Negative emotionality, activity, and sociability temperaments predicting long-term job strain and effort-reward imbalance: a 15-year prospective follow-up study

A Challenging Transition: Factors Influencing the Effort-Reward Imbalance and Coping Strategies of Beginning Teachers in China

Purpose

The initial phase can be difficult for teachers: beginning teachers are more likely to experience effort-reward imbalance (ERI) and its harmful effects. To reduce this risk, this study analyzed the factors that impact ERI among beginning teachers in China and investigated the coping strategies they use.

Methods

The study used qualitative research methods to conduct semi-structured interviews with 20 beginning teachers. Each participant was interviewed for at least 40 minutes via an online platform.

Results

The qualitative results showed that ERI among beginning teachers is influenced by the interaction of internal and external factors. The typical factors identified were organizational justice, leadership style, work motivation, and personality type. Beginning teachers in the Chinese context demonstrated a proactive attitude towards challenging situations and chose moderate approaches to cope with ERI. The effectiveness of these strategies varied due to individual differences and contextual factors.

Conclusion

Overall, the findings emphasized the importance of addressing the challenges of beginning teachers to promote their well-being and improve the quality of education. Reducing the ERI of beginning teachers relies on a tripartite effort between society, schools and teachers themselves.

Effort-reward imbalance and its association with sociocultural diversity factors at work: findings from a cross-sectional survey among physicians and nurses in Germany

OBJECTIVE

Due to staff shortages and reports of high work stress, work conditions of hospital physicians and nurses receive wide attention. Additionally, sociocultural diversity of the workforce and patient population is increasing. Our study aim is to analyze how individual and organizational diversity-related factors are associated with the experience of staff's work stress.

METHODS

A cross-sectional online survey was conducted with healthcare staff from 22 acute hospitals operated by two healthcare organizations in Germany in 2018. Sociodemographic, occupational and organizational factors were surveyed. Participants further reported work conditions related to the sociocultural diversity of colleagues and patients. Effort-reward imbalance (ERI) was measured with the German short version. Multivariable regression models were calculated with ER ratio as an outcome.

RESULTS

N = 800 healthcare staff were included. Variables associated with higher ERI were longer work experience (β = 0.092, p < 0.05), not holding a leading position (0.122, < 0.01), being a witness (0.149, < 0.001) or victim (0.099, < 0.05) of discrimination at one's own ward, reporting frequent burden due to language barriers with patients (0.102, < 0.01) and colleagues (0.127, < 0.001), and having restricted access to translators at work (0.175, < 0.001). Factors associated with lower ERI were having a first generation migration background (- 0.095, < 0.05) and being a physician (- 0.112, < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Catering to the needs of healthcare personnel in dealing with the additional effort related to language barriers at work, e.g., readily available translator services, and creating non-discriminatory work environments might be one cornerstone for the prevention of work-related ill health and retention of qualified hospital staff.

Work stress, overcommitment personality and alcohol consumption based on the Effort-Reward Imbalance model: A population-based cohort study

Work stress has been extensively supported to predict health outcomes like health behaviors. Evidence has linked work stress and personality independently to health, but the interrelationships between work stress and personality and their joint effects on health might deserve more attention in research. This study attempts to integrate recent developments in psychological research (diverse roles of personality in stress processes) into the well-established Effort-Reward Imbalance (ERI) model for work stress. Based on the ERI model, this population-based cohort study aims to investigate the relationships between work stress, personality and alcohol consumption; it particularly focuses on potential roles of overcommitment (OC) personality in ERI-drinking relations, including modifying, antecedent, mediator or direct effects. This two-wave cohort study was conducted in population samples of 3782 men and 3731 women (aged 45-69 years) from Czech Republic, Poland and Russia. Alcohol consumption was assessed by three drinking outcomes: binge drinking, heavy drinking and problem drinking. To assess modifying effect of OC in ERI-drinking relations, logistic regression was used. To assess antecedent or mediator role of OC in ERI-drinking relations, path analysis with the autoregressive and cross-lagged model was conducted. The results showed that OC had no significantly modifying effect in ERI-drinking relations. OC and ERI might have bidirectional relationships in the average follow-up period of 3.5 years; the effect of OC on ERI was remarkably stronger than the reversed causation. Antecedent role of OC in ERI-drinking relationship was significant, but mediator role of OC was not. In conclusion, our findings imply that "antecedent role" of OC in ERI-drinking relations is significant and promising as a potential target for individual intervention; future interventions are suggested to identify and target potential cognitive-behavioral mechanisms via which personality might influence work stress and subsequently health behaviors.

