The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has deeply altered social and working environments in several ways. Social distancing policies, mandatory lockdowns, isolation periods, and anxiety of ...getting sick, along with the suspension of productive activity, loss of income, and fear of the future, jointly influence the mental health of citizens and workers. Workplace aspects can play a crucial role on moderating or worsening mental health of people facing this pandemic scenario. The purpose of this literature review is to deepen the psychological aspects linked to workplace factors, following the epidemic rise of COVID-19, in order to address upcoming psychological critical issues in the workplaces. We performed a literature search using Google Scholar, PubMed, and Scopus, selecting papers focusing on workers' psychological problems that can be related to the workplace during the pandemic. Thirty-five articles were included. Mental issues related to the health emergency, such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and sleep disorders are more likely to affect healthcare workers, especially those on the frontline, migrant workers, and workers in contact with the public. Job insecurity, long periods of isolation, and uncertainty of the future worsen the psychological condition, especially in younger people and in those with a higher educational background. Multiple organizational and work-related interventions can mitigate this scenario, such as the improvement of workplace infrastructures, the adoption of correct and shared anti-contagion measures, including regular personal protective equipment (PPE) supply, and the implementation of resilience training programs. This review sets the basis for a better understanding of the psychological conditions of workers during the pandemic, integrating individual and social perspectives, and providing insight into possible individual, social, and occupational approaches to this "psychological pandemic".
The COVID-19 pandemic led to serious psychological consequences that negatively affect workers' mental health, leading to post-traumatic symptoms. In this scenario, employees may be exposed to ...multiple stressors that ultimately drain their resources. Drawing on the Conservation of Resources Theory (COR) and the stress-strain perspective, we analyzed the relationship between different dimensions of work-related stress and psychological distress in a sample of 294 workers in the industrial sector. Specifically, we hypothesized a series of mediation models in which the dimensions of work-related stress are associated with a lower level of mental health directly and indirectly through higher levels of COVID-19-related post-traumatic symptoms. The results partially support the hypotheses, showing that COVID-19-related trauma plays a mediating role between the stress experienced and the resulting decrease in mental health, except in the case of job control and colleague support. These results will hopefully offer insights into possible organizational interventions for the promotion of workers' well-being in the postpandemic setting.
BackgroundOver 20% of healthcare workers (HCWs) are active smokers. Smoking is a targeted issue for workplace health promotion (WHP) programs. ObjectiveOur study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of ...the Stop Smoking Promotion (SSP) intervention, a 6-hour training course for HCWs, which took place from May 2018 to July 2019. MethodsWe compared HCWs who successfully quit smoking (n = 15) to those who did not (n = 25) in terms of Sickness Absence Days (SADs). Moreover, we conducted an econometric analysis by calculating the return on investment and implementing a break-even analysis. FindingsAmong the 40 enrolled workers, a success rate of 37.5% was observed after a span of over two years from the SSP intervention (with nurses and physicians showed the best success rate). Overall, participants showed a noticeable absenteeism reduction after the SSP intervention, with a reduction rate of 85.0% in a one-year period. The estimated ROI for the hospital was 1.90, and the break-even point was 7.85. In other words, the organization nearly doubled its profit from the investment, and the success of at least eight participants balanced costs and profits. ConclusionOur pilot study confirms that WHP programs are simple and cost-saving tools which may help improve control over the smoking pandemic in healthcare settings.
Introduction: The present research aims to investigate the relationship between mindfulness, work- related stress management, and job satisfaction in the correctional context. Methods: The study ...enlisted the participation of 131 Italian correctional officers (F = 72,5%) in working age. The quantification of mindfulness levels was achieved by implementing the Five Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire-short form (FFMQ-SF). A subset of the Organizational-Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (ORG EIQ) facilitated the assessment of work-related stress management. A 5-item Likert scale was employed to gauge job satisfaction. Descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) of the sample were analyzed. Subsequently, reliability analyses were performed using Cronbach's alpha. Finally, a simple mediation analysis was conducted to define the role of work-related stress management, and the direct, indirect, and total effects were calculated. Results: Concerning the indirect effect, mindfulness had a significant impact on work-related stress management β=0.42; p<.05, which, in turn, showed a significant effect on job satisfaction β=0.26; p<.001. Discussion and Conclusion: Our findings highlight mindfulness's potential and beneficial effects within social and occupational contexts, especially in the case of high-risk populations such as correctional officers.
