Job skill discretion and emotion control strategies as antecedents of recovery from work

Recovery from work protects employees’ health and well-being, and therefore it is important to understand its antecedents. The aim of this study conducted among 183 middle-aged participants drawn from the Finnish Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development was to examine whether job skill discretion and emotion control strategies (emotional rumination and emotional inhibition) are related to psychological aspects of recovery from work (subjective recovery evaluation, psychological detachment and relaxation). The results of hierarchical general linear models confirmed the hypothesis that job skill discretion is positively associated with subjective recovery evaluation and relaxation. As expected, high emotional rumination predicted difficulties in psychological detachment and relaxation. Emotional inhibition moderated the relationship between job skill discretion and psychological detachment: where emotional inhibition was at a moderate level, job skill discretion was positively related to psychological detachment. The findings suggest that not only job characteristics but also individual factors contribute to recovery, revealing practical implications for employees, employers and occupational health care professionals seeking to promote employees’ work ability, health and well-being.     

Hopelessness as a Risk Factor for Post‐traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms Among Interpersonal Violence Survivors

Post‐traumatic stress disorder often co‐occurs with depression, and they may share common risk factors. One possible common cognitive risk factor is hopelessness. Thus, we examined whether hopelessness was related to symptoms of post‐traumatic stress disorder. Participants were 202 female survivors of interpersonal violence. Relationships between self‐reported and interviewer‐rated measures of hopelessness gathered at 2 weeks post‐trauma and self‐reported and interviewer‐rated symptoms of post‐traumatic stress disorder gathered at 2 weeks and 3 months post‐trauma were examined. Hierarchical, simultaneous regression analyses that co‐varied trauma type revealed that hopelessness was related to self‐reported symptoms of post‐traumatic stress disorder, both concurrently and prospectively. Follow‐up analyses revealed that relationships between hopelessness and symptoms of post‐traumatic stress disorder were due almost entirely to shared variance with depression. No relationships were found between hopelessness and interviewer‐rated symptoms of post‐traumatic stress disorder.     

Direct and Mediating Effects of an Anxiety Sensitivity Intervention on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms in Trauma-Exposed Individuals

Anxiety sensitivity (AS), or fear of anxious arousal, is a higher-order cognitive risk-factor for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) composed of lower-order physical, cognitive, and social concerns regarding anxiety symptoms. Brief and effective interventions have been developed targeting AS and its constituent components. However, there is limited evidence as to whether an intervention aimed at targeting AS would result in reductions in PTS symptoms and whether the effects on PTS symptoms would be mediated by reductions in AS. Furthermore, there is no evidence whether these mediation effects would be because of the global or more specific components of AS. The direct and indirect effects of an AS intervention on PTS symptoms were examined in a sample of 82 trauma-exposed individuals (M age = 18.84 years, SD = 1.50) selected based on elevated AS levels (i.e., 1 SD above the mean) and assigned to either a treatment (n = 40) or an active control (n = 42) condition. Results indicated that the intervention led to reductions in Month 1 PTS symptoms, controlling for baseline PTS symptoms. Furthermore, this effect was mediated by changes in global AS and AS social concerns, occurring from intervention to Week 1. These findings provide an initial support for an AS intervention in amelioration of PTS symptoms and demonstrate that it is primarily reductions in the higher-order component of AS contributing to PTS symptom reduction.     

The relationship between daily stress and health: Replicating and extending previous findings

Abstract

The present study was an attempt to investigate the impact of daily stress, or hassles, on the physical and psychological health status of 112 adolescents over 10 consecutive days. Measures of hassles, daily somatic symptoms and mood, overall health status, and perceived social support were taken. A principal components analysis of the newly designed Secondary School Students' Hassles Scale generated four factors of which “management of time and work” accounted for 41 percent of the variance. Results supported previous findings that hassles levels were related inversely to daily health, daily mood, and overall health status. Perceived social support was found to be associated with general health but not with daily health and mood, and results from partial correlation analyses challenged the buffering role of social support between hassles and adaptational outcomes. The cross-cultural applicability of the hassles concept was discussed.     

Intolerance of uncertainty and emotional distress following the death of a loved one

Abstract

Research has shown that intolerance of uncertainty (IU) – the tendency to react negatively to situations that are uncertain – is involved in worry and generalized anxiety disorder, as well as in other anxiety symptoms and disorders. To our knowledge, no studies have yet examined the association between IU and emotional distress connected with the death of a loved one. Yet, it seems plausible that those who have more difficulties to tolerate the uncertainties that oftentimes occur following such a loss experience more intense distress. The current study examined this assumption, using self-reported data from 134 bereaved individuals. Findings showed that IU was positively and significantly correlated with symptom levels of complicated grief and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), even when controlling for time since loss (the single demographic/loss-related variable associated with symptom levels), and for neuroticism and worry, which are both correlates of IU. Furthermore, IU was specifically related with worry and symptom levels of PTSD, but not complicated grief, when controlling the shared variance between worry, complicated grief severity, and PTSD-severity. The present findings complement prior research that has shown that IU is a cognitive vulnerability factor for worry, and indicate that it may also be involved in emotional distress following loss.     

