Occupational violence: Armed holdup—A risk management approach

Workplace violence covers a wide spectrum of incidents of aggression that may occur at work. One area of particular concern relates to holdups. This study reviewed all incidents of robbery (holdups and bag snatches) occurring in a quasi-government wagering organization throughout Queensland, Australia between 1990 and August 1993. The study covered 30 robberies, at 28 sites with 34 subjects, 22 of whom consented to complete a questionnaire related to the stressfulness and impact of the event. Most robberies occurred at opening or closing time, at sites situated on a main thoroughfare, predominantly on a Monday. Single males (n =15) or a pair (n =15) mostly carrying a gun were the perpetrators. Nineteen of the 22 victims attended critical incident debriefing and most found this valuable. Only one subject interviewed lost time for stress (and this was the fourth time she had been robbed). One subject not interviewed was hospitalized. Other subjects had minor physical injuries, but suffered emotionally for up to a year after the incident. Recommendations focused on the hierarchy of control (environmental and engineering controls in preference to people-focused change). Additionally training in the normal processes of grief and trauma was recommended.     

Beyond organizational entry and newcomer stress: Building a self-reliant workforce

This article extends the organizational entry and newcomer stress literature by focusing on the importance of building a self-reliant workforce. It posits that newcomer socialization now and in the future requires building a workforce of self-reliant managers and employees who can function effectively in a dynamic, global workplace. This article suggests that socializing workers to be self-reliant helps employees and organizations to thrive in the uncertain economic environment that is the determining factor in the success of today's organizations. It further contends that by reducing ambiguity and increasing employability, employees are likely to suffer less distress and organizations are less likely to pay the price for distressed employees.     

Coronary-prone behavior may be declining in Danish men and women

Four hundred males and four hundred females were randomly selected from the Danish population and received the Jenkins Activity Survey (JAS) on two occasions, once in 1988 and again in 1992. The JAS was rated by the standard procedure, providing a measure of the degree of time urgency and ambitiousness (Factor A), speed and impatience (Factor S), hard-driving and competitiveness (Factor H) and job involvement (Factor J) shown by the subjects. The scores obtained for all four factors tended to be lower in 1992 than in 1988, and the differences were significant for Factor H. In addition, gender differences were observed for Factors A, S and J, with higher scores being obtained by males than by females. Age-related differences were observed for Factors A and J. The findings indicate that Type A behaviors have declined during the past four years in the Danish adult population and that different strategies may be required for encouraging health behaviors in men and women.     

A rational-emotive group intervention for preventing and coping with stress among safety officers

A stress management and prevention workshop for nonclinical industrial workers using rational-emotive principles with 18 months followup is reported. Twenty-two senior safety officers participated in an intervention program of five weekly meetings aimed at improving cognitive skills and assertiveness mainly by decreasing irrational thought processes. We hypothesized an increase in assertiveness, and a decrease in irrational beliefs, and emotional and cognitive stress symptoms (manifested in somatic complaints and cognitive weariness). Assertiveness improved and somatic complaints and irrationality decreased in the short term. Eighteen months later, cognitive weariness was also reduced. The other improvements were still evident, but not to the same extent as short-term effects. Although the workshop improved rationality, further practice would be needed in the behavioral aspect of stress prevention to achieve long-term improvements in assertiveness.Talma Kushnir, Ph.D., is a social and medical psychologist at the Occupational Health and Rehabilitation Institute, Raanana, Israel, and teaches psychology and health promotion at the Tel-Aviv University Medical School.Ruth Malkinson, Ph.D., fellow and RET trainer and supervisor of the Institute for RET, and teaches at the School of Social Work and Medical School at Tel-Aviv University, Israel. Both authors contributed equally to this studyThis study was supported by the Committee for Preventive Action and Research in Occupational Health, The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, Jerusalem, Israel.The authors thank Estie Weisberg for her administrative assistance in organizing the workshops.     

