Job dissatisfaction and substance use among employed high school students: the moderating influence of active and avoidant coping styles

This study extends prior stress-coping-substance use research among adolescents by examining the employment context. Specifically, this study examines the relation of job dissatisfaction to substance use and the potential moderating influence of active and avoidant coping styles. Data were obtained from 446 employed high school students. Ordered-probit regression analyses reveal that job dissatisfaction is positively related to cigarette and alcohol use, but not to illicit drug use. Coping styles do not moderate the relation between job dissatisfaction and substance use. Nonetheless, coping styles have significant main-effect relations to substance use. Active coping is negatively related and avoidant coping is positively related to both cigarette and alcohol use. Neither coping style is related to illicit drug use.

Perceptions of control over work: psychophysiological responses to self-paced and externally-paced tasks in an adult population sample

This experiment tested the hypothesis that perceptions of control over work pace would modulate cardiovascular reactions to mental stress tests. One hundred and thirty two adults aged 30-65 years (64 men and 68 women) were randomized to self-paced and externally-paced task conditions. The self-paced group carried out visual matrix problem solving and mirror tracing tasks at their own pace. Work pace requirements were imposed on the externally-paced group, with performance requirements being set to equate those in the self-paced condition. This was done to equate work demands. Blood pressure (assessed with the Finapres), heart rate, cardiac baroreceptor reflex sensitivity, skin conductance, respiration rate and tidal volume were monitored. Behavioural performance of the mirror tracing task was comparable in the two conditions, but the externally-paced group attempted more problems and made more errors on the visual matrix task. Systolic blood pressure reactions to mirror drawing were greater in the external than self-paced conditions (mean increases of 27.5 +/- 16.1 vs. 23.1 +/- 18.5 mmHg, P < 0.025), and electrodermal responsivity was also heightened in the externally-paced group (P < 0.05). No differences were recorded in diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, baroreflex sensitivity or respiratory parameters. Results are discussed in relation to the literature on control and physiological stress responsivity, and their implications for understanding the health consequences of lack of control at work are considered.

Marital Status and Teachers' Job Satisfaction

The aim of this study was to examine teachers' marital status and their job satisfaction in Transkei secondary schools. The 58 married teachers experienced more job satisfaction than the 63 unmarried teachers. This was attributed to the general happiness and satisfaction associated with marriage and couples' sharing of work.

Doctors' perceptions of the links between stress and lowered clinical care

We know from numerous industrial studies that stress, particularly in the form of tiredness and sleep deprivation, has a detrimental effect upon work performance, though this is not so clear-cut in studies of doctors, despite their stress levels being particularly high. This study explores the doctors' views on this using anonymous questionnaires from a population of 225 hospital doctors and general practitioners, 82 of whom reported recent incidents where they considered that symptoms of stress had negatively affected their patient care. The qualitative accounts they gave were coded for the attribution (type of stress symptom) made, and the effect it had. Half of these effects concerned lowered standards of care; 40% were the expression of irritability or anger; 7% were serious mistakes which still avoided directly leading to death; and two resulted in patient death. The attributions given for these were largely to do with tiredness (57%) and the pressure of overwork (28%), followed by depression or anxiety (8%), and the effects of alcohol (5%). The data are discussed in terms of the links made by the doctors between their fatigue or work pressure and the way they care for patients. It presumes that these incidents had been previously unreported and talks about the effects this secrecy has on the emotional state of the doctors concerned. It offers ways forward for tackling the problem, of interest to the profession, managers and commissioners.

Relationships between dispositional traits and self‐reported job satisfaction and distress

Numerous studies have been conducted in the West to examine relationships between personality and stress, while other studies have focused on the relationship between dispositional traits and job satisfaction. However, few empirical studies have investigated how these three variables interact among one another in a Chinese context. The focus of this study was to investigate how personality traits relate to self‐reported distress and job satisfaction of employees in the public sector in Hong Kong, nurses and teachers. The results expanded the knowledge on the interactions observed between personality traits and distress and job satisfaction perceived by employees in a Chinese context.

Curriculum change: the importance of team role

This paper describes a study examining aspects of team role in the management of curriculum change. The Belbin Team Role Self-Perception Inventory was completed by 25 members (83%) of a faculty curriculum development team. Overall the group showed a preference for the implementer and shaper roles, whilst the completer-finisher role was relatively weakly represented, ranking fifth out of eight possible roles. Older and more senior team members favoured the co-ordinator role, whilst younger and more junior members favoured the team-worker and completer-finisher roles. Some implications of these findings are discussed in the light of the current trend for widespread change in undergraduate medical curricula and the challenges faced by medical schools in a resource constrained environment.