Rewards of Compassion: Dispositional Compassion Predicts Lower Job Strain and Effort-Reward Imbalance Over a 11-Year Follow-Up

Dispositional compassion has been shown to predict higher well-being and to be associated with lower perceived stress and higher social support. Thus, compassion may be a potential individual factor protecting from job strain. The current study examines (i) whether dispositional compassion predicts job strain and effort-reward imbalance (ERI) or does the predictive relationship run from job strain and ERI to dispositional compassion and (ii) the effect of dispositional compassion on the developmental trajectory of job strain and ERI over a 11-year follow-up. We used data from the Young Finns study (n=723) between 2001 and 2012. The direction of the predictive relationships was analyzed with cross-lagged panel models. Compassion’s effect on the trajectories of job strain, ERI, and their components was examined with multilevel models. First, the cross-lagged panel models demonstrated there was no evidence for the predictive pathways between compassion and job strain or its components. However, the predictive pathways from high dispositional compassion to low ERI and high rewards had better fit to the data than the predictive pathways in the opposite direction. In addition, multilevel models showed that high compassion predicted various job characteristics from early adulthood to middle age (lower job strain and higher job control as well as lower ERI and higher reward). Compassion did not predict job demand/effort. The findings were obtained independently of age, gender, and socioeconomic factors in childhood and adulthood. These findings indicate that compassion may be beneficial in work context. Further, compassion might be useful in the management or prevention of some aspects of strain. Our study provides new insight about the role of compassion in work life.

Compassion protects against vital exhaustion and negative emotionality

We investigated (i) the predictive relationships of compassion with negative emotionality (a marker of susceptibility to stress) and vital exhaustion (a marker of chronic stress response) and (ii) the effect of compassion on the developmental courses of negative emotionality and vital exhaustion over a follow-up from early adulthood to middle age. We used the prospective Young Finns data (n = 1031-1495, aged 20-50). Compassion was evaluated in 1997, 2001, and 2012; and vital exhaustion and negative emotionality in 2001, 2007, and 2012. The predictive paths from compassion to vital exhaustion and negative emotionality were stronger than vice versa: high compassion predicted lower vital exhaustion and lower negative emotionality. The effect of high compassion on lower vital exhaustion and lower negative emotionality was evident from early adulthood to middle age. Overall, high compassion appears to protect against dimensions of stress from early adulthood to middle age, whereas this study found no evidence that dimensions of stress could reduce disposition to feel compassion for others' distress over a long-term follow-up.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11031-021-09878-2.

Temperament and Early Intentions to Retire: A Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 Study

OBJECTIVE

To examine associations between temperament traits and early retirement intentions.

METHODS

In the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966, we analyzed early retirement intentions at the age 46 according to Cloninger temperament traits at the age 46 (n = 4409) and at the age 31 (n = 3226). Ordinal logistic regression analyses were used. Adjustments were made for marital status, education, work type, job satisfaction, perceived health, and mental health problems.

RESULTS

11% of men and 9% of women had strong retirement intentions. Especially higher harm avoidance was associated with higher early retirement intentions in both sexes at the age of 46. A similar pattern of results, although with weaker associations, was found for temperament assessed at the age of 31.

CONCLUSIONS

Temperament and especially harm avoidance is related to early retirement intentions.

Cost, Gain, and Health: Theoretical Clarification and Psychometric Validation of a Work Stress Model With Data From Two National Studies

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to test nonsymmetric effects of cost/gain imbalance at work on depression, based on the effort-reward imbalance (ERI) model.