母性应激对母性行为和心理功能的影响

成为母亲对女性而言是人生经历的特殊阶段, 她们在这个阶段发生的生理和心理的适应性改变对其自身和子代健康具有重要意义。母性应激是阻碍母亲适应性改变顺利进行的重要因素。母性应激会破坏人类母亲和雌性哺乳动物的母性行为、认知功能和情绪调节, 这种影响与糖皮质激素、催产素、催乳素等内分泌系统的调节失常; 母性环路、边缘系统及前额叶皮质等神经环路对刺激的神经反应改变以及神经发生、树突和突触重塑的可塑性变化有关。     

A daily diary study of the relationships among daily self-compassion,perceived stress and health-promoting behaviours

Previous studies consistently found that trait self-compassion is positively associated with health-promoting behaviours, and perceived stress mediates the relationship. The current study primarily aimed at examining whether state self-compassion varying from day to day (daily self-compassion) played the same role as trait self-compassion in improving health-promoting behaviours and whether or not perceived stress would be the mediator in this relationship. Eighty-nine Chinese employees were recruited to finish demographic information and the trait measure of self-compassion first, and then finish daily diaries for seven consecutive days. Daily diary measures included daily self-compassion, perceived stress and health-promoting behaviours including both eating behaviours and exercise behaviours. The results of 1-1-1 multilevel mediation analyses showed that, at both the within- and between-person level, daily self-compassion could positively predict daily eating behaviour through the reduction of perceived stress. However, daily self-compassion did not influence exercise behaviour at both levels. The results of 2-1-1 multilevel mediation analyses cross-validated the between-person relationships in the 1-1-1 multilevel mediation models. These results suggest that, both short-term interventions aiming at increasing state self-compassion and long-term interventions aiming at increasing trait self-compassion can benefit one's eating behaviours through the reduction of stress.     

Ethnicity,Life Satisfaction,Stress, Familiarity,and Stigma Toward Mental Health Treatment

The authors examined the relative contribution of ethnicity, life satisfaction, level of stress, familiarity with mental health treatment, and self- and public stigma on attitudes toward mental health treatment among a diverse sample (N = 632) of adults. Results indicated that ethnicity, stress, familiarity, and self-stigma of mental illness were significant predictors of attitudes. Additionally, familiarity with mental health treatment moderated the relationship between public stigma and attitude.     

浅析上下班对个体身心健康的影响

在大多数工业化国家，来自社会的各阶层员工每天往返于家庭和单位之问，上下班的耗时性和上下班途中遇到的阻碍可能使人产生紧张状态，对个体的身心产生一定的影响，因此本文就上下班与个体的身心健康的关系进行了粗浅分析，以期使人们对其有更深的认识和把握。     

Evaluating the impact of adaptive signal control technology on driver stress and behavior using real-world experimental data

While the operational and crash reduction benefits of adaptive signal control technology (ASCT) have long been investigated, the impact of this technology on driver behavior and stress is still uncertain. This study evaluated the impact of ASCT on driver behavior and stress in a real-world environment. Participants travelled through two arterial corridors, one equipped with ASCT and the other having traditional time-of-day coordinated signals. Driver stress was measured using a heart rate detector and a perceived stress scale while driver behavior was examined using vehicular trajectory data. Overall, driving behavior improved on the ASCT as compared to the non-ASCT corridor, as indicated by higher speeds and a fewer number of stops on the ASCT corridor relative to the non-ASCT corridor. Repeated measures ANOVA showed a statistically significant reduction in driver heart rate by −10 beats per minute over the ASCT corridor. A similar trend was observed for drivers’ perceived stress, analyzed by Wilcoxon sign ranked test. Driving behavior also showed significant improvement with ASCT presence, and speed was found to be negatively correlated with stress. Furthermore, the participants’ speed was controlled by the two systems i.e. ASCT and non-ASCT as expected. This study provides a significant proof of concept that ASCT can create positive improvements in driver stress and behavior that can be further investigated in the future.     

压力应对的性别差异及相关的生物学机制

人类对压力的反应不管是在生理上还是在行为上均是以“争斗或逃避”为特征的。然而,男女在行为反应的方式上则有不同,成年女性对后代的关爱及哺育行为,可以保证自己和后代的安全,减少困扰;并在形成和维系社交网的过程中起着辅助作用。关爱与协助方式的内在生物行为学核心机制在于催产素、内啡呔及性激素的调节。这一机制能够解释早期未能解决的压力调节系统,并为以后的压力研究提供了广阔的前景。