A comparison of the reported early experiences of a group of student nurses with those of a group of people outside the helping professions

In order to investigate the psychodynamic concepts of "reparation' and "compulsive caring' as possible motivations for a career in nursing, a questionnaire was given to two groups of respondents, 115 nursing students and 97 people not involved in any of the helping professions. Both groups were asked whether or not they had experienced specific, potentially distressing events and circumstances in their childhood and teenage years. The null hypothesis was that there would be no statistically significant differences between the two groups on frequency of affirmative responses to these questions. Chi-square tests were used to determine the differential frequency of responses. The nursing students had a higher percentage of affirmative responses to 11 of the 14 questions, and statistically significant differences were identified. The nursing students had a significantly greater total number of recollected adverse experiences, and there was a significantly greater number of nursing students recollecting at least one. Significance on this result was maintained when males and females were analysed separately and together, with a higher level of significance reached for males than for females. Statistically significant differences between the two groups on their responses to specific questions were greatest for the questions about separations from mother or main carer and about the occurrence of major difficulties not covered in other questions. There is strong evidence for a rejection of the null hypothesis, the implications of which are discussed.

Cognitive Style

Many authors have drawn attention to the differences in psychosocial variables which exist between national cultures. This paper investigates Prato Previde's (1991) hypothesis that Adaptive-Innovative (A-I) cognitive style is a stable cognitive process within the individual which is largely uninfluenced by national culture. Empirical findings and statistical analyses are brought together from a range of studies in different countries to test this hypothesis. In all, the conclusion is drawn that the data are largely consistent with this hypothesis. The principal factors supporting this conclusion comprise: (1) the similarity between the psychometric properties and factor structures obtained for each of the current five language versions (English, French, Dutch, Italian, and Slovak) of the KAI — the measure of (A-I) cognitive style; and (2) the evidence that A-I cognitive style varies more by occupation and by work function than by nation.

The factor structure of the Maslach Burnout Inventory in two Swedish human service organizations

The Maslach Burnout Inventory, MBI, is a well established measure of burnout. Its validity outside the USA is, however, uncertain. The aim of the present study was therefore to apply the MBI on personnel in two Swedish human service organizations, comparing factor solutions and scoring norms to the original results. The population consisted of 5730 employees in the Social Insurance Organization (SIO) and the Individual and Family Care section (IFC) of the social welfare agencies. Principal components analysis, principal axes and alpha factor analyses were performed, all with varimax rotation. The suggested three factor solution showed to be remarkably stable irrespective of type of analysis. Score levels were somewhat lower on two subscales in the Swedish population. The conclusion is that the psychometric properties of the MBI seem to be very satisfactory and stable, at least in comparison between Sweden and USA. It is suggested that the dimensionality of MBI is rather invariant, but that the score levels covary with national, cultural, or professional contexts within the human services.

Physical self-perceptions, aerobic capacity and physical activity in male and female members of a corporate health and fitness club

As physical activity and fitness are believed to influence esteem and self-perceptions positively, the purpose of the study was to examine the relationships among participation in physical activity, aerobic capacity, and physical self-perceptions in 40 men and 33 women, members of a British corporate health and fitness club. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated a significant linear relationship for men between scores on Physical Self-worth and composite scores on Participation in Physical Activity. Men's feelings regarding general physical self-worth may be an important determinant of their subsequent levels of physical exercise.

Physician role conflict and resulting career changes. Gender and generational differences

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate gender and generational differences both in the prevalence of role conflict and in resulting career changes among married physicians with children.

STUDY DESIGN

Cross-sectional survey.

PARTICIPANTS

We sent a survey to equal numbers of licensed male and female physicians (1,412 total) in a Southern California county; of the 964 delivered questionnaires, 656 (68%) were returned completed. Our sample includes 415 currently married physicians with children, 64% male and 36% female.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

The prevalence of perceived role conflict, or career changes for marriage, and of career changes for children were evaluated. Types of career changes were also evaluated. More female than male physicians (87% vs 62%, p < .001) and more younger than older female physicians (93% vs 80%, p < .01) and male physicians (79% vs 54%, p < .001) experienced at least moderate levels of role conflict. Younger female and male physicians did not differ in their rates of career change for marriage (57% vs 49%), but female physicians from both age cohorts were more likely than their male peers to have made career changes for their children (85% vs 35%, p < .001). Younger male physicians were twice as likely as their older peers to have made a career change for marriage (49% vs 28%, p < .001) or children (51% vs 25%, p < .001). The most common type of career change made for marriage or children was a decrease in work hours.

CONCLUSIONS

Most physicians experience role conflict, and many adjust their careers in response. Flexible career options may enable physicians to combine professional and family roles more effectively.

