Chronic neck and low back pain from personal experiences: a written narrative approach.

Background: Chronic neck and low back pain are very common and have detrimental effects for people and society. In this study, we explore the experiences of individuals with neck and/or back pain using a written narrative methodology. Materials & methods: A total of 92 individuals explained their pain experience using written narratives. Narratives were analyzed through thematic analysis and text data mining. Results: Participants wrote about their experience in terms of pain characteristics, diagnosis process, pain consequences, coping strategies, pain triggers, well-being and future expectations. Text data mining allowed us to identify concurrent networks that were basically related with pain characteristics, management and triggers. Conclusion: Written narratives are useful to understand individuals' experiences from their point of view.

Women living with fibromyalgia during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study.

We explored the experiences of women with fibromyalgia during the COVID-19 pandemic from a qualitative approach by interviewing eighteen women. We identified seven main themes after performing a thematic analysis: pain description, pain triggers, impact, coping strategies, treatment for pain, pain onset and general situation. In general, pain worsened during the pandemic, and activity restrictions and changes in social interactions were particularly related with that. Pain negatively impacted different life domains: mental health, physical health, cognitive status, social activities and daily activities. Coping strategies varied slightly after the pandemic outbreak, and treatment was interrupted for some women. Results reflect that the pandemic was challenging for women living with fibromyalgia, and highlight the need to develop specific interventions for them in the context of potential future health emergencies.

Personality and Nomophobia: The Role of Dysfunctional Obsessive Beliefs.

BACKGROUND: The development of new technologies (ICTs), and specifically the invention of smartphones, has offered users enormous benefits. However, the use of this technology is sometimes problematic and can negatively affect people's lives. Nomophobia has been defined as the fear of being unreachable by means of a smartphone and is considered a disorder of the modern world. The present study aims to provide additional evidence of the relationship between personality traits and nomophobia. Moreover, this research explores dysfunctional obsessive beliefs as another possible antecedent. Finally, this study also examines the effect of the combination of these antecedents on nomophobia. METHOD: The study sample was comprised of Spanish workers (males: 44.54%; females: 55.46%) in the city of Tarragona and its surroundings. RESULTS: Our results showed that nomophobia is directly related to personality traits such as extraversion, and that dysfunctional obsessive beliefs play a role in the development of nomophobia. Moreover, our study confirms that the combination of personality traits and dysfunctional obsessive beliefs can affect the degree of nomophobia experienced. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Our study contributes to the body of literature that examines how psychological variables of personality can be predictors of nomophobia. Additional research is needed to better understand the determinants of nomophobia.

The Construct of Job Insecurity at Multiple Levels: Implications for Its Conceptualization and Theory Development.

Over the years, job insecurity has accumulated important scholarly work. As a result, research has identified multiple constructs that involve employees' concerns about job loss. Most of these are individual-level constructs (e.g., subjective and objective job insecurity), but, recently, an incipient body of literature has adopted a multilevel perspective by understanding job insecurity as a collective phenomenon (e.g., job insecurity climate, strength climate, downsizing or temporary hiring strategies). Furthermore, these constructs at different levels are underpinned by shared theoretical frameworks, such as stress theory or psychological contract theory. However, all this literature fails to present an integrative framework that contains the functional relationship for mapping job insecurity constructs across levels. Accordingly, the present study aims to examine job insecurity from a multilevel perspective, specifically by conceptualizing job insecurity at the individual level-understood as subjective and objective job insecurity-and at the organizational level, understood as job instability in an organization, job insecurity climate, and climate strength. The methodology of multilevel construct validation proposed by Chen, Mathieu and Bliese (2005) was applied; thus, (1) job insecurity were defined at each relevant level of analysis; (2) its nature and structure was specified at higher levels of analysis; (3) psychometric properties were tested across and/or at different levels of analysis; (4) the extent to which job insecurity varies between levels of analysis was estimated; and (5) the function of job insecurity was tested across different levels of analysis. The results showed significant relationships among these, and were related to an organizational antecedent (e.g., organization nature) and organizational and individual outcomes (collective and individual job satisfaction) in two European samples: Austria and Spain. Accordingly, this study exposed the multilevel validity of job insecurity constructs through an integrative framework in order to advance in the area of job insecurity theory and practice. The contributions and implications to job insecurity research and other multilevel research are discussed.

