Health Psychology Report

Psychosocial work strains and well-being in the process of adapting to occupational stress: longitudinal studies of offshore rig workers

Irena Leszczyńska — 2023-06-07

Background

The work on offshore rigs is related to a number of physical and mental burdens. The subject matter of the paper refers to the assessment of the relation between the mode of adapting to occupational stress and the feeling of wellbeing among the employees of offshore rigs in Poland.

Participants and procedure

The research procedure is a longitudinal study and encompasses analysis of data between 1993 and 2014. 167 employees of the Polish offshore rigs were studied: all of them were male and the average age was 42. Measuring tools were used to assess the subjective occupational stress, psychosocial work conditions, evaluation of physical and
mental well-being and styles of coping with stress.

Results

The perceived level of stress directly affects mental wellbeing (r = .19, p = .048): the higher the level of stress, the worse is the mental well-being (β = –.30). In a considerable part, the dependence between occupational stress and mental well-being may be clarified by the impact of the style of coping with occupational stress and the rate of stress dynamics (r = .32, p = .004). The higher the share of
task-oriented coping style as compared to the emotion and avoidance-oriented style, the higher is the self-reported mental well-being. The higher the probability of affiliation with the group reporting a decrease in stress, the higher is the self-reported mental well-being. Perceiving stress has no direct or indirect impact on physical well-being (β =. 09; β = .08; β = –.11).

Conclusions

A dependence exists between the process of adapting to stress and the level of the self-reported mental well-being of the rig employees. The higher the probability of adaptation to the difficult situation at work in a way that the self-reported stress is reduced, the higher the self-reported mental well-being. Perceiving stress bears no direct or indirect impact on the physical well-being.

Growth mindset and life and job satisfaction: the mediatory role of stress and self-efficacy

Blanka Kondratowicz — 2023-06-07

Background

Given the stress that we feel in various parts of our lives, it seems important to concentrate on identifying inner resources that assist employees in coping with problems of the modern world and functioning better in it. This study evaluates two types of internal resources – the manner of approaching successes and failures (growth mindset) and self-efficacy – and their influence on life and job satisfaction. Both these resources are negatively related to the perceived stress; however, they have not been considered in a single study to date.

Participants and procedure

The aim was to examine the relation between growth mindset and life and job satisfaction with the mediatory role of perceived stress and self-efficacy among white-collar workers. The present study concerned 283 employees who completed self-report questionnaires.

Results

A substantial relationship was found between growth mindset and life and job satisfaction. However, when perceived stress was included in the model, the relation between these two variables became weaker but was still significant, which constitutes evidence of partial mediation. The relationship between focus on development and life and job satisfaction became statistically significant when self-efficacy was considered.

Conclusions

Shaping a growth mindset and strengthening self-efficacy can positively affect life and job satisfaction, especially in stressful situations.

Self-efficacy, stress and job satisfaction among pre-service, novice and experienced English teachers: a study of their occupational health

Stacy M. I. Lam — 2023-06-07

Background

This study aimed to investigate English teachers’ self-efficacy for student engagement, classroom management, instructional strategies and literacy instruction, as well as to determine whether teacher stress and job satisfaction may affect their occupational health (in terms of self-efficacy). In addition, this is one of the first studies to examine the differences in self-efficacy among pre-service, novice and experienced in-service teachers in a Chinese society, where English is positioned as a foreign language.

Participants and procedure

271 English teachers (90 pre-service, 181 in-service) with mean teaching experience of 5.57 months for per-service and 98.51 months for in-service participated in this quantitative research study. As the targets could not be approached randomly, the English teachers were approached individually though referral sampling, informing them of the purpose of the study and obtaining their consent.

Results

It was found that both pre-service and novice in-service teachers possess the lowest self-efficacy. Moreover, teachers’ stress from the classroom predicted their self-efficacy for student engagement and classroom management negatively. On the other hand, teachers’ job satisfaction predicts their self-efficacy for student engagement, instructional strategies and literacy instruction positively.

Conclusions

Implications (based on the findings) are discussed in order to provide insights for schools and education departments to strengthen the teachers’ capability of teaching and their occupational health.

Emotion regulation and mental health among professionals of long-term care institutions for older adults: the mediating role of work engagement

Maria Isabel Wobeto — 2023-06-07

Background

This study examined whether work engagement mediated the association between emotion regulation and mental health of professionals working in long-term care institutions for older adults in Brazil.

Participants and procedure

A cross-sectional study with a total of 104 professionals working in 13 long-term care facilities for the elderly in Brazil was conducted. Emotion regulation (expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal), work engagement (vigor, dedication, and absorption), and mental health (depression, anxiety, and stress) were measured using self-report scales. Multiple mediation models were used to test the mediating role of engagement.

Results

Expressive suppression was associated with more vigor, which in turn was associated with less anxiety and stress; cognitive reappraisal was associated with more vigor, which in turn was associated with less anxiety and stress. No indirect effects were found for depression.

Conclusions

Expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal strategies to regulate emotions seem to be associated with more vigor in terms of resilience and persistence to deal with work demands in these professionals. These results seem to suggest that workers who are more capable of regulating their emotions (using both expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal in a flexible way according to work demands) are more likely to be resilient, invest in their profession, and be persistent in the face of difficulties. This, in turn, contributes to protecting them from experiencing anxiety and stress.

