A study of factors related to rural job preference among prospective nursing graduates

Four hundred and thirty prospective nursing graduates from ten schools and five colleges in India were studied to identify factors related to their preferences for work in urban or rural areas. Seventy per cent expressed a preference for urban work. Significant factors related to rural preferences were: religion and background (rural or urban); type of educational institution (government or non-government); and living in a rural setting during community nursing experience. Of the personal, professional and socio-cultural factors related to rural work preference, the most significant were: accomodation, sanitation and safe water; job availability for spouse, security, and school for children. Of the personal and professional factors, the most important were: continuing education opportunities, job satisfaction, and intellectual stimulation.     

Individual and environmental factors related to job satisfaction in people with severe mental illness employed in social enterprises

Objective: The purpose of this study was to enhance understanding of the impact of individual and environmental variables on job satisfaction among people with severe mental illness employed in social enterprises.Participants: A total of 248 individuals with severe mental illness employed by social enterprises agreed to take part in the study. Methods: We used logistic regression to analyse job satisfaction. A model with job satisfaction as the dependent variable, and both individual (occupational self-efficacy and severity of symptoms perceived) and environmental (workplace) factors (provision of workplace accommodations, social support from co-workers, organizational constraints) as well as external factors (family support) as predictors, was tested on the entire sample. Results: All findings across the study suggest a significant positive impact of both individual and environmental factors on job satisfaction. People with higher occupational self-efficacy who were provided with workplace accommodations and received greater social support were more likely to experience greater job satisfaction.Conclusions: These results suggest that certain features of social enterprises, such as workplace accommodations, are important in promoting job satisfaction in people with severe mental illness. Further studies are warranted to expand knowledge of the workplace features that support employees with severe mental illness in their work integration process.     

Demographic and psychological factors related to sexual desire among heterosexual women in a relationship

This study examined demographic, psychological, and relationship factors that are associated with the experience of sexual desire in women. The contribution of other aspects of sexual function on sexual desire was also investigated. The participants were 741 partnered heterosexual women (mean age?=?45.7 years), who completed the Female Sexual Desire Questionnaire online, which evaluated their levels of sexual desire, as well as a range of individual and dyadic variables. For each of the six aspects of sexual desire assessed, the number and frequency of problems in other aspects of women's sexual functioning were the most common predictors. The results demonstrated that sexual desire was lower among older, postmenopausal women and those who had been in their current relationship for a longer period of time. Women who reported that their partner experienced a sexual dysfunction also obtained lower sexual desire scores. These findings demonstrate the strong interrelationship between the different phases of the sexual response cycle for women. Further, they suggest that sexual dysfunction in one partner is likely to be associated with sexual dysfunction in the other partner. The clinical implications of these findings in terms of the treatment for sexual dysfunction among women (and their partners) are discussed.     

Relationships between person and health factors and job characteristics in women with systemic lupus erythematosus

This study compared personal and health factors and job characteristics in persons with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) and a healthy control group and examined factors related to job characteristics. Fifteen women with SLE and 15 healthy controls completed a questionnaire regarding current employment, employer restrictions, job environment, type of work, and health factors interfering with work. Personal factors such as demographic information, disease severity, cognition, and degree of brain injury were also assessed. t-tests showed that persons with SLE worked significantly less than healthy controls but there were no significant differences between the groups for types of job or employee restrictions. In the group with SLE, health factors of mobility, dependence, musculoskeletal problems, neurological problems, and fatigue correlated with perceived social (r=0.53 to 0.67) and physical (r=0.56 to 0.87) work environments. None of the measures of cognition, brain injury or disease severity correlated with job characteristics. In the healthy controls, dependence at work correlated with physical environment and fatigue correlated with the social environment of the workplace. The results indicate that even persons with SLE who have mild disease are significantly different from healthy controls and might be at risk for discontinuing working.     

Contribution of mental workload to job stress in industrial workers

This study's central objective is to determine how several individual, organizational and ergonomic factors influence the relationship between job stress and mental workload for workers in an electronics company. A cross-sectional study was made as a test of hypotheses regarding that relationship. The sample is composed of 95 workers, of both sexes, from the electronics industry in the metropolitan zone of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Ergonomic conditions were evaluated with the Ergonomic Evaluation List, stress was evaluated by administering the SWS-Survey to groups of subjects, and mental workload was evaluated with the NASA-TLX Workload Index. Using Cochran's and Mantel-Haenzsel statistics, the odds ratio for each of the independent variables was {e}stimated as a risk factor for job stress, and analysis was later conducted by means of logistic regression for those risks found to be significant. Of the 95 worker participants, 26.3% presented a high level of job stress and 17.9% of the workers were found to present high levels of mental workload. The results show that working hours, mental demand, temporal demand, and frustration when faced with a given task may be considered risk factors for job stress.     