Usage Patterns of Telepsychology and Face-to-Face Psychotherapy: Clients' Profiles and Perceptions.

Background: Currently, most people who might need mental health care services do not receive them due to a number of reasons. Many of these reasons can be overcome by telepsychology, in other words, the use of ICT technologies for therapy (e.g., phone, videoconferencing, and apps); given that it facilitates access to specialized interventions. In fact, telepsychology is currently offered as an active service in many psychotherapy centers. However, its usage, how it is perceived, and who uses it are still largely unknown. Objective: The aim of this study was (1) to determine if any pattern exists in the usage of telepsychology and face-to-face psychology, (2) to clarify people's perception of telepsychology in terms of the advantages, barriers and efficacy of online psychotherapy, and (3) to examine usage patterns in terms of individual characteristics and identify patients' profiles. Methods: An online survey was conducted on a convenience sample of 514 subjects recluted by using an online advertisement. The inclusion criteria were: (1) to be older than 18 years old and (2) to answer completely the questionnaire. Cluster analysis, ANOVAs, and discriminant analysis were performed to test our research objectives. Results: Three usage clusters were found: (1) face-to-face psychotherapy (57%; n = 292); (2) non-therapy (36.8%; n = 189); and (3) combined face-to-face psychotherapy and telepsychology (6.4%; n = 33). In addition, the perception of telepsychology varied among usage clusters, but a common perception emerged about the main telepsychology advantages, barriers and efficacy. Finally, the results showed that personal characteristics differentiated people in each of these clusters. Conclusion: The most common form of access to psychotherapy is the face-to-face form but the second way of delivery was a combination between face to face and online psychotherapy (research objective 1). People who combine face to face with online psychotherapy perceives this last as more efficient and with less barriers to access (research objective 2). Finally, some characteristic as eHealth experience and sociodemographic variables can help to identify people that will attend telepsychology initiatives (research objective 3). These clusters provide insight into opportunities for face-to-face and online patient engagement strategies.

Influence that job characteristics, personality and burnout have on fatigue in professional drivers.

Objectives. Professional drivers drive for many hours without rest. This factor, in addition to the characteristics of the job, the vehicle, the environment and the driver, causes driver fatigue. Fatigue is one of the most common risk factors when driving because it causes drowsiness, decreases drivers' attention and may make them fall asleep at the wheel. In this article we propose a predictive model for professional drivers using the following variables: age, number of children, time spent at work, time spent inside the vehicle, personality, job characteristics (JDS), job content (JCQ) and burnout. Method. Participants were 509 professional drivers from various transport sectors recruited by non-probabilistic sampling. SPSS version 25.0 was used for statistical analysis. Results. The predictive capacity of variables that cause driver fatigue was determined. Exhaustion best predicts fatigue positively, while openness to experience best predicts it negatively. Burnout and certain personality characteristics are good predictors, whereas other variables, such as JCQ and JDS, are weak predictors. Conclusions. This study extends our knowledge of the factors that cause fatigue in professional drivers and underlines the importance of designing interventions aimed at reducing the incidence of fatigue, promoting greater driver well-being and lowering the incidence of accidents.

Human resource practices and employee wellbeing from a gender perspective: The role of organizational justice / Prácticas de recursos humanos y bienestar de los empleados desde una perspectiva de género: el papel de la justicia organizacional

Abstract Introduction/objective: HR practices have been widely studied in the literature. However, critical research gaps remain unexplored. Little attention has been paid to the relationship between HR practices and well-being, or the mechanisms that explain the effect of HR on employees' wellbeing, and the role of gender in this relationship. Hence, this study aims to examine the relationship between HR practices and well-being (eudemonic and hedonic) through organizational justice, taking into account gender. Method: A convenience sampling technique was used in a correlational design. The sample was composed of 1647 employees from 42 Spanish organizations. Our measures were HR practices, organizational justice, and hedonic and eudemonic wellbeing. Multi-group structural equation models were computed. Results: The results supported our hypothesis, which mainly stated that (1) organizational justice (distributive, procedural and interactional justice) mediated the relationship between HR practices and eudemonic and hedonic well-being; (2) there were differences between men and women in this mediation. Conclusions: Human resource practices and organizational justice offer tools to HR managers in order to maintain and improve employees' well-being levels within their organizations.

