Psychometric properties of scales in the General Nordic Questionnaire for Psychological and Social Factors at Work (QPSNordic): Confirmatory factor analysis and prediction of certified long-term sickness absence

Psychometric properties, particularly predictive validity, of scales in the General Nordic Questionnaire for Psychological and Social Factors at Work (QPS_Nordic) were assessed. The analysis is confined to the scales in the QPS_Nordic, and 24 of the 26 scales are included. A large group of Swedish county council employees ( n = 3,976; response rate = 65%) participated in a study and were given the QPS_Nordic. Register data for long-term sick leave (>90 days), with diagnosis, were used for predictive analysis. The following main results were obtained: Reliability was generally satisfactory, confirmatory factor analysis indicated good fit, concurrent validity was good, some less often investigated organizational variables predicted sickness absence, and scales were differentially associated with absence due to psychiatric and musculoskeletal disorders. In conclusion, the psychometric testing of the QPS_Nordic so far suggests that it is a good instrument for assessing health-related factors at work.     

Scaling of involvement in personal and global future events

Abstract.— Magnitude estimates of intensity of emotional involvement in 12 potential future events, assumed to occur at 5 alternative points of time within the next 46 years, were obtained from 75 subjects (mean age 19.1 yrs). Two types of relation between involvement and time were found, the dominant one being an exponential decrease of involvement with increasing temporal distance. The response patterns became less differentiated with increasing temporal distance. Differences in the response patterns between men and women, and between subjects differing in respect to satisfaction, activity, and optimism, are discussed.     

In search of a science‐based application: A learning tool for reading acquisition

This is a story about the fate of a psychological application: from its conception to the optimistic vision surrounding its future. We hope that this application – an enjoyable learning game (www or mobile phone‐based, available free of charge to the end users) for children – can at best help millions of children in their reading acquisition in the future. Its basis was created by following intensively the development of children with (N = 107) and without (N = 92) genetic (familial) risk for dyslexia from birth to puberty in the Jyväskylä Longitudinal study of Dyslexia (JLD)‐project. We summarize some of the major findings of the JLD in order to facilitate understanding of the reasons and logic behind the development of the game. Originally intended as a research tool for reading acquisition, its potential for prevention of reading difficulties was quickly recognized.     

Night-rest urinary catecholamine excretion in relation to aspects of free time, work and background data in a teacher group

Free time, work and background data were related to night-rest catecholamine excretion rates in a teacher group (n = 137) during an autumn term. The explained interindividual variance increased slightly towards the end of the term. Adrenaline excretion was predicted better than noradrenaline, notedly by coffee consumption, amount of physical activity, and subjective stress feelings which explained 16% of the variance in adrenaline excretion during night rest. However, the results indicated that the differences in catecholamine excretion during night rest remained mostly unpredictable.     

Teacher stress over an autumn term: relationships between subjective stress and catecholamine excretion during night rest

The relationships between subjective stress and catecholamine excretion during night rest were investigated in a group of 137 teachers. The research design was longitudinal and consisted of repeated assessment (six times in an autumn term) of the stress indicators. At the beginning of the term adrenaline excretion rate showed negative and at the end of the term positive correlations with subjective stress feelings. Cluster analysis revealed three stable profile types among the teachers, in which the stress indicators were related to each other in different ways. The subjective stress process was better reflected in noradrenaline excretion than in adrenaline excretion. The findings were interpreted to reflect the changes in the intensity of emotional arousal during the term.     

Personality profiles and health: Longitudinal evidence among Finnish adults

Kinnunen, M.‐L., Metsäpelto, R. L., Feldt, T., Kokko, K., Tolvanen, A., Kinnunen, U., Leppänen, E. & Pulkkinen, L. (2012). Personality profiles and health: Longitudinal evidence among Finnish adults. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 53, 512–522. This study investigates the associations of longitudinal Big Five personality profiles with long‐term health in 304 adults (53% males). Personality traits (Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness) were assessed at ages 33, 42, and 50. Subjective (self‐rated health, symptoms, psychological distress) and objective (body mass index, waist‐to‐hip ratio, blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides) indicators of health were measured at ages 42 and 50. Five longitudinally stable personality profiles were extracted over 17 years by latent profile analysis. The levels of traits were the same in each profile at each age. Resilient individuals (N = 65; Neuroticism low, other traits high) had the best subjective health and Overcontrolled individuals (N = 40; Neuroticism high, other traits low) the poorest health over eight years. Reserved individuals (N = 25; high Conscientiousness, other traits low), Undercontrolled (N = 41; high Openness and Extraversion, low Conscientiousness), and Ordinary (N = 133; all traits scored medium) individuals were in the middle of these extremes in subjective health. No differences between the profiles were found in the objective indicators of health. Thus, overcontrol and resilience were most discriminative in terms of good health. Moreover, personality profiles revealed associations with health to be more nuanced than simply being composed of single traits. High Extraversion needed to be combined with high Conscientiousness (Resilients) in order to be associated with the best health; high Extraversion with low Conscientiousness (Undercontrolled) was associated with average health; and low Extraversion with high Neuroticism (Overcontrolled) was associated with the poorest health.     

The relationship between IQ, social class and EEG findings in healthy children investigated by child-psychiatric methods

Abstract.— 222 children aged between 4.5 and 16.5 years. who were found to be normal by strict somato-neuro-logical criteria, were investigated by EEG and by child-psychiatric methods. Intelligence tests were performed according to WISC. The mean intelligence quotient amounted to 116.3± 12.4 in boys and 116.6± 14.1 in girls. Child-psychiatric findings deviating from the strictly normal occurred in 30 children significantly more frequently in social class III compared to I and 11. There was no relationship of significance between IQ and social group. No relevant relationship was found between IQ and psychiatric variables, nor between IQ and EEG-findings. The absence of the normal fixed relationship between IQ and social group is a notable finding, as is also the high average IQ. The strict normal criteria may have contributed to the exclusion of individuals with lesions and thus diminished factors having an inhibitory effect of the development of intelligence.