METHODS

Study participants were derived from two large national studies from Germany and Sweden. Associations between the ERI scales, including the effort-reward (E-R) ratio in 2016 and depression (in 2016 for German sample, and in 2018 for Swedish sample) were examined by multivariable logistic regression.

RESULTS

In both samples, high cost/low gain, but not low cost/high gain, is associated with depression, with a 3- to 5-fold elevated risk in the highest decile of the E-R ratio.

CONCLUSIONS

The short version of the ERI questionnaire is a psychometrically useful tool for epidemiological research. The finding demonstrating nonsymmetric effects of cost/gain imbalance contributes to a theoretical clarification of this stress-theoretical model.

Relationship Between Gender, Stress, and Quality of Social Support

BACKGROUND

Research suggests that gender differences exist in both stress and how social support is utilized and that the relationship between stress and social support may not be linear.

METHODS

An internet survey of n = 1080 participants was conducted evaluating quality and quantity of social support, gender, age, and perceived stress and coping.

RESULTS

Reported quality of social support, gender, and age significantly predicted perceived stress and that there was a curvilinear interaction between the quality of social support and gender which significantly predicted perceived stress.

CONCLUSION

The current findings supported Taylor's Tend and Befriend theory that females have higher reported stress levels, a larger support network, and report more quality in their social support.Practitioner points:  • Males and females may manifest stress differently in their relationships. • When working with males and females in practice it may be important to understand the depth and breadth of their social networks and how they utilize those networks. • Females indicate higher levels of stress and greater social support quality. • It is important to understand that one's social network can be an important source of support (a coping mechanism) but that it can also serve as a stressor in some cases.

The complex genetics and biology of human temperament: a review of traditional concepts in relation to new molecular findings

Recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have shown that temperament is strongly influenced by more than 700 genes that modulate associative conditioning by molecular processes for synaptic plasticity and long-term learning and memory. The results were replicated in three independent samples despite variable cultures and environments. The identified genes were enriched in pathways activated by behavioral conditioning in animals, including the two major molecular pathways for response to extracellular stimuli, the Ras-MEK-ERK and the PI3K-AKT-mTOR cascades. These pathways are activated by a wide variety of physiological and psychosocial stimuli that vary in positive and negative valence and in consequences for health and survival. Changes in these pathways are orchestrated to maintain cellular homeostasis despite changing conditions by modulating temperament and its circadian and seasonal rhythms. In this review we first consider traditional concepts of temperament in relation to the new genetic findings by examining the partial overlap of alternative measures of temperament. Then we propose a definition of temperament as the disposition of a person to learn how to behave, react emotionally, and form attachments automatically by associative conditioning. This definition provides necessary and sufficient criteria to distinguish temperament from other aspects of personality that become integrated with it across the life span. We describe the effects of specific stimuli on the molecular processes underlying temperament from functional, developmental, and evolutionary perspectives. Our new knowledge can improve communication among investigators, increase the power and efficacy of clinical trials, and improve the effectiveness of treatment of personality and its disorders.

Associations Between Early Childcare Environment and Different Aspects of Adulthood Sociability: The 32-Year Prospective Young Finns Study

Sociability is a widely studied trait that has been linked both with individual well- and ill-being. Although early childcare has been shown to affect social competence in children, its role in the development of different aspects of adulthood sociability is poorly understood. Using a longitudinal population-based sample (N = 464), this study investigated whether childcare arrangements at ages 3 or 6 are associated with self-reported adulthood sociability at ages 20 to 35 years. A total of five aspects of sociability were measured using three well-established personality inventories (EAS, NEO-FFI, and TCI). Multilevel modeling was applied to examine the association between early care and adulthood sociability, adjusting for several sources of random variation (between-individual variance, within-individual variance between measurement times, variance between used sociability indicators, and error variance that cannot be attributed to the previously mentioned) and potential confounders (disruptive behavior in childhood, parental socio-economic status, parent–child relationship quality, maternal age, and the number of children in the family). Based on our results, in comparison to home care, family daycare and center-based daycare at age 3 and center-based daycare at age 6 were associated with higher sociability later in life. The association was strongest for aspects of sociability that emphasize the willingness to be surrounded by other people and to be attached to them. In other words, characteristics of early care may contribute uniquely to the development of these aspects of sociability with effects that persist into adult life.

