Psychological symptoms and competence at three organizational levels of industrial design: the main and moderating role of sense of coherence

This study investigated the role of the sense of coherence in occupational well-being at three organizational positions of industrial designing (top-level designers, designers, and assisting personnel). In a sample of 422 industrial design personnel, sense of coherence was positively related to competence and negatively to psychological symptoms. It also moderated the relation of autonomy to competence and psychological symptoms but more strongly among the designers and the assisting personnel than among the top-level designers. Analysis showed autonomy was beneficial for individuals who also had high scores on sense of coherence. Longitudinal studies are needed on the role of sense of coherence as regards the psychological health of different subgroups.     

Human values and non‐adherence to doctors' instructions across Europe

This study examines the relationships between human values and patient non‐adherence. Two types of non‐adherence are studied: non‐adherent views and non‐adherent behavior in response to doctor's instructions. The study uses data from the European Social Survey Round 2 from 14 countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, and Switzerland. Correlation analyses and multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted both using the pooled data from these 14 countries and within countries. The sample size ranged from n = 20,012 to n = 21,600 in the analyses of pooled data. Human values were found to be associated with non‐adherence. As hypothesized, endorsing openness‐to‐change values (vs. conservation values) was positively related to non‐adherent views and behavior.     

The Couple's Grid: A Tool for Assessing Interpersonal Construction in Couples

In the study of human relationships, interest in interpersonal construction is increasing because of its implications for the quality of the couple's relationship. The processes involved in construing self and others may play a key role. However, a precise methodology to study those processes has not yet been developed. The aim of this article is to present a dyadic assessment tool, the couple's grid (CG), which is inspired from constructivist and systemic perspectives. Derived from Procter's (1985) family grid, the CG is similarly based on the repertory grid technique. The CG assesses perception of self and partner, and their ideals, and also the metaperception of the partner's view (e.g., “What does your partner think about you?”). These two levels of analysis provide measures of perceived similarity, commonality, and sociality. This article describes the development of CG as an assessment tool with a case illustration.     

Effects of resource-building group intervention on career management and mental health in work organizations: randomized controlled field trial

A resource-building group intervention was developed to enhance career management, mental health, and job retention in work organizations. The in-company training program provided employees with better preparedness to manage their own careers. The program activities were universally implemented using an organization-level, 2-trainer model with trainers from the human resources management and occupational health services. The study was a within-organizations, randomly assigned field experimental study; it investigated the impacts of the intervention on immediate career management preparedness and later mental health and intentions to retire early. A total of 718 eligible individuals returned a questionnaire in 17 organizations and became voluntary participants. The respondents were randomly assigned to either an intervention (N = 369) or a comparison group (N = 349). Those in the intervention group were invited to group intervention workshops, whereas those in the comparison group received printed information about career and health-related issues. The 7-month follow-up results showed that the program significantly decreased depressive symptoms and intentions to retire early and increased mental resources among the group participants compared to the others. The mediation analyses demonstrated that the increase in career management preparedness as a proximal impact of the intervention mediated the longer term mental health effects. Those who benefited most from the intervention as regards their mental health were employees with elevated levels of depression or exhaustion and younger employees, implying additional benefits of a more targeted use of the intervention. The results demonstrated the benefits of the enhancement of individual-level career management and resilience resources as career and health promotion practice in work organizations.     

Job characteristics and burnout among aging professionals in information and communications technology

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between job characteristics and burnout, i.e., exhaustion, cynicism and lack of professional efficacy, in a sample of 115 (49- to 61-yr.-old) information and communications technology professionals. Questionnaire survey data were collected at two time points. In 1995 (Time 1), higher quantitative overload and lower job control were associated with higher exhaustion. Job control was negatively associated with lack of professional efficacy. In 2001 (Time 2), quantitative overload and information overload were positively associated with exhaustion, but with job control negatively. Use of new information was negatively associated with cynicism. In addition, job control and use of new information were negatively associated with lack of professional efficacy. Job characteristics at Time 1 were not significantly associated with burnout at Time 2 when job characteristics at Time 2 were controlled.     

