Background: Individual use of selection, optimisation, and compensation (SOC) is positively associated with work ability; however, this association has never been explored at the group or leadership ...levels.Aim: The aim of this study is to explore the strength of associations between employee-rated use of SOC at the individual, group, and leadership levels and self-rated work ability among nurses. Method: A random sample of 2000 nurses were invited to participate in a questionnaire survey, among whom 785 responded.Results: Employee-rated use of SOC at the individual and group levels was positively associated with self-rated work ability when controlling for psychosocial working environment factors and health. The association was strongest at the group level.Conclusion: Efforts to enhance the collective use of SOC may prove beneficial to maintain the work ability of nurses and retain them in the profession.
Smoking is an important issue for the majority of the world's working population. It is important to explore in which ways the workplace might contribute to changes in smoking status and smoking ...behavior. The present article provides a systematic review and quality assessment of studies that have addressed the impact of factors in the work environment on smoking behavior.
An evaluation of the methodological quality of 22 prospective studies was based on 14 explicit criteria, which included features of study design, statistical analysis, sampling issues and measurement. The level of scientific evidence was evaluated for each study.
There was strong evidence for an effect of the work environment on the amount smoked, but insufficient or mixed evidence regarding cessation and relapse. Summarizing the results, high job demands were associated with higher amount smoked and with increased likelihood of cessation. Resources at work and social support were positively associated with cessation and negatively associated with relapse and the amount smoked.
The results supported the overall hypothesis that the work environment influences aspects of smoking behavior. Recommendations are made for more intervention studies where changes in work environment are carried out in combination with health promotion interventions.
Aims:While workplace health promotion with group-based physical exercise can improve workers' physical healthy less is known about potential carry-over effects to psychosocial factors. This study ...investigates the effect of physical exercise on social capital at work. Methods: Altogether, 200 female healthcare workers (nurses and nurse's aides) from 18 departments at three hospitals were randomly allocated at the department level to 10 weeks of (1) group-based physical exercise at work during working hours or (2) physical exercise at home during leisure time. At baseline and follow-up, participants replied to a questionnaire concerning workplace social capital: (1) within teams (bonding); (2) between teams (bridging); (3) between teams and nearest leaders (linking A); (4) between teams and distant leaders (linking B). Results: At baseline, bonding, bridging, linking A and linking social capital were 74 (SD 17), 61 (SD 19), 72 (SD 22) and 70 (SD 18), respectively, on a scale of 0-100 (where 100 is best). A group by time interaction was found for bonding social capital (P=0.02)3 where physical exercise at work compared with physical exercise during leisure time increased 5.3 (95% confidence interval 2.3-8.2)(effect size, Cohen's d = 0.31) from baseline to follow-up. For physical exercise at home during leisure time and exercise at work combined, a time effect (P=0.001) was found for linking A social capital, with a decrease of 4.8 (95% confidence interval 1.9-7.6). Conclusions: Group-based physical exercise at work contributed to building social capital within teams at the workplace. However, the general decrease of social capital between teams and nearest leaders during the intervention period warrants further research.
ortega a., christensen k.b., hogh a., rugulies r.&borg v. (2011) Journal of Nursing Management19, 752–759 One‐year prospective study on the effect of workplace bullying on long‐term sickness absence
...Aims To examine the effect of workplace bullying on long‐term sickness absence using a prospective design.
Background Although bullying has been identified as a serious problem in the health care sector, little attention has been given to the possible effect of workplace bullying on long‐term sickness absence and its implications.
Methods The sample consisted of 9949 employees (78.1% response rate) working in the elderly‐care sector in 36 Danish municipalities. Long‐term sickness absence was measured by linking a survey on work and health to the national register on social transfer payments.
Results Among the 1171 employees that were bullied at work in the past 12 months, 1.8% were frequently bullied and 7.3% were occasionally bullied. The risk of long‐term sickness absence was higher for those frequently bullied even after adjusting for psychosocial work characteristics rate ratio (RR) = 1.92, confidence interval (CI): 1.29–2.84; P < 0.05.