Predicting adolescent posttraumatic stress in the aftermath of war: Differential effects of coping strategies across trauma reminder,loss reminder,and family conflict domains

Background and Objectives: The vast majority of youth who lived through the Bosnian war were exposed to multiple traumatic events, including interpersonal violence, community destruction, and the loss of a loved one. This study examined factors that predict post-war psychological adjustment, specifically posttraumatic stress, in Bosnian adolescents. Design: Regression analyses evaluated theorized differential relations between three types of post-war stressors – exposure to trauma reminders, loss reminders, and intrafamilial conflict – specific coping strategies, and posttraumatic stress symptom dimensions. Methods: We examined 555 Bosnian adolescents, aged 15–19 years, to predict their long-term posttraumatic stress reactions in the aftermath of war. Results: Findings indicated that post-war exposure to trauma reminders, loss reminders, and family conflict, as well as engagement and disengagement coping strategies, predicted posttraumatic stress symptoms. Secondary control engagement coping responses to all three types of post-war stressors were inversely associated with posttraumatic stress symptoms, whereas primary control engagement coping responses to family conflict were inversely associated with hyperarousal symptoms. Disengagement responses to trauma reminders and family conflict were positively associated with re-experiencing symptoms. Conclusions: These findings shed light on ways in which trauma reminders, loss reminders, and family conflict may intersect with coping responses to influence adolescent postwar adjustment.     

Hypnotherapy and cognitive behaviour therapy of acute stress disorder: a 3-year follow-up

The long-term benefits of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) for trauma survivors with acute stress disorder were investigated by assessing patients 3 years after treatment. Civilian trauma survivors (n=87) were randomly allocated to six sessions of CBT, CBT combined with hypnosis, or supportive counselling (SC), 69 completed treatment, and 53 were assessed 2 years post-treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale. In terms of treatment completers, 2 CBT patients (10%), 4 CBT/hypnosis patients (22%), and 10 SC patients (63%) met PTSD criteria at 2-years follow-up. Intent-to-treat analyses indicated that 12 CBT patients (36%), 14 CBT/hypnosis patients (46%), and 16 SC patients (67%) met PTSD criteria at 2-year follow-up. Patients who received CBT and CBT/hypnosis reported less re-experiencing and less avoidance symptoms than patients who received SC. These findings point to the long-term benefits of early provision of CBT in the initial month after trauma.     

Cognitive therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder: development and evaluation

The paper describes the development of a cognitive therapy (CT) program for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that is based on a recent cognitive model (Behav. Res. Therapy 38 (2000) 319). In a consecutive case series, 20 PTSD patients treated with CT showed highly significant improvement in symptoms of PTSD, depression and anxiety. A subsequent randomized controlled trial compared CT (N = 14) and a 3-month waitlist condition (WL, N = 14). CT led to large reductions in PTSD symptoms, disability, depression and anxiety, whereas the waitlist group did not improve. In both studies, treatment gains were well maintained at 6-month follow-up. CT was highly acceptable, with an overall dropout rate of only 3%. The intent-to-treat effect sizes for the degree of change in PTSD symptoms from pre to post-treatment were 2.70-2.82 (self-report), and 2.07 (assessor-rated). The controlled effect sizes for CT versus WL post-treatment scores were 2.25 (self-report) and 2.18 (assessor-rated). As predicted by the cognitive model, good treatment outcome was related to greater changes in dysfunctional post-traumatic cognitions. Patient characteristics such as comorbidity, type of trauma, history of previous trauma, or time since the traumatic event did not predict treatment response, however, low educational attainment and low socioeconomic status were related to better outcome.     

Tonic immobility and childhood sexual abuse: a preliminary report evaluating the sequela of rape-induced paralysis

The present study examined tonic immobility (TI) in victims of childhood sexual abuse (CSA). Female undergraduates (n=39) and female psychiatric inpatients (n=41) who experienced CSA completed a series of questionnaires assessing aspects of their victimization history, psychological functioning, and TI symptoms. Over fifty-two percent of all participants reported TI in response to CSA. Episodes of CSA involving attempted or completed penile/vaginal penetration were more likely to be associated with an increased likelihood of experiencing TI, and report of TI was associated with greater current psychological impairment. The implications of these findings are discussed, and suggestions for future research are offered.     

“行高人非”还是“见贤思齐”？职场上行比较对员工行为的双刃剑效应

本研究基于压力认知评估理论,从理性认知视角探讨了职场上行比较存在的提升自我和贬损他人效应,以及驱动不同路径效应生效的边界条件和传导机制。本研究通过轮询设计,在3个时间点收集了来自60个团队240位成员的720份人际配对样本,并采用社会关系模型分析数据得出以下结论:在低水平绩效证明目标导向情况下,员工倾向于将上行比较对象评估为挑战,进而激发员工向上行比较对象的学习行为;相反,在高水平绩效证明目标导向情况下,员工倾向于将上行比较对象评估为威胁,进而驱使员工采取针对上行比较对象的社会阻抑。