Organizational factors related to occupational accidents in construction

The purpose of this paper is to understand the influence of organizational factors on occupational accident causation. A field study was undertaken and focused on the phase of concreting the floors of a residential block in a building project in Brazil. The methodological approach was based on the analysis of carpenters' work practices and of the workers' accounts of minor falls. Observations were noted on work practices over this stage. Furthermore, interviews were conducted with the workers hired by the subcontractors and with professionals working for the main contractor. The results show that falls were related to the introduction of new building technology and its use by the workforce. The production planning and organization of activities by the subcontracted firms also led to temporary demands that were additional determining factors for falls on site. The work analysis reveals the need to consider organizational factors in prevention practices.     

Anxiety and social stress related to adolescent gambling behaviour

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between anxiety, social stress, and gambling behaviour among 1,044 high school students in grades 7 to 11. Adolescents completed questionnaires concerning their state, trait, and generalised anxiety, social stress, and gambling behaviour. Results reveal that adolescent probable pathological gamblers report more state anxiety, trait anxiety, and higher levels of social stress compared to non‐gamblers, social gamblers, and gamblers at‐risk for serious problems. Gamblers with high state and trait anxiety engaged in more severe gambling behaviours, greater substance abuse, reported different reasons for gambling, and endorsed more dissociation items. The results provide additional support for Jacobs’ (1986) General Theory of Addictions. The implications for treatment and prevention programs are discussed.     

Psychosocial factors and low back pain among college students

OBJECTIVE AND PARTICIPANTS: The authors evaluated psychosocial factors of stress and their effects on the prevalence of low back pain (LBP) among a population of college students in a major university in Colorado. METHODS: This was a nested cross-sectional study of 973 respondents who completed the National College Health Assessment survey. The authors evaluated a subset of questions pertaining to psychosocial stressors against the presence of LBP. RESULTS: The annual prevalence of LBP among the population studied was 42.8%. The stressful psychosocial variables of feeling very sad, exhausted, and overwhelmed were associated with the prevalence of LBP. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of LBP among this younger population is significant and understudied.     

Supported employment and job outcomes. Typicalness and other related variables

The purpose of this study is to improve supported employment programs analyzing the relationships between different variables involved in its development on job outcomes. One important variable is typicalness (understood as the degree to which the job of the person with a disability is similar in its different characteristics to that of co-workers without a disability). It also compares sheltered employment and supported employment in employment outcomes. The results showed more length of service in the job and salary for supported employment workers. As regards the developmental variables, time of external support, type of support, and adaptations are critical to get better outcomes. Finally, the need to finely balance the typicalness of the job and the characteristics of the worker involved is stressed.     

Disability and job stress: Implications for vocational rehabilitation planning

Because people with disabilities often experience an increased risk for physical and psychological complications of job stress, vocational rehabilitation professionals must be able to (a) identify individual and work-environmental risk factors for job stress and (b) design appropriate interventions to minimize those risk factors. The purpose of this article is to (a) present two models of occupational stress, (b) examine factors common to each of these models that are associated with employee health and well-being, and (c) suggest implications for rehabilitation planning.     

Keeping in touch: Ecological factors related to foster care visitation

Visitation, assumed to be important for children in foster care, has not been studied in sufficent detail. In the present study, patterns and characteristics of home and foster family visitation and telephone contact are described in a national sample of children in foster care in Israel (n=590). Relations between child, biological and foster family characteristics are explored by type of contact and foster placement. Parent-child contact is most strongly related to foster family characteristics and relations with the biological family. Patterns differ for relative and nonrelative foster families.Dr. Oyserman is on sabbatical leave     

Understanding factors related to nonsmoking intention among college students

Abstract

Objective: While cigarette smoking in the United States has declined, the age range of smoking initiation has risen to include young adults. This study investigated the relationship of Theory of Planned Behavior constructs (TPB; attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control [PBC]) to nonsmoking intention among college students. Participants: Participants were 619 students at a Southeastern US university (69.8% female, 70.8% ≤ age 21, and 73.5% white). Methods: Students were recruited by email in March 2013 to participate in an online TPB-based questionnaire. Results: Future-oriented attitudes and PBC predicted higher nonsmoking intention; subjective norms did not. Moderator analyses indicated injunctive norms were more influential for occasional smokers and PBC was less influential. Conclusions: Findings suggest TPB is useful in predicting nonsmoking intention, but differentially for nonsmokers and occasional smokers. Future work should consider the health-related utility of future-oriented attitudes toward nonhealth domains and the differing beliefs of occasional smokers.