Same job, same working conditions? A cross-sectional study to examine the similarities and differences of the working situation in ambulatory and residential youth welfare workers.

BACKGROUND: Employees in social work exhibit high rates of sick leave due to mental health issues. Additionally, work-related demands in youth welfare have increased in recent years. Particularly in light of the escalating shortage of skilled professionals in this field, this trend becomes especially critical. The aim of this study is to systematically examine health-relevant working conditions, coping strategies, and health indicators in youth welfare. A special focus is placed on a differentiated analysis of job-related characteristics in the context of outpatient and residential youth welfare. METHODS: Mean values, standard deviations and the reliability of scales are measured. In addition to descriptive statistics, t-tests for analyzing mean differences, as well as correlation analyses and odds ratios as measures of association, are computed. RESULTS: A total of N = 1044 employees in youth welfare participated in the online survey. Among them, 671 individuals belonged to the field of residential youth welfare, and 373 to outpatient youth welfare. The results indicate that, in youth welfare in general, a variety of emotional, social, qualitative, and quantitative demands exhibit high levels. The comparison between outpatient and residential youth welfare reveals differences in half of the demands. The significant differences are observed for social demands and aggression from clients, which are statistically significant higher in the residential setting. Regarding resources, the most significant difference is observed for autonomy, which is higher in the outpatient setting. Overall, the association patterns reveals more similarities than differences between outpatient and residential settings. In both settings working conditions seem to have deteriorated during the pandemic. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, the identified job-related characteristics in outpatient and residential youth welfare exhibit more similarities than differences. Nevertheless, the identified differences provide insights into the specific features of each work context, offering valuable starting points for targeted health promotion in practice. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This trial is recorded at the Hamburg University Ethics Committee (AZ 2022_027).

The Mediating Effects of Work Characteristics on the Relationship between Transformational Leadership and Employee Well-Being: A Meta-Analytic Investigation.

Evidence points to an indirect relationship between transformational leadership (TFL) and employee well-being, and numerous work characteristics have been identified as mediators. However, the relative mediating effect of different types of job resources and job demands on the TFL-well-being relationship remains unclear, rendering it impossible to determine which ones are the most influential. This study aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the relative mediation potential of different work characteristics in the TFL-well-being relationship in multiple three-level meta-analytical structural equation models of 243 samples. Based on the JD-R Model, this study extends this theoretical framework by suggesting TFL as a predisposing variable that influences both job resources and job demands, leading to changes in indicators of both positive and negative employee well-being. The results show that, while all the examined job resources and demands mediated the TFL-well-being relationship, organizational resources were identified as the strongest mediators. Furthermore, job demands had a strong mediating effect on the relationship between TFL and negative well-being, while job resources more strongly mediated TFL and positive well-being. We present a differentiated picture of how transformational leaders can influence their employees' well-being at the workplace, providing valuable knowledge for future research and practice.

Supportive leadership training effects on employee social and hedonic well-being: A cluster randomized controlled trial.

Drawing on conservation of resources theory, we developed and evaluated a supportive leadership training (SLT) intervention designed to teach leaders ways to be supportive of their employees. Given the important role of supportive leaders in helping employees deal with excessive workloads, we theorized that the beneficial intervention effects on employee well-being would be particularly evident for employees who perceive higher levels of quantitative and qualitative workloads prior to the intervention. Using a cluster randomized controlled field trial, we tested the effects of the SLT on employee social well-being in terms of leader-member exchange (LMX) quality and employee hedonic well-being, including positive affective well-being, emotional exhaustion, and job satisfaction. The participants in the training were directors of childcare centers in Germany. To rigorously evaluate the intervention effects at the employee level, we collected survey data at baseline, 1 month postintervention, and 6 months postintervention, and we used an intent-to-treat approach to analyze the data. A total of 496 employees from 77 childcare centers provided data at baseline, of whom 266 and 226 employees participated in the 1-month and 6-month surveys, respectively. Linear mixed-effects models showed that the effectiveness of the intervention in terms of LMX quality and emotional exhaustion varied depending on the employees' baseline perceptions of quantitative workloads, such that employees with higher quantitative workloads benefited more from the SLT. The findings of this study improve the understanding of the types of outcomes of SLT and contribute to clarifying for whom SLT is effective. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Sexual Harassment by Patients, Clients, and Residents: Investigating Its Prevalence, Frequency and Associations with Impaired Well-Being among Social and Healthcare Workers in Germany.