Resumen Introducción/objetivo: Las prácticas de recursos humanos (RRHH) han sido ampliamente estudiadas en la literatura. Sin embargo, existen importantes carencias de investigación al respecto. Por ejemplo, se ha prestado poca atención a la relación entre las prácticas de RRHH y el bienestar, al mecanismo que explica el efecto de los RRHH en los empleados, y se ha pasado por alto el papel del género en las prácticas de RRHH. Por tanto, este estudio se dirige a examinar la relación entre las prácticas de RRHH y el bienestar (eudemónico y hedónico) por medio de la justicia organizacional, teniendo en cuenta el género. Método: Se utilizó un muestreo por conveniencia en un diseño correlacional. La muestra se compuso de 1647 trabajadores de 42 organizaciones españolas. Los instrumentos utilizados midieron prácticas de RRHH, justicia organizacional, y bienestar hedónico y eudemonico. Se realizaron modelos de ecuaciones estructurales multigrupo. Resultados: Los resultados confirmaron nuestras hipótesis, que afirmaban principalmente que (1) la justicia organizacional (justicia distributiva, de procedimiento e interactiva) mediaba la relación entre las prácticas de RRHH y el bienestar eudemónico y hedónico; (2) hay diferencias entre hombres y mujeres en esta mediación. Conclusiones: Las prácticas de RRHH y la justicia organizacional ofrecen herramientas a los directores de RRHH sobre cómo actuar para mantener y mejorar los niveles de bienestar de los empleados dentro de sus organizaciones.

Acceptance and Use of Telepsychology From the Clients' Perspective: Questionnaire Study to Document Perceived Advantages and Barriers.

BACKGROUND: Telepsychology is increasingly being incorporated in clinical practice, being offered in many psychotherapy centers, especially after the impact of the pandemic. However, there seems to be a remarkable discrepancy between the offer, or interest in, and real-world uptake of e-mental health interventions among the population. A critical precondition is clients' willingness to accept and use telepsychology, although this issue has thus far been overlooked in research. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine people's acceptance and use of telepsychology by adopting an extended model of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) that integrates perceived telepsychology advantages and barriers, usefulness perceptions, behavioral intention, and telepsychology use. METHODS: An online survey was conducted with a convenience sample of 514 participants. Structural equation models were computed to test a mediation model. RESULTS: Results supported the UTAUT model to explain participants' acceptance and use of telepsychology. They showed a causal chain in which perceived telepsychology advantages and barriers were related to telepsychology use through the perceived usefulness of and intention to use telepsychology. CONCLUSIONS: Telepsychology use may be explained according to the UTAUT model when coupled with participants' perceptions of telepsychology advantages and barriers. Mental health stakeholders could consider these factors in order to increase the acceptance and use of telepsychology.

Job insecurity and performance: the mediating role of organizational justice in terms of type of contract / Inseguridad y Desempeño Laboral: el Papel Mediador de la Justicia Organizacional Considerando el Tipo de Contrato

BACKGROUND: Job insecurity has been widely researched. However, there have been inconsistent results about the association between job insecurity and job performance. This study proposed a multi-group mediation model to explain the underlying mechanisms of this relationship according to psychological contract and social exchange theory. METHOD: Data were collected through a survey. The sample was composed of 1,435 employees in 138 organizations from two European countries (i.e. Spain and Austria). RESULTS: Results showed that job insecurity was indirectly related to OCB and self-rated performance through the three types of organizational justice (distributive, procedural, and interactional justice); and these relationships varied depending on the type of contract. CONCLUSIONS: This study contributes to a better understanding of the relationship between job insecurity and performance by clarifying underlying mechanisms according to the type of contract

