Psychologically and biochemically assessed stress in a follow-up study of long-term unemployed

Abstract

It has been suggested that psychological stress is one of the reasons for the high morbidity among unemployed people in Western countries. The same may apply to the well-documented high mortality. It would be expected that increased levels of biological stress would be found in these people. In the present study a sample of 310 long-term unemployed people from Norway was followed for 2 years. Psychologcal stress was assessed by medical examination and by the psychometric tests GHQ-28 and HSCL-30, the latter compared with a reference population of employed people. Serum levels of cortisol, prolactin and testosterone, together with immunoglobulins IgA, IgG and IgM, were compared with working controls. The unemployed had a high level of psychological distress at the first examination, the sanie for men and women. At the 2-year follow up distress was reduced by re-employment. This fits the ‘causation hypothesis' which explains the high distress level as caused by unemployment. The other direction of causation, ‘the selection hypothesis', assuming that distressed persons have an increased chance of continuous unemployment, was also confirmed in the present study. As for biological stress, significant differences were not found between the unemployment, the re-employed and the working controls.     

Measurement of the subjective work environment

Abstract

This paper considers the various issues that frame the development and use of measures of the subjective work environment. It begins by questioning the role of the work environment in determining occupational health, and explores the possible mechanisms by which that environment might exert its influence. It concludes that one of the important final common pathways is psycho-physiological in nature, and is rooted in individual perception and cognition and the experience of stress. Important for this model are the concepts of mediation and moderation. The measurement of the subjective work environment has often been idiosyncratic to the study in hand, and there are few well-established measures in common use. It is argued that researchers should be careful when deciding not to use established measures and effectively ‘invent’ their own. In developing new measures, decisions have to be made concerning the nature of the measure along with its ‘granularity’ and complexity. It is also argued that it is important that researchers should follow good psychometric practice in the development of those measures. Suggestions for ‘good practice’ are discussed. Attention is drawn to the issues of reliability and validity, and this paper discusses the role of triangulation in the planning and execution of data collection and analysis. The paper ends by reviewing the recommendations made towards the development and use of measures of the subjective work environment.     

Influence of Late Life Stressors on the Decisions of Older Women to Relocate into Congregate Senior Housing

Late-life stressors often require individuals to make substantial alterations in behavior and lifestyle and can affect their overall health and well-being. Relocation is a significant life stress, regardless of age. The primary aim of this study is to elucidate the push-pull factors associated with moving into congregate senior housing. The secondary aim is to investigate the decision-making processes and stresses associated with moving into a congregate living environment. Interviews were conducted with 26 women who were new residents in congregate senior housing. Relocation, as expected, was considered to be stressful, although individual differences were found among perceptions of relocation stresses. Women who had made the decision to relocate on their own showed evidence of better psychosocial well-being at the time of the move. One-quarter of the sample chose to move to provide care to another person. As the options for senior housing continue to evolve and the number of adults reaching advanced age continues to increase, it is important to understand the factors that contribute to successful adaptation. This knowledge will enable facility administrators to implement programs and procedures to assist incoming residents with acclimating to their new homes.     

《.NET框架设计与应用》课程教学方法的改革实践

为了提高高职学生的职业技能与能力,本文结合《.NET框架设计与应用》课程教学实践,着重探讨了4学时一课制、＂做中教、做中学＂等教学方式方法。     

浅议加强民族高校财务人员职业道德教育的意义

本文就民族高校财务工作的特点和市场经济发展形势的要求,阐述加强对民族高校财务人员进行职业道德教育的重要性及其意义。     

行业特色大学人文社科类教师职业压力及缓解对策

作为高等教育重要的构成部分,行业特色大学具有自己特殊的地位。随着行业特色大学分配制度、人事制度等相关改革的深入,行业特色大学中的人文社科类教师面临着一些特定的职业压力。这种压力往往与行业特色大学特殊的工作环境以及学校对人文社科类教师采取的政策相关。对于行业特色大学而言,应该立足于学校自身的行业特色,了解和分析人文社科类教师的职业压力情况,采取有针对性的措施,缓解或消除其职业压力,使之更好地从事教学与研究工作。同时,对人文社科类教师自身而言,寻找适当的职业压力自我疏解通道也是必要的。     

Estimation for Birnbaum–Saunders Distribution in Simple Step Stress–accelerated Life Test with Type-II Censoring

This paper develops the Bayesian estimation for the Birnbaum–Saunders distribution based on Type-II censoring in the simple step stress–accelerated life test with power law accelerated form. Maximum likelihood estimates are obtained and Gibbs sampling procedure is used to get the Bayesian estimates for shape parameter of Birnbaum–Saunders distribution and parameters of power law–accelerated model. Asymptotic normality method and Markov Chain Monte Carlo method are employed to construct the corresponding confidence interval and highest posterior density interval at different confidence level, respectively. At last, the results are compared by using Monte Carlo simulations, and a numerical example is analyzed for illustration.     

新型职业农民:成长轨迹、影响因素及培育策略——基于19个省市39位新型职业农民生命历程的分析

通过对全国19个省市39位优秀新型职业农民的生命历程进行分析,发现其成长轨迹呈现出折勾型、倒梯型、V字型、阶梯型以及N字型五种类型,并且不同来源、不同世代的新型职业农民成长轨迹具有一定的差异性。究其原因,新型职业农民终身发展的动力支撑显得不足;新型职业农民的个体主观能动性得到了充分的发挥;政府扶持与引领作用有待继续加强;新型职业农民培育时机并未得到恰当的把握;影响新型职业农民成长的相关利益主体分布比较广泛。针对以上情况,提出新型职业农民的培育策略:强化政府主导力量,增强新型职业农民职业吸引力;吸收年轻优秀群体,壮大新型职业农民的新生力量;重视人地实际需求,把握新型职业农民培育的时机。     

Ordering competition: the interactional accomplishment of the sale of art and antiques at auction

Auctions provide an institutional solution to a social problem; they enable the legitimate pricing and exchange of goods where those goods are of uncertain value. In turn, auctions raise a number of social and organizational issues that are resolved within the interaction that arise in sales by auction. In this paper, we examine sales of fine art, antiques and objets d'art and explore the ways in which auctioneers mediate competition between buyers and establish a value for goods. In particular, we explore how bids are elicited, co-ordinated and revealed so as to rapidly escalate the price of goods in a transparent manner that enables the legitimate valuation and exchange of goods. In directing attention towards the significance of the social interaction, including talk, visual and material conduct, the paper contributes to the growing corpus of ethnographic studies of markets. It suggests that to understand the operation of markets and their outcomes, and to unpack issues of agency, trust and practice, we need to place the 'interaction order' at the heart of analytic agenda.     

高职职业道德教育的人口——研究学生

本文指出研究高职生是高职院校开展职业道德教育的人口和重要实践前提，学院应为丌展职业道德教育创造最佳的教育环境。