Conclusion This is the first prospective study that explored the effect of both frequent and occasional bullying on long‐term sickness absence among health care employees. The effect of frequent bullying on long‐term sickness absence was independent of the psychosocial work characteristics.
Implications for Nursing Management Workplace bullying might impact negatively the quality of care and patients safety.
Purpose
The aim of this study was to examine the association between psychosocial factors (in particular ageism) at the workplace and older workers’ retirement plans, while taking health and ...workability of the employee into account.
Methods
In the fall and winter of 2008, self-report data on work environment, health, workability and retirement plans were collected in a representative national sample (
n
= 3,122) of Danish employees 50 years or older. Ordinal logistic regression was used to analyse associations in a cross-sectional design. Predictor variables were standardized.
Results
In analyses adjusted for socio-demography, socio-economy, health, workability and work performance, 4 out of 6 examined psychosocial factors (ageism, lack of recognition, lack of development possibilities, lack of predictability) were significantly associated with plans of early retirement (OR: 1.10–1.13). Stratified on gender, three psychosocial factors (ageism, lack of recognition, lack of development possibilities) remained significant for men (OR: 1.15–1.25) and none for women. In particular was the association between retirement plans and ageism highly significant in the male subgroup, but no association was found in the female subgroup.
Conclusion
Ageism, lack of recognition and lack of development possibilities are associated with older male workers’ retirement plans in our analyses. Workability has the strongest association with retirement plans for both genders.
Objective The aim of this study was to analyze whether exposure to workplace bullying among 5701 female employees in the Danish eldercare sector increases the risk of onset of a major depressive ...episode (MDE). Methods Participants received questionnaires in 2004—2005 and again in 2006-2007. MDE was assessed with the Major Depression Inventory. We examined baseline bullying as a predictor of onset of MDE at follow-up using multiple logistic regression. We further conducted a cross-sectional analysis at the time of follow-up among participants who at baseline were free of bullying, MDE, and signs of reduced psychological health. Finally, we analyzed reciprocal effects, by using baseline bullying and baseline MDE as predictors for bullying and MDE at follow-up. Results Onset rates of MDE in the groups of no, occasional, and frequent bullying were 1.5%, 3.4%, and 11.3%, respectively. Odds ratios (OR) for onset of MDE were 2.22 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.31-3.76 for occasional bullying and OR 8.45 (95% CI 4.04-17.70) for frequent bullying, after adjustment for covariates. In the cross-sectional analysis, OR were 6.29 (95% CI 2.52-15.68) for occasional bullying and 20.96 (95% CI 5.80-75.80) for frequent bullying. In the analyses on reciprocal effects, both baseline bullying occasional: OR 2.12 (95% CI 1.29-3.48) and frequent: OR 6.39 (95% CI 3.10-13.17) and baseline MDE OR 7.18 (95% CI 3.60-14.30 predicted MDE at follow-up. However, only baseline bullying occasional: OR 7.44 (95% CI 5.94-9.31) and frequent: OR 11.91 (95% CI 7.56-18.77) but not baseline MDE OR 0.93 (95% CI 0.47-1.84) predicted bullying at follow-up. Conclusions Workplace bullying increased the risk of MDE among female eldercare workers. MDE did not predict risk of bullying. Eliminating bullying at work may be an important contribution to the prevention of MDE.