Work engagement, emotional attitude to work and quality of relations in ‘early’ and ‘late’ dual career couples: the mediating role of satisfaction with one’s achievements

Aleksandra Peplińska — 2023-06-07

Background

The aim of the present research was to evaluate the relationship between the level of work involvement and emotional attitude to work and the quality of marital relationships of partners in dual career relationships, divided into ‘early career’ and ‘late career’ relationships. In addition, the mediating role of satisfaction with one’s accomplishments was assessed.

Participants and procedure

The study included 184 dual career couples, where both partners pursued a professional career in a competitive labour market, often performed managerial functions and reconciled their professional roles with parental roles, where 69 were ‘early career’ relationships and 115 were ‘late career’ relationships. All subjects in the dual career marriages had higher education; the age of the respondents ranged from 28 to 43 years and all of them had at least one child. With respect to the applied research tools, the AVEM Questionnaire, the Labour-Family Matching Questionnaire, the Matching Marriage Questionnaire (KDM-2) and the Feeling of Happiness Questionnaire were used.

Results

The results show a negative impact of the level of professional and emotional work engagement on the quality of marital relations in the relationship; however, the observed trend only refers to the ‘late career’ relationships. Therefore, it can be concluded that the level of engagement in professional roles at the moment of entering into a relationship is an important moderating factor in these relationships. In addition, it was found that the level of self-satisfaction eliminates this negative relationship. We can say that the level of satisfaction is the mediator of the relationship between involvement in professional roles and the quality of marital relationships.

Conclusions

The level of work engagement and emotional attitude toward work affects the quality of personal life and relationships in a couple. However, this impact can vary due to additional variables such as satisfaction with one’s own accomplishments and type of relationship.

Stress in emergency telephone number operators during the COVID-19 pandemic: the role of self-efficacy and Big Five personality traits

Joanna Dymecka — 2023-06-07

Background

Emergency telephone number operators experience many challenges in their work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their personality traits and self-efficacy may act as important factors in their level of perceived stress. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between Big Five personality traits, self-efficacy and perceived stress among emergency telephone number operators during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Participants and procedure

One hundred emergency telephone number operators participated in the study. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), Ten Item Personality Inventory (TIPI) and Generalized Self Efficacy Scale (GSES) were used.

Results

Emergency telephone number operators experienced a moderate level of perceived stress. The level of perceived stress was associated with all Big Five personality traits and self-efficacy. Stepwise regression showed that selfefficacy and emotional stability were significant predictors of perceived stress in a tested sample of emergency telephone number operators. Self-efficacy acted as a mediator between the 4 Big Five personality traits (except extraversion) and perceived stress.

Conclusions

Self-efficacy can be a very important resource during the struggle of emergency telephone number operators with the successive waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. Operators with a high level of this resource can more effectively cope with the changes and perceive stress as lower. Individuals’ personality traits may affect the level of self-efficacy that determines how stress is perceived. It is important to strengthen the self-efficacy of those involved in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Psychometric properties of the Bergen Work Addiction Scale in a Greek sample of health professionals

Thalia Bellali — 2023-06-07

Background

Work addiction it is an emerging topic in organizational research because it has a great impact on human resources, especially in the health sector, and has led to the development of a number of valid assessment tools. Among work addiction scales, the Bergen Work Addiction Scale (BWAS) has good psychometric properties and a small number of items, and comes with a recommended cut-off for categorization of work addiction. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the BWAS in a Greek sample of health professionals (HPs) and to measure their work addiction.

Participants and procedure

A cross sectional study using an online questionnaire related to work addiction was completed by 542 HPs through the official websites of 8 secondary hospitals in Greece.

Results

The level of HPs’ work addiction was moderate. The internal structure of the scale was satisfactory (α = .78). All seven items of the BWAS were significant and had standardized values above 0.48. Work addiction was significantly associated with older age and the profession of physician.

Conclusions

Based on the findings of the present study, the Greek BWAS has good psychometric properties, such as good reliability, internal consistency and construct validity and is recommended as a suitable tool to assess work addiction in clinical settings and future research.

The effect of occupational burnout on cognitive failure and general health in industrial workers (case study: Iran Tire Factory)

Mohammad Hossein Chalak — 2023-06-07

Background

Human resources are the most important organizational resources and play the most important role in the production and productivity cycle. Considering the importance of people’s health and the study of their burnout as a possible cause of occupational cognitive failures, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between burnout, cognitive failure, and general health.

Participants and procedure

A cross-sectional-analytical study was conducted in Iran Tire Factory. The statistical population of this study was 302 personnel who were randomly selected. Data were collected by four valid questionnaires (demographic information, Maslach burnout, cognitive failure, and general health questionnaire). Then data were analyzed using SPSS software.

Results

The results of the analysis revealed a significant and direct relationship between burnout and cognitive failure (p < .001), and a significant inverse relationship was found between cognitive failure and physical health (p = .022). The other results showed that emotional exhaustion and depersonalization dimensions are significantly associated with cognitive failure (p < .001, p = .016).

Conclusions

According to the results of this study, burnout causes cognitive failures among factory personnel and on the other hand, cognitive failures affect the physical health of individuals and lead to deterioration of physical health, which in turn can reduce a person’s performance and reduce work efficiency.