ANTECEDENTES: la inseguridad laboral ha sido ampliamente estudiada en la investigación. Sin embargo, esta presenta resultados inconsistentes sobre la asociación entre la inseguridad laboral y el desempeño laboral. Este estudio propuso un modelo de mediación multigrupo para explicar los mecanismos subyacentes de esta relación de acuerdo con el contrato psicológico y la teoría del intercambio social. MÉTODO: los datos fueron recogidos a través de un cuestionario. La muestra estuvo compuesta por 1.435 empleados de 138 organizaciones de dos países europeos (España y Austria). RESULTADOS: los resultados mostraron que la inseguridad laboral estaba indirectamente relacionada con OCB y el desempeño auto-evaluado, a través de los tres tipos de justicia organizacional (justicia distributiva, procesal e interactiva); y que estas relaciones variaban en función del tipo de contrato. CONCLUSIONES: este estudio contribuye a comprender mejor la relación entre la inseguridad laboral y el desempeño laboral al aclarar los mecanismos subyacentes considerando el tipo de contrato

Job Insecurity and Performance: The Mediating Role of Organizational Justice in terms of Type of Contract.

BACKGROUND: Job insecurity has been widely researched. However, there have been inconsistent results about the association between job insecurity and job performance. This study proposed a multi-group mediation model to explain the underlying mechanisms of this relationship according to psychological contract and social exchange theory. METHOD: Data were collected through a survey. The sample was composed of 1,435 employees in 138 organizations from two European countries (i.e. Spain and Austria). RESULTS: Results showed that job insecurity was indirectly related to OCB and self-rated performance through the three types of organizational justice (distributive, procedural, and interactional justice); and these relationships varied depending on the type of contract. CONCLUSIONS: This study contributes to a better understanding of the relationship between job insecurity and performance by clarifying underlying mechanisms according to the type of contract.

Impact of COVID-19 Lockdown Measures on Spanish People with Chronic Pain: An Online Study Survey.

The corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is one of the most important healthcare and societal challenges to have emerged in the last century. It may have effects on both physical and psychosocial health, but studies considering the impact on vulnerable populations, such as people with chronic pain, are needed. In this cross-sectional study, an online survey of relevant chronic pain domains, coping strategies, triggers and potential related variables was answered by 502 Spanish individuals with chronic pain. Participants were mainly women (88%) with longstanding chronic pain and moderate to high pain intensity and disability. The perception of pain aggravation and the most pain-related outcomes were observed. Contextual variables such as job insecurity, worries about the future, people cohabiting, being close to someone who had passed away, or being potentially infected with COVID-19 were related to worse outcomes. More than half the participants altered their pain management style (e.g., increased medication intake) and several changes occurred with respect to pain triggers (cognitions, feelings of insecurity and loneliness, and sleeping problems were more frequently reported as triggers during lockdown). Our preliminary results highlight the negative effects of lockdown on patients with chronic pain as well as the need to make available cost-effective and remotely accessible healthcare resources for counteracting them.

Nursing Education in Catalonia: Novice Professionals' Appraisal of Its Quality and Usefulness. Does Mobility Play a Role?

The present study aimed to examine the relationship between the quality of undergraduate education perceived by novice nurses and their retrospective satisfaction with their education. It also studied the relationships between the perceived usefulness of their education for their current jobs and the quality of the jobs held by novice nursing professionals. The moderator role of mobility in this relationship was also analyzed, as it reflects a boundary condition in which additional preparation or job opportunities may occur. The study used data from the graduates' survey carried out by the Agència per a la Qualitat del Sistema Universitari de Catalunya (AQU) in 2017. The analysis of data from 644 graduates of Catalan Universities in 2014 highlights different functions of two types of knowledge and skills; those directly related to science and the practice of nursing are stronger predictors of retrospective satisfaction with nursing education. In turn, the perception of the usefulness of horizontal skills, such as transversal and communication skills, plays a stronger role in predicting job quality. The results about the role of mobility were not conclusive, and more research is needed to clarify its influence on nursing education and subsequent professional practice.

