Behavior change versus stability during the college-to-work transition: Life course and the "stickiness" of alcohol misuse at career entry

A scoping review to map the research on the mental health of students and graduates during their university-to-work transitions

OBJECTIVES

This scoping review maps the extant literature on students' and graduates' mental health experiences throughout their university-to-work transitions. The current review investigates the methodological features of the studies, the main findings, and the theories that the studies draw on to conceptualise mental health and transitions.

DESIGN

This project used a scoping review methodology created and developed by Peters and colleagues and the Joanna Briggs Institute. The review searched academic databases and screened existing studies that met predetermined inclusion criteria.

DATA SOURCES

Seven academic databases and Google Scholar were searched with sets of search terms.

ELIGIBILITY

The included studies examined participants who were final-year university students or those who had graduated from university within a 3-year period. Studies published in English since 2000 and from any country were included. The review included studies examining the negative dimensions of mental health. The review excluded studies focusing on medical students and graduates.

DATA EXTRACTION

Basic information about the studies and their findings on mental health and university-to-work transitions was retrieved. The findings are presented in tables and in a qualitative thematic summary.

RESULTS

The scoping review included 12 studies. Mental health was often not explicitly defined and it's theoretical foundations were not clearly articulated. The review identified factors, including a lack of social support and economic precarity, as sources of adverse mental health. Other protective factors in these studies-variables that guard against mental health problems-were identified, such as career preparedness and having a good job.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite the methodological focus on the negative aspects of mental health, people's mental health experiences during university-to-work transitions are not uniformly negative. Clear conceptualisations of mental health in future studies will aid in developing resources to improve well-being.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

This scoping review adhered to a protocol previously published in this journal and that is registered on the Open Science Framework website (https://osf.io/gw86x).

Absenteeism, Presenteeism, and the Economic Costs of Alcohol Hangover in The Netherlands

The alcohol hangover is defined as the combination of negative mental and physical symptoms that can be experienced after a single episode of alcohol consumption, starting when the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) approaches zero. Alcohol hangover symptoms such as fatigue, nausea, and headache can negatively affect daily activities, including work performance. The alcohol hangover can therefore be a cause of both absenteeism (not going to work) and presenteeism (going to work while hungover). An online survey among a convenience sample of n = 347 Dutch adults examined the number of days of absenteeism and presenteeism associated with having a hangover as well as the loss of productivity when going to work when hungover during the year 2019. In the Dutch sample, 8.1% of employees reported one or more days of absenteeism due to hangover in 2019, and 33.4% reported one or more days of presenteeism. The analyses revealed that alcohol hangover was associated with 0.2 days of absenteeism and 8.3 days of presenteeism and a productivity loss of 24.9% on days worked with a hangover. The estimated associated costs for the Dutch economy in 2019 of absenteeism (EUR 234,538,460) and presenteeism (EUR 2,423,603,184) total EUR 2,658,141,644. In conclusion, the alcohol hangover is associated with absenteeism, presenteeism, and reduced performance at work while hungover. As such, the annual costs of the alcohol hangover have a significant impact on the Dutch economy. However, these first findings on the economic costs of the alcohol hangover should be considered a rough estimate. They should be verified in a longitudinal study to minimize recall bias, including a nationally representative sample of sufficient sample size.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of the association between young adults' sleep habits and substance use, with a focus on self-medication behaviours

Young adults (18-30 years) are vulnerable to sleep-wake disturbances and substance use, which are bi-directionally associated. The present work aims to organise the literature that deals with the association between sleep and substance use in young adults, also considering self-medication behaviours. We adopted a framework that accounts for the multidimensionality of sleep and the effect of different substances. We considered sleep disturbances (insomnia symptoms, sleep quality), sleep health dimensions (duration, satisfaction, efficiency, timing, daytime alertness), circadian characteristics (chronotype). Substances were alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, cannabis, others. We included 46 studies. The use of caffeine and nicotine was associated with higher odds of sleep disturbances. No significant effect was detected for sleep duration. In narrative findings, daytime dysfunction was associated with alcohol and caffeine use, and poor sleep satisfaction with nicotine use. Few evidence were available for the other sleep health dimensions. Evening chronotype was associated with alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine use. Few studies focused on cannabis or self-medication. Longitudinal results were inconclusive. We found a distinct pattern of associations between different substances and different sleep outcomes. Further investigation considering the multidimensionality of sleep would create a better understanding of the complex relationship between substance use and sleep health in young adults.

The company Christmas party and employee happiness

Many companies host an annual Christmas or holiday party which, for many employees, represents a fun, meaningful, and ritualized event closely linked to the organization's culture. However, the factors that relate to employees' satisfaction or dissatisfaction with this event, as well as to their positive and negative affect associated with this event, are currently not well understood. Accordingly, the current study aimed to explore how employee characteristics (e.g., demographics, employment characteristics, attitudes), organizational characteristics (i.e., human relations, open systems, rational goal, internal process culture), and event characteristics (e.g., location, activities, heavy drinking, inappropriate behavior of supervisors or colleagues, ritual features) are related to employee happiness. Data were provided by 359 employees from various organizations in Germany, who completed an online survey at the beginning of January 2019. Results showed that a human relations culture, an external location, fun activities, informality, and symbolism predicted higher employee satisfaction with the Christmas party. In contrast, heavy drinking and formality predicted higher dissatisfaction with the Christmas party, and longer organizational tenure, a human relations culture, a speech, providing both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, and symbolism predicted lower dissatisfaction. Furthermore, employee age, organizational identification, involvement in planning, a human relations and an internal process culture, a speech, providing both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, heavy drinking, supervisor and coworker inappropriate behavior, formality, and symbolism were differentially associated with high- and low-arousal positive and negative affect. These findings suggest several directions for future research on company parties and have practical implications for organizations and party planning committees.