Protective and risk factors for depressive mood and anxiety against occupational stress: examining temperament character and coping strategy among civil servants

This study investigated protective and risk factors for depressive mood and anxiety against occupational stress, including temperament character and coping strategy, among civil servants. We administered a questionnaire that included demographic factors and psychological scales to 1197 Korean civil servants. High levels of occupational stress, temperaments of novelty seeking and harm avoidance, a character of cooperativeness, and using emotion-focused coping were risk factors for depressive mood, while living with a partner, having a character of self-directedness, and using problem-focused strategies were protective factors. Additionally, female gender, high level of occupational stress, and temperaments of novelty seeking and harm avoidance were risk factors for anxiety, while having a character of self-directedness was a protective factor. Assessment of temperament character and training on effective coping strategies may help address depressive mood and anxiety for civil servants.

Human resource primacy, dispositional optimism, and chest pain: A prospective, cross-lagged study of work, personality, and health

Chest pain (CP) is common, frightening, and often medically unexplained. Occupational psychological factors are associated with somatic pain. Personality may influence both perceived working conditions and somatic health, thereby confounding associations of work with health. Despite this, very few studies have investigated the interplay between work factors, personality and pain. The current study assessed relationships of a relatively novel work factor, human resource primacy (HRP), and a personality factor known to be relevant to health, dispositional optimism (Opt), with CP across two years (N = 6714). A series of structural equation models (SEMs) were fitted, modeling "substantive" and "confounded" relationships of psychological factors with CP. A "common latent factor" (CLF) was included to account for bias by unmeasured factors that may have influenced all variables (e.g. reporting bias) and the role of optimism as a possible confounder of the relationship between HRP and CP was investigated specifically. Independent effects of HRP and Opt on CP were observed. No effects of HRP/CP on Opt were observed. Opt appeared to confound the relationship between HRP and CP to some extent. However, best fit was observed for a "reciprocal" model with independent lagged effects from HRP/Opt to CP as well as from CP/Opt to HRP. Thus, results suggested a mutual causal dynamic between HRP and CP along with an influence of Opt on both HRP and CP-implying that working conditions influence the experience of chest pain while the chest pain also influences the experience of working conditions. Optimistic dispositions may influence the experience of both work and pain, but not to an extent that fully explains their relationship. Hence, the notion that associations of HRP with CP are mere artifacts of optimistic/pessimistic reporting was not supported. More likely, complex reciprocal relationships exist between these factors, in which mutual reinforcements occur and both vicious and virtuous cycles may result.

A Longitudinal Multilevel Study of the "Social" Genotype and Diversity of the Phenotype

Sociability and social domain-related behaviors have been associated with better well-being and endogenous oxytocin levels. Inspection of the literature, however, reveals that the effects between sociability and health outcomes, or between sociability and genotype, are often weak or inconsistent. In the field of personality psychology, the social phenotype is often measured by error-prone assessments based on different theoretical frameworks, which can partly explain the inconsistency of the previous findings. In this study, we evaluated the generalizability of “sociability” measures by partitioning the population variance in adulthood sociability using five indicators from three personality inventories and assessed in two to four follow-ups over a 15-year period (n = 1,573 participants, 28,323 person-observations; age range 20–50 years). Furthermore, we tested whether this variance partition would shed more light to the inconsistencies surrounding the “social” genotype, by using four genetic variants (rs1042778, rs2254298, rs53576, rs3796863) previously associated with a wide range of human social functions. Based on our results, trait (between-individual) variance explained 23% of the variance in overall sociability, differences between sociability indicators explained 41%, state (within-individual) variance explained 5% and measurement errors explained 32%. The genotype was associated only with the sociability indicator variance, suggesting it has specific effects on sentimentality and emotional sharing instead of reflecting general sociability.