Abstract Background Depression has a high point and life time prevalence and is a major cause of reduced work ability and long-term sickness absence (LTSA). Less is known of the extent to which ...non-clinical depressive symptoms are related to the risk of LTSA. The aim of this study was to investigate how non-clinical and clinical depressive symptoms are prospectively associated to subsequent LTSA. Methods In a cohort study of 6985 female employees from the Danish eldercare sector depressive symptoms were measured by the Major Depression Inventory (MDI) and scores (0–50) were divided into groups of 0–4, 5–9, 10–14, 15–19, ≥ 20 points and clinical depression. Data was linked to a national register with information on LTSA (≥ 3 weeks). Hazard ratios (HR) for LTSA during a 1-year follow-up were calculated by Cox's proportional hazards model. Results Compared to the reference group (0–4) the HR was stronger for each subsequent group: MDI scores of 5–9: HR = 1.07 (95% CI: 0.93–1.24); 10–14: 1.38 (1.15–1.66); 15–19: 1.54 (1.20–1.98); ≥ 20: 1.96 (1.45–2.64); clinical depression: 2.32 (1.59–3.38); after adjustment for previous LTSA, age, family status, smoking, leisure time physical activity, BMI, and occupational group. Limitations Missing information on the cause of sickness absence and prevalent somatic illness. Conclusion A clear dose–response relationship exists between increasing depressive symptoms and risk of LTSA. The adverse effect of non-clinical depressive symptoms on LTSA already manifests itself at relatively low scores. Clinical relevance: this study illustrates the valuable information of considering the whole continuum of depressive symptoms.
Lifestyle variables may serve as important intermediate factors between psychosocial work environment and health outcomes. Previous studies, focussing on work stress models have shown mixed and weak ...results in relation to weight change. This study aims to investigate psychosocial factors outside the classical work stress models as potential predictors of change in body mass index (BMI) in a population of health care workers.
A cohort study, with three years follow-up, was conducted among Danish health care workers (3982 women and 152 men). Logistic regression analyses examined change in BMI (more than +/- 2 kg/m(2)) as predicted by baseline psychosocial work factors (work pace, workload, quality of leadership, influence at work, meaning of work, predictability, commitment, role clarity, and role conflicts) and five covariates (age, cohabitation, physical work demands, type of work position and seniority).
Among women, high role conflicts predicted weight gain, while high role clarity predicted both weight gain and weight loss. Living alone also predicted weight gain among women, while older age decreased the odds of weight gain. High leadership quality predicted weight loss among men. Associations were generally weak, with the exception of quality of leadership, age, and cohabitation.
This study of a single occupational group suggested a few new risk factors for weight change outside the traditional work stress models.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
This study is an overview of published empirical research on the impact of leaders and leadership styles on employee stress and affective well-being. A computerized search and systematic review of ...nearly 30 years of empirical research was conducted. Forty-nine papers fulfilled the inclusion criteria, which include the requirements for papers to report empirical studies and to be published during the period 1980 to 2009 in English-language peer-reviewed journals. The studies were mostly cross-sectional (43/49 papers) and examined the impact of leaders' stress (4 papers), leaders' behaviours (e.g. support, consideration and empowerment) (30 papers) and specific leadership styles (20 papers) on employees' stress and affective well-being. Three research questions were addressed. The review found some support for leader stress and affective well-being being associated with employee stress and affective well-being. Leader behaviours, the relationship between leaders and their employees and specific leadership styles were all associated with employee stress and affective well-being. It is recommended that future studies include more qualitative data, use standardize questionnaires and examine the processes linking leaders with employee stress. This may lead to effective interventions.
Objective: The aim of this study was to analyse the associations between socioeconomic status (SES) and a number of psychosocial work environment factors with a potential impact on inequality in ...health. Methods: A representative sample of 1,684 adult Danish employees filled in a standardized questionnaire or were interviewed by telephone. The response rate was 62%. The population was divided into four levels of SES (I to IV). The psychosocial work environment was described with 19 scales. Results: Quantitative, cognitive, and emotional job demands and a number of dimensions related to active and developmental work showed higher levels among high SES individuals. Job insecurity was highest among women with low SES. Dimensions describing interpersonal relations, social support, and leadership showed no clear associations with SES. Conclusions: Prevention aiming at improving health and reducing inequality in health should focus on the dimensions of active and developmental work: influence at work, possibilities for development, degrees of freedom, and meaning of work. Furthermore, job insecurity should be reduced.
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