Personality type matters: Perceptions of job demands, job resources, and their associations with work engagement and mental health

Second Victims Among Austrian Nurses (SeViD-A2 Study)

Background: The Second Victim Phenomenon (SVP) significantly impacts the well-being of healthcare professionals and patient safety. While the SVP has been explored in various healthcare settings, there are limited data on its prevalence and associated factors among nurses in Austria. This study investigates the prevalence, symptomatology, and preferred support measures for SVP among Austrian nurses. Methods: A nationwide, cross-sectional, anonymous online survey was conducted September to December 2023 using the SeViD questionnaire (Second Victims in German-speaking Countries), which includes the Big Five Inventory-10 (BFI-10). Statistical analyses included binary logistic regression and multiple linear regression using the bias-corrected and accelerated (BCa) bootstrapping method based on 5000 bootstrap samples. Results: A total of 928 participants responded to the questionnaire with a response rate of 15.47%. The participants were on average 42.42 years old and were mainly women (79.63%). Among the respondents, 81.58% (744/912) identified as Second Victims (SVs). The primary cause of becoming an SV was aggressive behavior from patients or relatives. Females reported a higher symptom load than males, and higher agreeableness was linked to increased symptom severity. Notably, 92.47% of SVs who sought help preferred support from colleagues, and the most pronounced desire among participants was to process the event for better understanding. Conclusions: The prevalence of SVP among Austrian nurses is alarmingly high, with aggressive behavior identified as a significant trigger. The findings emphasize the necessity for tailored support strategies, including peer support and systematic organizational interventions to mitigate the impact of SVP on nurses and to improve overall patient care. Further research should focus on developing and implementing effective prevention and intervention programs for healthcare professionals in similar settings.

The Moderating Role of the Five-Factor Model of Personality in the Relationship between Job Demands/Resources and Work Engagement: An Online Cross-Sectional Study

When organizations or managers utilize personality assessments for their workers, it is crucial to consider not only personality profiles but also the interaction between these profiles and the psychosocial environmental factors in the workplace. The present study aimed to examine the moderating effects of the five-factor model (FFM) of personality traits on the relationship between job demands/resources and work engagement (WE). A cross-sectional online survey was conducted between November and December 2022, targeting full-time workers in Japan. Data were collected from 1500 participants (757 men and 743 women). The survey included demographic variables, job demands and resources (job control, supervisor, and coworker support), WE, and the FFM. The primary statistical analysis was hierarchical regression analysis, which tested the interactions between job demands/resources and each personality trait. Four significant interactions were found: job demands and neuroticism, control and neuroticism, control and conscientiousness, and supervisor support and extraversion. High conscientiousness was associated with higher WE when job control was abundant. Moreover, low levels of both neuroticism and extraversion were linked to higher WE. The results suggest that managers can enhance WE by aligning workplace factors with employee personality traits. These insights can be applied to organizational staffing decisions.

How is personality related to research performance? The mediating effect of research engagement

Faculty members' research performance holds great significance for the development of a university. The primary objective of this study is to examine the influences of researchers' personalities on their research performance within universities, as well as the mediating role of research engagement in this relationship. The study encompassed 189 faculty members from a university and employed descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, measurement, and structural equation modeling as the analytical procedures. The results obtained from structural equation modeling reveal significant effects of faculty members' personalities on their objective research performance rather than self-reported performance. Specifically, conscientiousness and openness to experience exhibit a positive correlation with research performance. On the contrary, the neuroticism and social attributes of personality (the integration of extraversion and agreeableness) exhibit a negative correlation with research performance. Furthermore, research engagement mediates the effects of openness to experience and neuroticism on research performance. This study carries significant implications for the training and recruitment selection of faculty members in universities and enhances our understanding of how different personalities lead to a variance in research engagement and performance.

Second Victims among Austrian Pediatricians (SeViD-A1 Study)

(1) Background: The second victim phenomenon (SVP) plays a critical role in workplace and patient safety. So far, there are limited epidemiological data on the SVP in German-speaking countries. Some studies have been carried out in Germany, but so far, no quantitative studies have been carried out in Austria examining the prevalence, symptom load and preferred support measures for second victims (SVs). This study therefore examines the SVP among Austrian pediatricians. (2) Methods: A nationwide, cross-sectional and anonymous online study was conducted using the SeViD questionnaire (Second Victims in Deutschland) including the Big Five Inventory-10 (BFI-10). Statistical analysis included binary-logistic and multiple linear regression with the bootstrapping, bias-corrected and accelerated (BCa) method based on 1000 bootstrap samples. (3) Results: Of 414 Austrian pediatricians, 89% self-identified as SVs. The main cause of becoming an SV was the unexpected death or suicide of a patient. High neuroticism and extraversion values as well as working in outpatient care positively correlated with having experienced the SVP. A preferred support strategy was access to legal counseling. (4) Conclusions: Austrian pediatricians have the highest SVP prevalence measured with the SeViD questionnaire. Further research should focus on prevention strategies and intervention programs.

Second Victims among German Emergency Medical Services Physicians (SeViD-III-Study)

BACKGROUND

Patient care in the prehospital emergency setting is error-prone. Wu's publications on the second victim syndrome made very clear that medical errors may lead to severe emotional injury on the caregiver's part. So far, little is known about the extent of the problem within the field of prehospital emergency care. Our study aimed at identifying the prevalence of the Second Victim Phenomenon among Emergency Medical Services (EMS) physicians in Germany.

METHODS

Web-based distribution of the SeViD questionnaire among n = 12.000 members of the German Prehospital Emergency Physician Association (BAND) to assess general experience, symptoms and support strategies associated with the Second Victim Phenomenon.

RESULTS

In total, 401 participants fully completed the survey, 69.1% were male and the majority (91.2%) were board-certified in prehospital emergency medicine. The median length of experience in this field of medicine was 11 years. Out of 401 participants, 213 (53.1%) had experienced at least one second victim incident. Self-perceived time to full recovery was up to one month according to 57.7% (123) and more than one month to 31.0% (66) of the participants. A total of 11.3% (24) had not fully recovered by the time of the survey. Overall, 12-month prevalence was 13.7% (55/401). The COVID-19 pandemic had little effect on SVP prevalence within this specific sample.

CONCLUSIONS

Our data indicate that the Second Victim Phenomenon is very frequent among prehospital emergency physicians in Germany. However, four out of ten caregivers affected did not seek or receive any assistance in coping with this stressful situation. One out of nine respondents had not yet fully recovered by the time of the survey. Effective support networks, e.g., easy access to psychological and legal counseling as well as the opportunity to discuss ethical issues, are urgently required in order to prevent employees from further harm, to keep healthcare professionals from leaving this field of medical care and to maintain a high level of system safety and well-being of subsequent patients.

How daily supervisor abuse and coworker support affect daily work engagement

The purpose of this study was to explore the dynamic and intervention mechanisms of daily abusive experience affecting daily work engagement. Drawing on conservation of resources (COR) theory, we examine the effect of daily abusive supervision on daily work engagement through daily negative emotions from the resource consumption perspective, and the moderation effect of coworker support from the resource provision perspective. Using a daily diary approach and based on a sample of 73 employees for 5 consecutive days in China. The results reveal that daily abusive supervision has a significant negative effect on daily work engagement, daily negative emotions mediate this relationship, and coworker support had a cross-level moderating effect between daily abusive supervision and daily negative emotions. Our study shows ways to boost employees’ daily work engagement and especially ways buffer the negative effect of abused experience on work engagement.