The differential effects of employment status on chronic pain and healthy comparison groups

We evaluated the differential effects of employment status on chronic pain and healthy comparison groups. Forty unemployed and 43 employed individuals with chronic pain, as well as 43 unemployed and 45 employed healthy comparison participants completed a series of measures assessing background information physical and psychological adjustment, and psychosocial features of employment status. In general, participants experiencing both chronic pain and unemployment reported poorer adjustment than the other groups and more financial strain, less structured and purposeful activity, fewer opportunities for skill use and task variety, and decreased social support than the employed chronic pain and healthy comparison groups. Groups did not differ, however, in work ethic values. Scores on measures of pain severity and features of employment status accurately predicted the group membership of more than 70% of respondents from four groups. The study suggests that there is utility in understanding experiences of chronic pain patients on the basis of features of their current employment status and points to a need for multidimensional measures that evaluate psychosocial facets of employment and unemployment specifically for chronic pain samples.

Efficacy of volunteerism for role-loss depression: a complement to Weinstein, et al

Weinstein, et al. (1995) noted that volunteer work is related to decreased boredom and an increased sense of purpose in life, however, additional salient factors likely contribute to the therapeutic efficacy of volunteerism, since a literature review indicated that volunteer work is intrinsically associated with those criteria that have been empirically shown to enhance well-being.

Stress management in work settings: a critical review of the health effects

PURPOSE

To review critically the research literature on the health effects of worksite stress-management interventions.

SEARCH METHODS

Stress-management interventions were defined as techniques that are designed to help employees modify their appraisal of stressful situations or deal more effectively with the symptoms of stress. Stress-management studies that were worksite based, assessed a health outcome, and were published in the peer-reviewed literature were included in this review. The main search method was the one described in the lead article to this special issue of the JOURNAL, but supplementary sources included prior reviews of the research literature and expert contacts. Sixty-four studies met the criteria for inclusion in this review.

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

A variety of stress-management techniques was used in worksite studies, including muscle relaxation, meditation, biofeedback, cognitive-behavioral skills, and combinations of these techniques. The most common techniques used were muscle relaxation, cognitive-behavioral skills, and combinations of two or more techniques. Outcome measures to evaluate the success of stress interventions included physiologic and psychologic measurements, somatic complaints, and job-related measures. Nearly three-fourths of the studies offered the training to all workers and did not specifically recruit high-stress employees. Over half the studies were randomized control trials, but only 30% conducted posttraining follow-up evaluations. The effectiveness of stress interventions varied according to the health-outcome measure used; some techniques were more effective for psychologic outcomes (e.g., cognitive-behavioral skills), whereas others were more effective for physiologic outcomes (e.g., muscle relaxation). Biofeedback was the least frequent technique used in work settings and also seemed to be the least effective technique. Meditation produced the most consistent results across outcome measures but was used in only six studies. In general, studies using a combination of techniques (e.g., muscle relaxation plus cognitive-behavioral skills) seemed to be more effective across outcome measures than single techniques.

CONCLUSIONS

The large number of different stress-management techniques coupled with the wide range of health outcome measures used in stress intervention studies makes it difficult to draw firm conclusions about the efficacy of each technique and each outcome. Also, the quality of the methodology varied substantially among studies. Nevertheless, the most positive results across the various health outcomes were obtained with a combination of two or more techniques. None of the stress interventions was consistently effective in producing effects on job/organization-relevant outcomes, such as absenteeism or job satisfaction. To produce changes on these types of measures, stress interventions will need to alter or modify the sources of stress in the work environment. It can be said that stress management in work settings can be effective in enhancing worker physical and psychologic health, but the choice of which stress-management technique to use should be based on the specific health outcomes that are targeted for change.

Activity during unemployment and mental health

The main purpose of this study was to investigate activity during unemployment and the relationship between such activity and mental health in a sample (n = 213) of unemployed Norwegians. The results indicate that the unemployed are generally more passive than the average population, and that they are considerably less involved in social activities. However, the unemployed do not constitute a homogeneous group in terms of activity level and activity profile. Women were somewhat more active that men, particularly in connection with domestic chores. Young people were more active than the other age groups, particularly in connection with extra-familial activities. Several significant relationships were found between different activity categories and mental health. The more active the unemployed were, the better their mental health. The results are discussed in relation to similar data for the average population, other unemployment research, subjective and objective factors which can be of importance to the activity level and profile of the unemployed, sex role issues, theoretical models developed to explain and understand the effects of unemployment, methodological considerations, and the possible functions of activity for mental health.