Emotional Dissonance in the Spanish Services Sector: The Role of Support in the Workplace.

The purpose of this study was twofold. The first aim was to analyze the detrimental effect that emotional dissonance may have on service workers by testing its relationship with job satisfaction, intention to leave the organization, and organizational deviance. The second was to test whether two types of social support (i.e., co-worker and organizational support) and their combination moderate these relationships from a multilevel perspective. The sample was composed of 556 employees from Spanish service sector. Using random coefficient models analyses, results showed, first, that emotional dissonance was related to lower levels of job satisfaction (PE = -.1, p < .05) and higher levels of intention to leave the organization (PE = .12, p < .05); second, that co-worker support moderate the relationship between emotional dissonance and job satisfaction (PE = .10, p < .05), organizational deviance (PE = -.08, p < .05), and intention to leave the organization (PE = -.13, p < .05); third, organizational support, conceptualized as a collective construct at organizational level, moderate the relationship between emotional dissonance and organizational deviance (PE = -.08, p < .05); and finally, the combination of both types of support do not explained additional variance of the emotional dissonance-outcomes relation. These results underline the need to take into consideration different source of social support and their levels of analysis to better understand emotional dissonance and its outcomes.

Understanding the Experience of Functional Abdominal Pain Through Written Narratives by Families.

OBJECTIVE: Although functional abdominal pain (FAP) is one of the most common pain problems in children, there is a lack of qualitative studies on this topic. Our aim was to increase knowledge in this field by testing an innovative written narrative methodology designed to approach the experiences of children with FAP and their parents. METHODS: We analyzed the FAP experiences of 39 families who completed a written narrative task (children and parents separately). Some of the families (N = 20) had previously completed an online psychosocial intervention, whereas others had not, because a complementary objective was to explore possible differences between parent and child narratives, and between those who had and had not completed the intervention. RESULTS: Families wrote about abdominal pain (characteristics, triggers, pain consequences, and coping strategies), their well-being, the diagnostic process, future expectations, and the positive effects of an online psychosocial intervention. Children tended to mention pain characteristics more, whereas parents tended to write more about triggers and the diagnostic process. CONCLUSIONS: A written narrative methodology was found to be a useful approach for understanding families' experiences. Results confirmed that FAP affects families at the emotional, behavioral, and social levels and that an online psychosocial intervention can help families.

Emotional dissonance in the Spanish services sector: the role of support in the workplace

The purpose of this study was twofold. The first aim was to analyze the detrimental effect that emotional dissonance may have on service workers by testing its relationship with job satisfaction, intention to leave the organization, and organizational deviance. The second was to test whether two types of social support (i.e., co-worker and organizational support) and their combination moderate these relationships from a multilevel perspective. The sample was composed of 556 employees from Spanish service sector. Using random coefficient models analyses, results showed, first, that emotional dissonance was related to lower levels of job satisfaction (PE = -.1, p < .05) and higher levels of intention to leave the organization (PE = .12, p < .05); second, that co-worker support moderate the relationship between emotional dissonance and job satisfaction (PE = .10, p < .05), organizational deviance (PE = -.08, p < .05), and intention to leave the organization (PE = -.13, p < .05); third, organizational support, conceptualized as a collective construct at organizational level, moderate the relationship between emotional dissonance and organizational deviance (PE = -.08, p < .05); and finally, the combination of both types of support do not explained additional variance of the emotional dissonance-outcomes relation. These results underline the need to take into consideration different source of social support and their levels of analysis to better understand emotional dissonance and its outcomes

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Giving less importance to pain and focusing on achieving objectives.

Giving less importance to pain and focusing on achieving objectives in accordance with values can help people to live their lives in spite of the pain. We present a rationale for this orientation and several techniques that can help people achieve this. Specifically, we present the importance of starting the intervention by educating people about pain and setting objectives in line with each person's personal values. After that, we present some techniques that can help people deal with triggers and barriers that can make it difficult to stay on track when it comes to giving less importance to pain and more to achieving objectives.