Association between childhood health, socioeconomic and school-related factors and effort-reward imbalance at work: a 25-year follow-up study

OBJECTIVES

Stress pathways can have origins in childhood, but few early predictors have been explored in relation to adult job stress. This study examined whether childhood school, health or socioeconomic factors were associated with adult job stress.

METHODS

Data came from the Childhood Determinants of Adult Health study that began in 1985 with children aged 7-15 years who reported effortreward imbalance (ERI) scales at ages 31-41 years. Linear regression assessed the association between childhood factors and adult ERI adjusted for age and socioeconomic position (SEP) in childhood and adulthood.

RESULTS

There were between 999 and 1390 participants in each analysis. Lower adulthood ERI, indicating less job stress, was predicted by several school-related factors in men. For example, each higher category of learner self-concept was associated with a 19% (95% CI - 32% to 6%) reduction in adult ERI, and each unit increase in academic attainment was associated with a 15% (95% CI -28% to 3%) reduction in adult ERI. Childhood health was associated with adult ERI. For example, in women, overweight children had 14% (95% CI 5% to 22%) higher adult ERI scores compared with healthy weight children, and each unit of negative affect was associated with 2% (95% CI 1% to 4%) increase in adult ERI. Adult SEP had no effect on these associations for men but explained some of the effect in women. Childhood SEP had inconsistent associations with adult ERI.

CONCLUSION

Our findings suggest that a range of childhood socioeconomic, school- and health-related factors might contribute to the development of job stress in adulthood.

Associations of temporal and energetic characteristics of behavior with depressive symptoms: A population-based longitudinal study within Strelau's Regulative Theory of Temperament

BACKGROUND

Individual dispositions have previously been associated with increased risk for depressive symptoms. The direction of the association has been found to be sometimes reciprocal. We examined whether temperament traits are associated with depressive symptoms and whether depressive symptoms contribute to changes in temperament.

METHODS

Participants (n=674-811) were from a population-based Young Finns Study. Temperament was assessed by a Finnish version of the Formal Characteristics of Behavior - Temperament Inventory. Depressive symptoms were assessed with modified BDI (mBDI) in 1997, 2001, 2007 and 2012, and BDI-II in 2012.

RESULTS

Higher perseveration and emotional reactivity were associated with higher level of depressive symptoms, and higher endurance was associated with lower level of depressive symptoms in 2007 and 2012. These associations were independent of several potential confounders and baseline depressive symptoms. The results of cross-lagged structural equation modeling showed that the associations between temperament and depressive symptoms were reciprocal: briskness, endurance and activity decreased the risk for depressive symptoms while depressive symptoms decreased the level of these characteristics. Perseveration, emotional reactivity and depressive symptoms reinforced each other over time.

LIMITATIONS

The depressive symptoms scales we used are not meant for measuring clinically diagnosed depression. The relationships between temperament traits and depressive symptoms were not strong enough to provide a clinical basis for guiding treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

Lower perseveration, lower emotional reactivity and higher endurance seem to be health protective temperament characteristics that reduce the risk for depressive symptoms. The reciprocal associations between temperament and depressive symptoms imply mutual health protective and health declining effects. Clinical relevance of the study is that enhancing positive loops and self-concept, and supporting individual stress management might be helpful in prevention of depressive symptoms.

Depressive symptoms are associated with lower bone mineral density in young adults with high job strain. The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study

BACKGROUND

Job strain has been associated with depressive symptoms, and depression has been associated with low bone mineral density (BMD).

PURPOSE

The associations between BMD and job strain have not been studied. We examined the relations between BMD, job strain, and depressive symptoms in a population-based group of young adults in Finland.

METHOD

Ultrasonic measurement of BMD at the calcaneus was performed on 777 participants (men 45 %, aged 30-45) drawn from the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study. Job strain was assessed by self-administered questionnaires by the combination of job demands and job control. Depressive symptoms were assessed with a modified Beck Depression Inventory. The effects of job strain on BMD were studied with multivariable analyses with age, sex, BMI, vitamin D, and calcium intake, physical activity, cigarette smoking, alcohol use, and depressive symptoms as covariates.