This article aims to provide a critical review of the scientific research on technostress. As such, global references in this field are identified and highlighted in order to manage pre-existing ...knowledge and establish future 'bridges' among researchers, and to enhance the presently dispersed understanding of this subject. A scientometric meta-analysis of publications on technostress was conducted to achieve this objective. Mainstream journals from the Web of Science (WoS) were used to identify current topics, relevant journals, prolific authors, institutions, and countries, 'schools of thought' and the thematic areas around which current technostress debate revolves. In this article a significant contribution comes from the use of the scientific activity itself, together with scientometric meta-analysis techniques and the application of this scientific activity, its impact and relational character, to discover relevant countries, research organizations and authors which can constitute a global reference to demarcate this knowledge frontier, and who lead the 'critical mass' of global technostress researchers. This study also distinguishes between the relevant themes studied, with co-keywords plus bibliographic coupling citation, and examines the kind of stress the most prolific authors have considered and, therefore, to discover those topics which should be studied further to deepen this research field, in search of a post-disciplinary knowledge that allows unity of focus in technology and psychology.
The risk of aggression against healthcare workers (HCWs) is a globally well-known topic. However, workplace violence (WV) is often considered as part of HCW’s job, leading to a general ...underreporting. This cross-sectional study aims at providing a descriptive analysis of aggressive acts against HCWs registered in a 34-month period in a pediatric hospital. According to a specific protocol, each aggressive act was analyzed by a multidisciplinary team using the “Modified Overt Aggression Scale” (MOAS), the “General Health Questionnaire-12” (GHQ-12), and the “Short Form-36 Health Survey” (SF-36) to build a report addressing improvement measures. A three-domain model of WV was also developed considering: (1) assaulted HCWs, (2) attacker-related issues, and (3) environmental context. Contributing factors to overt aggression were outlined and tested using univariate analyses. Statistically significant factors were then included in a multiple linear regression model. A total of 82 aggressive acts were registered in the period. MOAS scores registered a mean value of 3.71 (SD: 4.09). Verbal abuse was the most common form of WV. HCWs professional category, minor psychiatric disorder, emotional role limitation, type of containment used, and emotion intensity were significantly associated with overt aggression (p < 0.05), as well as the attacker’s role in the hospital (p < 0.05). The multiple regression analysis confirmed these findings (p < 0.001). Raising awareness on the aggression risk and contributing factors may lead to a relevant improvement of workplace environment, individual workers’ health, and organizational well-being.
Emotional Intelligence (EI) was defined in the 1990s as "the ability to monitor one's own and others' feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one's ...thinking and actions"(Salovey and Mayer, 1990). Since then, the EI has become increasingly important and a debate has opened on the possible classifications, measurement methodologies and applications of the EI. The emotional skills of the EI are widely used in the workplace and constitute the "Organizational" EI. The skills of the Organizational EI can be assessed with the Emotional Intelligence Organizational Questionnaires (ORG-EIQ). In our study, we decided to evaluate the organizational EI in a multinational construction company. In particular, the difference between the employee's self-assessment scores (measured with the ORG-EIQ) and the hetero-assessment of the colleagues and the company's CEO (measured with the ORG-EIQ 360°) was analyzed. The results showed that more objective data on the worker EI emerged from the comparison of self and hetero evaluation. The study confirmed the importance of organizational EI in the workplace and the need for valid tools for its assessment.
PDF