Before and after entering school: The development of attention and executive functions from 6 to 8 years in Finnish children

In this 2‐year prospective follow‐up study we examined typical and atypical development of attention and executive function (AEF) across the transition to school. The NEPSY‐battery was used to evaluate the AEFs of the children before school at 6 years of age. Two subgroups, typical AEF (n = 25) and atypical AEF (n = 25), were formed according to the performance in AEF tasks. Children were assessed again at 8 years, when they were at the 2nd grade. The same subtests of the NEPSY‐battery and the ATTEX behavioral rating completed by a teacher were used. The effects of AEF deficits were compared with and without controlling for IQ. The group effect was significant in four out of the six NEPSY subtests used. The atypical AEF group had problems especially on subtests measuring motor inhibition both at the age of 6 and 8. The group‐time interaction effect was found in the subtest measuring attentional shifting. A catch‐up effect on shifting skills was observed in the atypical AEF group by the age of 8 years. In school at the 2nd grade, the early AEF problems were still observable, and related especially to inattention problems. Our results support the interpretation that inhibitory problems are at the core of executive dysfunction, that the problems are stable from preschool to 2nd grade, and that the effects of early AEF problems go over and beyond intellectual deficits. Our results also support the use of performance based measures of inhibition as an important part of the neuropsychological evaluation for school readiness.     

Positive gain spirals at work: From job resources to work engagement, personal initiative and work-unit innovativeness

The present cross-lagged panel study aimed to investigate the energizing power of job resources and related gain spirals. Drawing on Hobfoll’s Conservation of Resources (COR) theory’s rarely tested assumptions of cumulative resource gains and gain spirals a reciprocal process was expected: (1) job resources lead to work engagement and work engagement leads to personal initiative (PI), which, in turn, has a positive impact on work-unit innovativeness, and (2) work-unit innovativeness leads to PI, which has a positive impact on work engagement, which finally predicts future job resources. The study was based on a two-wave 3-year panel design among 2555 Finnish dentists. Structural equation modeling was employed to study cross-lagged associations. The results mainly confirmed our hypotheses: positive and reciprocal cross-lagged associations were found between job resources and work engagement and between work engagement and PI. In addition, PI had a positive impact on work-unit innovativeness over time.     

How Civil Society Organisations Changed the Regulation of Clinical Trials in India

ABSTRACT

In 2005 India changed its pharmaceutical and innovation policy that facilitated a dramatic increase in international clinical trials involving study sites in India. This policy shift was surrounded by controversies; civil society organisations (CSOs) criticised the Indian government for promoting the commercialisation of pharmaceutical research and development. Health social movements in India fought for social justice through collective action, and engaged in normative reasoning of the benefits, burdens and equality of research. They lobbied to protect trial participants from structural violence that occurred especially in the first 5–6 years of the new policy. CSOs played a major role in the introduction of new regulations in 2013, which accelerated a decline in the number of global trials carried out in India. This activism applied interpretations of global social justice as key ideas in mobilisation, eventually helping to institutionalise stricter ethical regulation on a national level. Like government and industry, activists believed in randomised controlled trials and comparison as key methods for scientific knowledge production. However, they had significant concerns about the global hierarchies of commercial pharmaceutical research, and their impact on the rights of participants and on benefits for India overall. Pointing to ethical malpractices and lobbying for stricter ethical regulations, they aimed to ensure justice for research participants, and developed effective strategies to increase controls over the business side of clinical research.     

Association between adolescent rough-and-tumble play and conduct problems,substance use,and risk-taking behaviors: Findings from a school-based sample

Rough-and-tumble play (RTP), also known as play fighting, is a common form of play frequently reported and studied by researchers. However, one important limitation of past research in the area of RTP has been the neglect of the adolescence period. Consequently, little is known about the function of adolescent RTP as well as about clinical characteristics of youth who engage in this activity after childhood. In a school-based sample of 1,771 middle school students (ages 9–16 years), the current study sought to address this gap by examining, via bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses, the potential cross-sectional associations of adolescent RTP with (a) selected demographic variables, (b) conduct problem symptoms, (c) substance use, and (d) risk-taking behaviors, including adjustment for several demographic confounders. Results indicated that adolescents reporting higher rates of conduct problem symptoms were more likely to report a recent participation in RTP. In addition, substance use (experimentation and current consumption of tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana) and risk behaviors assessed all were strongly associated with an increased likelihood of reporting an engagement in RTP. This finding suggests that participation in this activity probably implicates particular phenotypic characteristics including the propensity to engage in health-damaging behaviors. But the most profound issue raised by this research concerns the strong relationship between RTP and great levels of conduct disorder symptoms, suggesting a possible significant change in the functional significance of RTP in the adolescence period.