RESULTS

Depressive symptoms were independently associated with lower BMD T score in participants with high job strain (β = -0.241, p = 0.02), but depressive symptoms were not significantly associated with BMD in the low (β = -0.160, p = 0.26) and intermediate (β = -0.042, p = 0.66) job strain categories.

CONCLUSION

The results suggest that job strain modifies the association between depressive symptoms and BMD. Depressed individuals with high work-related stress might be in increased risk of lower bone mineral density.

Effort-reward imbalance at work is predicted by temporal and energetic characteristics of behavior: a population-based study

OBJECTIVE

Personality dispositions may influence perceptions of work stress. The paper examines the relationship between temperament in terms of Strelau’s Regulative Theory of Temperament and the effort-reward imbalance and its components.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

There were 890 participants (360 men) aged 37.9 years on average. Temperament traits of briskness and perseveration (temporal characteristics of behavior), sensory sensitivity, emotional reactivity, endurance and activity (energetic characteristics of behavior) were measured by Strelau & Zawadzki’s Formal Characteristics of Behavior- Temperament Inventory (FCB-TI) in 1997 and 2001. Effort and reward at work were assessed with the original effort- reward imbalance (ERI) questionnaire of 2007.

RESULTS

Higher ERI at work was predicted by higher emotional reactivity, higher perseveration, lower briskness, and lower endurance. Higher effort and lower rewards at work were predicted by higher perseveration and lower endurance. The FCB-TI temperament characteristics accounted for 5.2%, 4.8% and 6.5% of the variance in the ERI, effort and reward, respectively. Lower emotional reactivity, lower perseveration, higher brisk- ness and higher endurance predicted higher esteem at work, job promotion and job security.

CONCLUSIONS

Individual differences in arousability, reflected in temporal and energetic characteristics of behavior, may predispose to or to protect from an effort-reward imbalance at work. Individual differences should be acknowledged in work stress prevention and developing interventions.

Personality traits of the Five-Factor Model are associated with work-related stress in special force police officers

PURPOSE

The police work is particularly stressful. The aim of this work was to clarify whether the personality factors are associated with perceived stress levels or reactivity to environmental stressors in a special body of police.

METHODS

The police officers in charge of guaranteeing public order at the L'Aquila G8 meeting were subjected to a control of their levels of work-related stress in anticipation of the event. Personality was assessed by the Italian version of the Five-Factor Model questionnaire, while stress was measured three times (during routine work in January 2009, preparation and imminence of the event, in April and July 2009, respectively) with the demand/control/support model of Karasek and the effort/reward imbalance model of Siegrist. A total of 289 of 294 officers took part in the survey.

RESULTS

Some personality traits of the Five-Factor Model were associated with stress levels and stress reactivity. Neuroticism (low emotional stability) showed the strongest associations with job strain (demand/control ratio) (β = 0.115, p < 0.05) and effort/reward imbalance (β = 0.270, p < 0.001) and was associated with most of the stress variables. High agreeableness was associated with low effort/reward imbalance (β = -0.157, p < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

Personality factors may mitigate or increase the strain induced by environmental stressors.

Personality traits of the five-factor model are associated with effort-reward imbalance at work: a population-based study

OBJECTIVE

This study examined the association between personality traits and work stress.

METHODS

The sample comprised 757 women and 613 men (aged 30 to 45 years in 2007) participating in the Young Finns study. Personality was assessed with the NEO-FFI questionnaire and work stress according to Siegrist's effort-reward imbalance (ERI) model.

RESULTS

High neuroticism, low extraversion, and low agreeableness were associated with high ERI. Low conscientiousness was associated with high ERI in men. No association was found between openness and ERI. High neuroticism, high extraversion, and low agreeableness were associated with high effort and low neuroticism, high extraversion, and high agreeableness with high rewards. High conscientiousness was associated with high effort, and in women, with high rewards. High openness was associated with high effort.

CONCLUSIONS

This study suggests that personality traits may predispose to and protect from work stress.