Social and healthcare workers are at high risk of experiencing sexual harassment in the workplace. Although sexual harassment is detrimental to people's well-being, only a few studies have systematically investigated social and healthcare workers' experiences of different forms of sexually harassing behaviors by patients, clients, and residents in Germany. This study aimed to address this gap by determining the prevalence rates and frequency of nonverbal, verbal, and physical sexual harassment by patients, clients, and residents against social and healthcare workers. In addition, we examined the associations of sexual harassment with workers' well-being and described employees' awareness of offers of organizational support for sexual harassment prevention and aftercare. Data were collected from n = 901 employees working in a total of 61 facilities, including inpatient and outpatient care, psychiatric facilities, hospitals, and facilities for persons with disabilities. While the prevalence, frequency, and predominant forms of sexual harassment differed across sectors, the results indicated that nonverbal, verbal and physical sexual harassment were highly prevalent in social and healthcare work, with both men and women being affected. Furthermore, we found that sexual harassment was positively related to impaired well-being (e.g., depressiveness and psychosomatic complaints). In terms of support offers for sexual harassment prevention and aftercare, we found that approximately one-third of social and healthcare workers were not aware of any offers at their facilities. In addition to highlighting the problem of sexual harassment by patients, clients, and residents in social and healthcare settings, this study provides recommendations for the development of interventions and suggests several avenues for future research.

Stress of Dialysis Nurses-Analyzing the Buffering Role of Influence at Work and Feedback.

Dialysis nurses face complex and demanding working conditions. Due to demographic changes, the number of dialysis patients has increased, while the number of skilled personnel is expected to decrease, leading to tremendous increases in quantitative demands in the near future. Against the background of increasing workload, focusing on the provision of job resources is considered a promising approach because resources can buffer the negative effects of job demands. The aim of this study is to investigate whether different job resources-in particular influence at work and feedback-play a buffering role in the relationship between job demands and employee well-being. The study used a cross-sectional paper-pencil survey design. Data were collected from 951 dialysis nurses working in dialysis facilities in Germany between October 2010 and March 2012 using validated measures of quantitative job demands, job-related resources (influence at work and feedback), and cognitive stress symptoms. To test the moderating role of resources, we applied hierarchical regression analyses. The findings indicate that feedback buffers the relationship between quantitative demands and well-being; that is, the positive relationship between quantitative demands and cognitive stress symptoms was weaker when feedback was high. However, we found no buffering role of influence at work. The results suggest that feedback is a promising resource that may buffer the negative impact of quantitative demands on well-being of dialysis nurses. The findings offer new approaches for training nurses and implementing a feedback culture.

Beyond Mistreatment at the Relationship Level: Abusive Supervision and Illegitimate Tasks.

According to the concept of abusive supervision, abusive supervisors display hostility towards their employees by humiliating and ridiculing them, giving them the silent treatment, and breaking promises. In this study, we argue that abusive supervision may not be limited to mistreatment at the relationship level and that the abuse is likely to extend to employees' work tasks. Drawing upon the notion that supervisors play a key role in assigning work tasks to employees, we propose that abusive supervisors may display disrespect and devaluation towards their employees through assigning illegitimate (i.e., unnecessary and unreasonable) tasks. Survey data were obtained from 268 healthcare and social services workers. The results showed that abusive supervision was strongly and positively related to illegitimate tasks. Moreover, we found that the relationship between abusive supervision and unreasonable tasks was stronger for nonsupervisory employees at the lowest hierarchical level than for supervisory employees at higher hierarchical levels. The findings indicate that abusive supervision may go beyond relatively overt forms of hostility at the relationship level. Task-level stressors may be an important additional source of stress for employees with abusive supervisors that should be considered to fully understand the devastating effects of abusive supervision on employee functioning and well-being.

Workplace Aggression and Burnout in Nursing-The Moderating Role of Follow-Up Counseling.

The aim of this study is to obtain a better understanding of the association between the frequency of nurses' exposure to workplace aggression from patients and their levels of burnout. In particular, we seek to shed light on the role of the availability of follow-up counseling in organizations after critical incidents in mitigating the adverse relationships between physical and verbal aggression and nurses' burnout. A total of 582 nurses reported how frequently they had experienced physical and verbal aggression from patients in the last 12 months and whether they had the opportunity to receive follow-up counseling in their organization. In addition, nurses rated the extent to which they experienced each of the three dimensions of burnout (i.e., emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment). The results showed that both physical and verbal aggression were substantially related to the burnout dimensions. Furthermore, we found that the availability of follow-up counseling in organizations attenuated the relationships between physical aggression and all three burnout dimensions. While we found that the availability of follow-up counseling moderated the relationship between verbal aggression depersonalization, the moderating effects were not significant for emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment. The findings indicate that the availability of follow-up counseling might help minimize the adverse impact of exposure to aggression from patients on nurses' mental health.