Perceived overqualification and psychological well-being

The relationship between perceived overqualification and psychological well-being was explored within the framework of stress-illness models, using multiple regression analysis. Data were collected from 179 male and 109 female members of a local midwestern chapter of the American Postal Workers Union. As expected, there was a significant, positive relationship between perceived overqualification and psychological well-being: The greater the perceived overqualification, the greater the psychological distress. The interaction between perceived overqualification and gender was not significant.

Health and social precursors of unemployment in young men in Great Britain

OBJECTIVE

To identify health and socioeconomic factors in childhood that are precursors of unemployment in early adult life and to examine the hypothesis that young men who become unemployed are more likely to have accumulated risks to health during childhood.

DESIGN

Longitudinal birth cohort study. The amount of unemployment experienced in early adult life up to age 32 years was the outcome measure used. Exposure measures to indicate vulnerability to future ill health were: height at age 7 years and the Bristol social adjustment guide (BSAG) at age 11 years, a measure of behavioural maladjustment. Socioeconomic measures were: social class at birth, crowding at age 7, qualifications attained before labour market entry, and region of residence.

SETTING

Great Britain.

SUBJECTS

Altogether 2256 men with complete data from the national child development study (NCDS). The NCDS has collected data on all men and women born in one week in 1958 and has followed them up using interviews, self completion questionnaires, and medical examinations at birth and at ages 7, 11, 16, 23 and 33 years.

RESULTS

A total of 269 men (11.9%) experienced more than one year of unemployment between ages 22 and 32 years. Poor socioeconomic conditions in childhood and a lack of qualifications were associated with an increased risk of unemployment. Geographical region was also significant in determining the risk of unemployment. Men with short stature and poor social adjustment in childhood were more likely to experience unemployment in adult life, even after controlling for socioeconomic background, education, and parental height. These differences remained when those with chronic childhood illnesses were excluded from the analysis. The adjusted relative odds for experiencing more than one year of unemployment between ages 22 and 32 years for men who were in the top fifth of the BSAG distribution (most maladjusted) compared with those in the bottom fifth were 2.36 (95% CI 1.49, 3.73). The adjusted relative odds for experiencing more than one year of unemployment between ages 22 and 32 years for men who were in the bottom fifth of the distribution of height at age 7 years (indicating slowest growth) compared with those in the top fifth, were 2.41 (95% CI 1.43, 4.04). Adult height was not significantly associated with unemployment.

CONCLUSION

The relationship between unemployment and poor health arises, in part, because men who become unemployed are more likely to have accumulated risks to health during childhood, reflected by slower growth and a greater tendency to behavioural maladjustment. Short stature in childhood is a significant indicator of poor socioeconomic circumstances in childhood and reflects earlier poor development.

Covariance Structure Analysis of Partially Additive Ipsative Data Using Restricted Maximum Likelihood Estimation

A data matrix is said to be ipsative when the sum of the scores obtained over the variables for each subject is a constant. In this article, a general type of ipsative data known as partially additive ipsative data (PAID) is defined. Ordinary additive ipsative data (All311 is a special case. Due to the specific nature of the research design or measurement process, the observed vector is X PAID with an underlying nonipsative vector y. It is shown that if the underlying distribution of y is multivariate normal with structured covariance matrix Σ = Σ(Θ), the observed X will have a degenerate normal distribution. As a result, ordinary maximum likelihood estimation of Θ cannot be carried out directly. A transformation of X is suggested so that the transformed vector X* = BX will have a nonsingular density and restricted maximum likelihood (REML) estimation can be applied. A simulation study is conducted to investigate the effect of sample size and other model characteristics on the performance of the ML estimators and the sampling behavior of the goodness of fit statistic. It is found that REML estimates are in general close to the true parameter values, but they have larger dard errors as compared with the ordinary MLE based on y. The test statistic is well behaved when sample size is large enough. Moreover, the likelihood of obtaining a convergent solution depends on a number of factors such as sample size, number of indicators per latent factor, and degree of ipsativity. Finally, statistical decisions (reject or not reject the hypothesized model) based on X* are in general consistent with that based on y.

When careers reach a dead end: identification of occupational crisis states

The reliability and validity of the Occupational Crisis Scale, (OCS; Hutri, 1995a) were examined in 3 separate studies. The OCS was developed to identify employees who are at a dead end in their job or career. Participants were employees from various occupations, psychology students, and previous vocational counseling clients. The results demonstrated the OCS's internal consistency, test-retest reliability, construct validity, divergent and convergent validity, as well as changes in occupational crisis states after a 1-year follow-up. The prevalence of occupational crises was rated to be at least 1 for every 30 employees. All identified crisis participants were women. Occupational crises were related to long consideration of career change, suggesting that the crises were of developmental origin. The findings are compared with the results from a preliminary study among vocational counseling clients. The use of the OCS to assist troubled employees is discussed.