Office Design's Impact on Psychosocial Work Environment and Emotional Health.

This study explores the association between office design and (a) the psychosocial work environment and (b) the emotional health among 4352 employees in seven different office designs. A multivariate linear regression analysis was performed with adjustments for age and educational level for men and women separately. Results show that psychosocial factors and emotional exhaustion differ between both office designs and between genders, with best outcomes in cell offices, except for psychological demands that are rated the most favourable in shared-room offices. Cell offices and small open-plan offices show a strong beneficial association with emotional exhaustion in women. Among men, hot-desking is most problematic regarding psychosocial work environment and emotional exhaustion. Women rate the psychosocial environment low in combi-office and report emotional exhaustion in small open offices.

Electronic medication administration record (eMAR) in Swedish home healthcare-Implications for Nurses' and nurse Assistants' Work environment: A qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: The electronic medication administration record (eMAR) is an eHealth system that has replaced the traditional paper-based medication administration used in many healthcare settings. Research has highlighted that eHealth technologies can change working methods and professional roles in both expected and unexpected ways. To date, there is sparse research that has explored how nurses and nurse assistants (NA) in home healthcare experience eMAR in relation to their work environment. AIM: The aim was to explore how nurses and nurse assistants experienced their work environment, in terms of job-demand, control, and support in a Swedish home healthcare setting where an electronic medication administration record had been implemented to facilitate delegation of medical administration. METHOD: We took a qualitative approach, where focus groups were used as data collection method. The focus groups included 16 nurses and nine NAs employed in a Swedish municipality where an eMAR had been implemented 6 months before the first focus groups were performed. The analysis adapted the job-demand-control-support model, by condensing the professionals' experiences into the three categories of demand, control, and support, in alignment with the model. RESULTS: NAs experienced high levels of job demand and low levels of job control. The use of the eMAR limited NAs' ability to control their work, in terms of priorities, content, and timing. In contrast, the nurses described demands as high but manageable, and described having a high level of control. Both professions found the eMar supportive. CONCLUSION: Nurses and NAs in home healthcare experienced changes in their work environment regarding demand, control, and support when an eMAR was implemented to facilitate delegation of medical administration. In general, nurses were satisfied with the eMAR. However, NAs felt that the eMAR did not cover all aspects of their daily work. Healthcare organisations should be aware of the changes that digitalisation processes entail in the work environment of nurses and NAs in home healthcare.

The association between study conditions and hair cortisol in medical students in Germany - a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Medical students often experience high levels of stress due to adverse study conditions, which may have adverse health consequences. Hair cortisol concentration (HCC) has been described as a physiological marker for chronic stress and might thus help to identify students under stress and examine the study conditions being responsible for long-term physiological stress responses. This study therefore investigated the association between study conditions and HCC in a sample of medical students. METHODS: Fifty-five students from a medical school in Germany completed a paper-based questionnaire and had hair samples collected between May 2020 and July 2021. Study conditions were assessed with student versions of questionnaires based on the Job-Demand-Control-Support model (StrukStud, 25 items) and Effort-Reward Imbalance model (Student ERI, nine items). HCC of two centimeters closest to the scalp were determined by a cortisol luminescence immunoassay. Linear multiple regression analyses were performed to examine associations between study conditions and HCC. RESULTS: Demands (B = 0.23, p = 0.002), effort (B = 0.12, p = 0.029) and the effort-reward-ratio (B = 0.28, p = 0.007) were positively associated with HCC in separate regression analyses, adjusted for age and sex. Only the association between demands and HCC remained significant when all components of the respective questionnaire were considered in the same model (B = 0.22, p = 0.003). CONCLUSION: The results suggest that adverse study conditions may be associated with activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis stress response as reflected by increased HCC. Longitudinal research is needed to confirm these cross-sectional results and examine effects of more prolonged stress due to adverse study conditions.