Validation of a Short Form of Job Crafting Scale in a Spanish Sample.

Applications of job crafting are widespread in the professional practice. In an attempt to measure this phenomenon, Tims, Bakker and Derks (2012) developed a Job Crafting Scale based on the Job Demand-Resources model (JD-R) and validated it in a Dutch sample. However, its application to other cultural contexts presented some difficulties. The present work aimed to validate a shorter version of scale by Tims et al. (2012) in a Spanish sample (n = 1,647). The data were randomly split in two independent subsamples (Sample 1: Explorative; Sample 2: Confirmative). The exploratory factor analysis showed a three-factor structure. Through a confirmatory factor analysis, the four-dimensionality structure of the original scale was replicated. In fact, the four-factor solution presented better goodness of fit indices than the alternative one-factor model, χ2(48) = 192.70, p < .01; AGFI = .94; NNFI = .93; RMR = .05; RMSEA = .06. Alpha reliabilities were acceptable for increasing structural job resources (α = .75), decreasing hindering job demands (α = .64), increasing social job resources (α = .78) and increasing challenging job demands (α = .77). Convergent validity was appropriate for three of the four dimensions, because each construct's AVE were around .50 and each construct's Composite Reliability were around .70. Decreasing hindering job demands presented more limited values (CR = .65; AVE = .40). In addition, the four job crafting dimensions presented significant correlations with job performance (range -.09 to .42) and personal growth (ranging from -.09 to .45). Finally, the squared correlations between factors were lower than the square root of AVE, which confirmed discriminant validity.

The Influence of Organizational Factors on Road Transport Safety.

Road transport safety is a major concern across Europe due to the human and socio-economic costs associated with work-related traffic accidents. Traditional approaches have adopted regulatory and technical measures to prevent road accidents leaving aside the organizational factors that might contribute to road transport safety. However, contemporary sociotechnical systems theory acknowledges the need to take into account organizational factors. This study adopts a sociotechnical approach and it examines the relationship between a number of organizational factors (organizational learning and training) and road traffic accidents in the organizations under study. Our sample was composed of 107 road transportation organizations from Spain. Binary logistic regression analyses were carried out to test our hypotheses. Organizational size and type of transport (goods or passengers) were included in the model as control variables. Results showed that in those organizations where organizational learning was supported, the occurrence of traffic accidents was less likely. Unexpectedly, the relationship between training and the occurrence of traffic accidents was not significant. Thus, findings partially supported the formulated hypothesis. Future research should shed light on the relationship between training and traffic accidents taking into account potential intervening variables.

Validation of a short form of job crafting scale in a Spanish sample

Applications of job crafting are widespread in the professional practice. In an attempt to measure this phenomenon, Tims, Bakker and Derks (2012) developed a Job Crafting Scale based on the Job Demand-Resources model (JD-R) and validated it in a Dutch sample. However, its application to other cultural contexts presented some difficulties. The present work aimed to validate a shorter version of scale by Tims et al. (2012) in a Spanish sample (n = 1,647). The data were randomly split in two independent subsamples (Sample 1: Explorative; Sample 2: Confirmative). The exploratory factor analysis showed a three-factor structure. Through a confirmatory factor analysis, the four-dimensionality structure of the original scale was replicated. In fact, the four-factor solution presented better goodness of fit indices than the alternative one-factor model, χ2(48) = 192.70, p < .01; AGFI = .94; NNFI = .93; RMR = .05; RMSEA = .06. Alpha reliabilities were acceptable for increasing structural job resources (α = .75), decreasing hindering job demands (α = .64), increasing social job resources (α = .78) and increasing challenging job demands (α = .77). Convergent validity was appropriate for three of the four dimensions, because each construct's AVE were around .50 and each construct's Composite Reliability were around .70. Decreasing hindering job demands presented more limited values (CR = .65; AVE = .40). In addition, the four job crafting dimensions presented significant correlations with job performance (range -.09 to .42) and personal growth (ranging from -.09 to .45). Finally, the squared correlations between factors were lower than the square root of AVE, which confirmed discriminant validity

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