rates according to gender, age, height, ethnicity and subspecialty, and significant associations between bullying and mental strain, job dissatisfaction, burnout, and increased accidents at work were observed. Concurrently, heterogeneity in the terms and methodologies used to examine workplace bullying as well as definitional issues in relation to the persistency of negative interactions were noted. Evidence suggests that workplace bullying is a serious occupational hazard for junior doctors, and more research is warranted to better understand this phenomenon and address its definitional and methodological issues.     

Web-based recruitment in the Millennial generation: Work–life balance,website usability,and organizational attraction

In this digital era, traditional recruitment efforts have increasingly been supplemented with or replaced by recruiting applicants on the Web. Concurrently, organizations are increasingly adapting to younger individuals from the Millennial generation as they enter the workforce. We combine these salient issues to examine Web-based recruitment of the Millennial generation by assessing predictors of organizational attraction. Using a sample of Millennials (N = 493), we found that perceptions of both work–life balance and website usability incrementally predicted attraction, when controlling for perceptions of other organization characteristics. In addition, person–organization fit mediated these relationships. These findings speak to the importance of examining how aspects of Web-based recruitment influence Millennial applicants.     

Religion,resources, and work-family balance

It is increasingly recognised that work and family roles are interconnected. This is one reason why researchers and practitioners are working to understand and facilitate balance between work and nonwork roles. Most existing literature defines inter-role balance by emphasising work and family roles alone; unfortunately, this narrow focus prevents us from recognising individuals’ engagements in many other roles that may also influence one's balance. The present study expands our thinking about work-family balance by presenting and testing a model that incorporates involvement in a third role, organised religion. Specifically, we examine religious involvement, among Hindus living in the United States (N?=?105), as a predictor of resource gain and loss, and its effect on perceptions of work-family balance. Working within a Conversation of Resources framework, it was then expected that this resource gain/loss would influence coping strategies and perceptions of bi-directional work-family conflict and facilitation (indicators of work-family balance).     

Work stress,work–home interference and perceptions of organisational culture amongst insurance employees in Zimbabwe

The objective of the study was to determine the relationship between work stress, work-home interference, and perceptions of organisational culture amongst insurance employees in the Zimbabwean context. Data were collected from a sample of 190 employees (females=46%) who completed the Occupational Stress Inventory-Revised (OSI-R), the Work-Home Interference Questionnaire (SWING), and the Organisational Culture Index (OCI). Data analysis consisted of correlational and standard multiple regression analyses. The results revealed significant positive correlations between the sub-scales Role Overload, Role Insufficiency, Role Ambiguity, Role Boundary, Responsibilities, and Physical Environment of the OSI-R, the sub-scales Positive Work-Home Interference and Negative Work-Home Interference of the SWING, and the sub-scales Bureaucratic, Innovative and Supportive Culture of the OCI. These findings contribute to new knowledge in terms of the work stress experienced by insurance employees who are always under continuous pressure from the industry. Furthermore, it could be used to gain insight to enhance the work-life balance of insurance employees and the effect of organisational culture as perceived by insurance employees.