The Influence of Teleworking in a Pandemic Context on the Work Experience of Individuals with Physical Disabilities: A Quebec Qualitative Study.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to numerous changes in work environments. Thousands of workers quickly found themselves having to telework without being prepared, which had consequences on their work experience and health. Authors proposed telework practices that promote the healthy work experience of workers in a pandemic context, but less attention has been paid to consider the realities and needs of individuals with physical disabilities. Purpose This study aimed to explore the influence of telework during the pandemic on the work experience of people with physical disabilities. Methods Following an interpretive descriptive research design, interviews were conducted with 16 workers with physical disabilities (i.e., motor, or sensory). The data were analyzed using a thematic analysis strategy. Results The results revealed 15 factors that influence the work experience of teleworkers with physical disabilities. These factors are related to interactions between three spheres of the worker's life: the individual, the organization, and the environment. Ten recommendations are proposed to consider the reality and needs of individuals with physical disabilities in the telework practices. Conclusion Given that telework has expanded since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and will likely continue to remain a widespread modality of work delivery, it becomes even more important to expand knowledge about it, to benefit the work experience of teleworkers with physical disabilities.

The job demand-control-support model and work-related musculoskeletal complaints in daytime and nighttime janitors: The mediating effect of burnout.

Janitors' jobs require repetitive work with low control (skill discretion, decision authority) and social support. Previous studies have found this constellation of work conditions leads to high stress levels. This study investigated the relationships among job demand-control-support, burnout, and musculoskeletal symptoms for commercial janitors in Washington State. Structural equation modeling was performed using data from 208 participants with analyses comparing models of daytime and nighttime janitors. Burnout fully mediated the relationship between job demands and musculoskeletal complaints among daytime janitors. Among nighttime janitors, burnout mediated between job demands, job control, and social support, and musculoskeletal complaints. The nighttime janitors' model was more fully supported compared to the daytime model. This study is one of a small number that examine and bring attention to the importance of janitors' burnout. Recommendations to improve the psychosocial work environment toward mitigating burnout and reducing musculoskeletal complaints are provided.

The relationship between occupational stressors and insomnia in hospital nurses: The mediating role of psychological capital.

Background: Nurses have a high incidence of insomnia. Insomnia not only damages the physical and mental health of nurses, but also reduces their productivity and quality of care, ultimately affecting patient care. Over the past 30 years, a large number of epidemiological surveys have shown that insomnia in nurses is associated with occupational stress. As an external feature of the role of a nurse, occupational stress is difficult to alter in a short period of time. Therefore, it is necessary to discuss the complex mediating variables in the relationship between occupational stress and insomnia in nurses in order to find different ideas to address the problem of insomnia caused by occupational stress. Psychological capital, the positive psychological strength of an individual, has been widely used in previous reports as a mediating variable between occupational stress and adverse psychological problems. Objective: This study aimed to explore the mediating effect of psychological capital on occupational stressors and insomnia among Chinese nurses. Methods: The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology statement was referred to conduct the study. A cross-sectional stratified sampling method was used to recruit 720 participants from a tertiary hospital in Jinan, Shandong province, located in the east of China, from June to August 2019. Questionnaires were used to obtain data on demographic variables, psychological capital, occupational stressors, and insomnia. Results: The study findings revealed that work settings [department (F = 3.08, p = 0.006), working hours per week (t = -2.03, p = 0.043) and shift work (t = 3.66, p < 0.001)], decision latitude (r = -0.25, p < 0.001), psychological job demand (r = 0.15, p < 0.001), social support (r = -0.31, p < 0.001), and psychological capital (r = -0.40, p < 0.001) were differentially associated with insomnia experiences. This cross-sectional survey showed that psychological capital has significant mediation effects on the relationship between occupational stressors and insomnia. In the model of decision latitude - psychological capital - insomnia, the mediating effect was-0.04 (95%CI: -0.07 ~ -0.02), accounting for 50.0% of the total effect; In the model of job demands - psychological capital - insomnia, the mediating effect was 0.03 (95%CI: 0.01 ~ 0.06), accounting for 25.0% of the total effect; In the model of social support - psychological capital - insomnia, the mediating effect was -0.11 (95%CI: -0.16 ~ -0.07), accounting for 39.0% of the total effect. Conclusion: Psychological capital not only had a direct effect on both occupational stressors and insomnia, but also played mediating roles in relationship between occupational stressors and insomnia. It has been suggested that nurses themselves and nursing managers should improve the psychological capital of nurses by various means to alleviate the effects of occupational stress on nurses' insomnia.