Analysis of Job-Related Demands and Resources in Ambulatory Youth Welfare Services: A Qualitative and Quantitative Approach.

In this study, we investigated health-relevant job characteristics of social workers in ambulatory youth welfare services, combining qualitative and quantitative methods. Based on a systematic literature review, expert workshops, and focus group discussions with 9 experts of the target group, we identified target group-specific job demands and job resources, which we compiled into a questionnaire using content-valid scales. The target group-specific survey tool comprises 9 scales for assessing job demands and 10 scales for assessing job resources. Analyses of data from 209 social workers demonstrated desirable psychometric properties and substantial correlations of the scales with coping behaviours and indicators of employee well-being. The scales for assessing job demands were negatively related to psychological well-being and job satisfaction and positively related to burnout and depressiveness. The scales for assessing job resources showed positive correlations with indicators of positive well-being and negative correlations with indicators of impaired well-being. Regression analyses revealed that job resources explained a higher amount of variance in the positive well-being indicators compared to job demands. The study identified a broad range of health-relevant job characteristics for social workers in ambulatory youth welfare. Applying the target group-specific survey tool allows organisations to derive suitable implications for the design of health promotion programs.

Sexually Harassing Behaviors from Patients or Clients and Care Workers' Mental Health: Development and Validation of a Measure.

Although evidence reveals severe effects of sexual harassment on care workers' mental health, there is a scarcity of studies that investigate care workers' experiences of sexually inappropriate behavior from patients or clients. One reason for this lack of research is that validated measures that assess different types of sexual harassment experienced by employees working with patients or clients are lacking. In this study, we seek to establish a conceptual framework for investigating extraorganizational sexual harassment in healthcare work. Based on this theoretical framework, we developed and validated a measure for assessing sexually harassing behaviors from patients or clients. Data were gathered from heterogeneous samples of employees working in a variety of settings in healthcare. To evaluate the factorial structure of the measure, we conducted exploratory factor analysis (EFA) using a calibration sample (N = 179) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using a cross-validation sample (N = 305). The construct validity of the measure was demonstrated by investigating relationships with indicators of care workers' mental health. EFA revealed three factors, namely, nonverbal, verbal, and physical acts of sexual harassment. Examination of the measure comprising 14 items revealed acceptable internal consistencies and substantial correlations with indicators of care workers' mental health. This study provides a useful and sound measure for assessing sexual harassment from patients or clients and paves the way for the development of a comprehensive theoretical framework for the assessment of sexual harassment. Furthermore, it facilitates future investigations of risk factors for sexual harassment and protective factors helping healthcare workers cope with sexual harassment from patients or clients.

The Role of Leaders in Designing Employees' Work Characteristics: Validation of the Health- and Development-Promoting Leadership Behavior Questionnaire.

In this article, we draw upon the notion that employees' work characteristics are an important pathway through which leaders influence employee well-being and propose a theoretical framework that integrates perspectives on leadership, occupational stress, and job design. Based on this integrative approach, we developed the health- and development-promoting leadership behavior questionnaire (HDLBQ) for assessing job demands emanating from and job resources provided through the leader. Validation of the measure in German, French, and English using an overall sample of 2,934 employees demonstrated adequate psychometric properties. An examination of the factorial structure revealed three higher-order factors: demanding, development-oriented, and support-oriented leadership. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis indicated structural equivalence across the three language versions of the HDLBQ. Correlations with employee well-being were moderate, and the HDLBQ explained unique variance in employee well-being beyond that explained by transformational leadership. Suggestions for applications of the HDLBQ and approaches to enhance employee well-being at the workplace are discussed.

Development and evaluation of a training program for dialysis nurses - an intervention study.

BACKGROUND: A dialysis nurse's work is complex and demanding. Based on the results of a systematic review and a survey study, we developed a health-promoting intervention for dialysis nurses. The aim of this study is to evaluate this intervention. METHODS: Before the intervention, the dialysis facilities were surveyed, and an analysis workshop was conducted. The intervention incorporated activities at the individual and organizational levels and included three half-day training sessions for dialysis nurses. The evaluation was based on pre-post-follow-up data from the intervention group (N = 33) and pre-post data from the control group (N = 44) gathered using validated scales. The measurement of change was conducted using repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and t-tests. RESULTS: In the intervention group, we found small to medium effect sizes for all measures. However, only sense of community and burnout improved significantly between the pre- and post-tests. Compared to the control group, sense of community increased significantly only in the intervention group. This strengthens the result that the intervention had a particular effect on enhancing the sense of community. CONCLUSIONS: The systematically developed intervention for dialysis nurses offers a promising approach for workplace health promotion in the dialysis setting.