Job Demand-Control-Support Model as Related to Objectively Measured Physical Activity and Sedentary Time in Working Women and Men.

A physically active lifestyle incurs health benefits and physically active individuals show reduced reactivity to psychosocial stressors. However, the findings are inconclusive and are based on self-reported physical activity and sedentary time. The present study aimed at studying the associations between psychological stressors (job demand, control, support, JD-C-S) and objectively measured physical activity (PA) on various intensities from sedentary (SED) to vigorous physical activity. The participants were 314 employees from a cross-sectional study. PA data were collected with the accelerometer ActiGraph GT3X (Pensacola, FL, USA), SED data with the inclinometer activPAL (PAL Technologies Ltd., Glasgow, Scotland, UK), and psychosocial stressors with a web questionnaire. Results showed that vigorous-intensity PA was negatively associated with demand (ß -0.15, p < 0.05), even when adjusted for the covariates. SED was negatively associated to support (ß -0.13, p < 0.05). Stress significantly moderated relations between support and sedentary time (ß -0.12, p < 0.05). Moderate PA (MVPA) was negatively associated with demand, but only when controlling for overtime (ß -0.13, p < 0.05). MVPA was also negatively associated with control (ß -0.15, p < 0.05) but not when work engagement was included in the model. Being more physically active and spending less time sedentary may help to handle job situations with high demand and low support.

Beyond Social Exchange: Career Adaptability Linking Work Stressors and Counterproductive Work Behavior.

Drawing upon career construction theory (Savickas, 2002, 2013) and the job demand-control-support model (JDCS; Johnson and Hall, 1988; Van der Doef and Maes, 1999), the present study aims to explore the adaptability resources mechanism of the relationship between work stressors and counterproductive work behavior (CWB). Two-wave data were collected from 305 employees working in the operation department of an e-commerce company. The results showed that career adaptability mediated the relationship between work stressors and CWB against both coworkers (CWB-I) and the organization (CWB-O), going above, and beyond the mediation effect of job satisfaction (i.e., an indicator of a social exchange path). Also, the association between career adaptability and CWB-O was stronger among employees who perceived a low (vs. high) level of organizational support. This study sheds light on how work stressors are related to CWBs indirectly through career adaptability. The findings also offer practical advice for organizations to prevent CWBs by developing employees' adaptability.

Are there bidirectional relationships between psychosocial work characteristics and depressive symptoms? A fixed effects analysis of Swedish national panel survey data.

OBJECTIVES: Psychosocial work characteristics have been prospectively associated with depressive symptoms. However, methodological limitations have raised questions regarding causality. It is also unclear to what extent depressive symptoms affect the experience of the psychosocial work environment. We examined contemporaneous (measured simultaneously) and lagged bidirectional relationships between psychosocial work characteristics and depressive symptoms, simultaneously controlling for time-stable individual characteristics. METHODS: We included 3947 subjects in the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH), with self-reported job demands, control, social support, work efforts, rewards, procedural justice and depressive symptoms in four waves 2010-2016. We applied dynamic panel models with fixed effects, using structural equation modelling, adjusting for all time-stable individual characteristics such as personality and pre-employment factors. RESULTS: Higher levels of job demands, job demands in relation to control, work efforts and efforts in relation to rewards were contemporaneously associated with more depressive symptoms (standardised ß: 0.18-0.25, p<0.001), while higher levels of workplace social support, rewards at work and procedural justice were associated with less depressive symptoms (ß: -0.18, p<0.001,ß: -0.16, p<0.001 and ß: -0.09, p<0.01, respectively). In contrast, only work efforts predicted higher levels of depressive symptoms 2 years later (ß: 0.05, p<0.05). No other lagged associations were found in any direction. CONCLUSIONS: After controlling for all time-invariant confounding, our results suggest that psychosocial work characteristics predominantly affect depressive symptoms immediately or with only a short time lag. Furthermore, we found no evidence of reverse causation. This indicates short-term causal associations, although the temporal precedence of psychosocial work characteristics remains uncertain.

A supportive climate and low strain promote well-being and sustainable working life in the operation theatre.

BACKGROUND: Shortage of health-care workers e.g. in operating theatres is a global problem. A shortage of staff negatively affects patient outcomes, making it important to keep the employees from quitting. The aim of this survey was to study if well-being, zest for work, and thoughts about leaving work in an operating theatre can be related to the psychosocial work environment, as described by the job demand-control-support (JDCS) model. METHODS: A questionnaire was provided to personnel in operating theatres of seven Swedish hospitals (n = 1405, with a response rate of 68%) that included the JDCS model, personal factors, work ability, well-being, zest for work, and thoughts about leaving their position. Ordinal scale regression was used for analyses. RESULTS: A majority reported moderate to high zest for work (76%). A minority (30%) had sometimes thought during at least one month in the last year of leaving their position. Lower social support scores and high demands together with low control (high-strain) scores were related to lower well-being, lower zest for work, and more thoughts about leaving the position. Anaesthetists scored in the low-strain field, nurse anaesthetists and assistant nurses in the passive field, and operating nurses in the active field, in comparison to all personnel. CONCLUSION: According to the JDCS model, both lower social support and high strain were related to lower well-being and negative thoughts about the position. Social support scores were about the same for different occupational groups in the operating theatre, and no occupation scored on average in the high-strain field.

Understanding well-being and learning of Nigerian nurses: a job demand control support model approach.

AIM: This study investigated whether Nigerian nurses' emotional exhaustion and active learning were predicted by job demands, control and social support. BACKGROUND: Limited research has been conducted concerning nurses' work stress in developing countries, such as Nigeria. Accordingly, it is not clear whether work interventions for improving nurses' well-being in these countries can be based on work stress models that are developed in Western countries, such as the job demand control support model, as well as on empirical findings of job demand control support research. METHOD: Nurses from Nurses Across the Borders Nigeria were invited to complete an online questionnaire containing validated scales; 210 questionnaires were fully completed and analysed. Multiple regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses. RESULTS: Emotional exhaustion was higher for nurses who experienced high demands and low supervisor support. Active learning occurred when nurses worked under conditions of high control and high supervisor support. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that the job demand control support model is applicable in a Nigerian nursing situation; the model indicates which occupational stressors contribute to poor well-being in Nigerian nurses and which work characteristics may boost nurses' active learning. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Job (re)design interventions can enhance nurses' well-being and learning by guarding nurses' job demands, and stimulating job control and supervisor support.

Working conditions, serotonin transporter gene polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) and anxiety disorders: a prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: The etiology and pathology of anxiety disorders involve both genetic and environmental influences. Adverse working conditions may contribute to the development of anxiety. The serotonin transporter-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) has been implicated in stress sensitivity. Therefore, we investigated the potential interplay between 5-HTTLPR and job-related risk factors in the prediction of the occurrence of anxiety. METHODS: We conducted a prospective study using the first two waves of a Swedish population-based cohort. At Wave I, 1585 individuals without anxiety, depression or dysthymia who were active in the labor market during both waves were included. Information on job demands, skill discretion, decision authority and social climate was collected at Wave I. After a three year interval, the presence of anxiety disorders was determined at Wave II. All 1585 participants were genotyped for 5-HTTLPR. Both additive and multiplicative models were considered in examining the potential interaction between 5-HTTLPR and adverse working conditions on the development of anxiety. RESULTS: Anxiety was associated with high job demands but not with 5-HTTLPR. An interaction was observed between 5-HTTLPR and high job demands among females. Individuals with 5-HTTLPR high expression genotype (LL) developed anxiety disorders more frequently when exposed to high job demands compared to 'LS/SS' carriers. LIMITATIONS: A limited number of participants developed anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: High job demands predict the development of anxiety. The 5-HTT polymorphism has a moderating effect on the relationship between high job demands and anxiety among females.