Stress, physical activity and coronary heart disease

Recent years have witnessed an increasing popularity of corporate fitness programmes. Regular physical activity and, in particular, high aerobic fitness are associated with a lower risk of coronary heart disease. Apart from its beneficial effects on resting levels of blood pressure and cholesterol, fitness is believed to reduce the impact of psychological stress. This hypothesis has been put to the test in 33 studies examining the physiological stress response of groups selected to differ in their fitness level. Although some evidence was found for a reduced response to stress in high fit subjects, the effects were not very strong. During 54 confrontations with a stressful task, significantly lower heart rate reactions in high fit subjects were seen in only nine tasks (17%). With nine out of 36 stressors (28%), fit subjects showed a lower diastolic blood pressure response. However, in combination with a frequently found reduction in basal levels, the high fit showed a consistently favourable cardiovascular profile under stress. This adaptation may reflect the benefits of regular exercise over a more sedentary lifestyle, but a combined influence of genetic make-up on cardiovascular reactivity and fitness cannot be ruled out.     

The psychological benefits of exercise in work settings: A review, critique, and dispositional model

Evidence on the psychological effects of exercise on employees is considered. Studies which examined the effect of company-sponsored exercise programmes as well as those examining the more general effect of exercise in work settings are reviewed. It is concluded that the evidence for psychological benefits is equivocal. Due to methodological problems, it is difficult to determine whether exercise is responsible for the positive effects reported. Four personality characteristics which may be responsible for both exercise and psychological reactions to work are considered, and a model is then presented. It was concluded that future studies examining the impact of exercise should consider this dispositional model.     

Physical exercise,employee fitness and the management of health at work

Abstract

This paper presents some recent data on why organizations invest in exercise and physical fitness programmes for their stiff. These data suggest that, owing to a lack of evaluation studies, organizations act mainly on the basis of assumption and belief. However, from a subsequent review of the available literature on the personal and organizational effects of such programmes, it appears that these assumptions and beliefs are not altogether unfounded. The paper concludes by discussing the ways in which exercise and employee fitness programmes might help die individual and their organization in terms of the management of health at work.     

Cost-benefit analysis of training— An appraisal

With the phenomenal growth in investment in training, there has been an increasing concern with evaluating the training programmes in terms of their economic efficiency—sometimes adopting the cost-benefit approach. However, since behavioural and psychological factors are so central to training, all evaluative studies have come across the problems of quantifying the costs and benefits. These apart, there are problems in enumerating the spillover and long term effects of training programmes, in assuming a discount rate and in identifying the economic life of the training project.

Recent studies purporting to have used cost-benefit analysis have failed to grapple with a number of issues making them closer to conventional financial appraisals. In this paper the limitations of such evaluations, the difficulties in making a cost-benefit analysis of training investment and its feasibility with varying situations is discussed. The article will amply point out to the corporate decision-maker the problems in using cost-benefit analysis and the training contexts where it is feasible.     

Power motivation, illness, coping strategies and psychological stress in police trainees

Research suggests that there are substantial differences in the ways in which people cope with strcss, and that certain coping strategies buffer the degree of psychological and physical illness resulting from stress. Furthermore, personality, the situational context and subjective appraisal of the situation are believed to mediate coping behaviour and its effectiveness. The present investigation reports the results of two studies of the relationship between coping behaviour and the personality disposition need for power, taking into account the environment and the subject's appraisal of the situation. Highly power-motivated individuals were hypothesized to utilize emotion-focused coping strategies more than problem-focused coping strategies, to find the training environment stressful and anxietyprovoking, and to report more illness, than low power-motivated individuals. A 19-wcck policc academy training programme was used to measure these relationships in 34 police trainees. Thc results did not support all hypotheses. Findings are discussed with reference to sample characteristics, training intensity, and the empirical work in this area.     

A longitudinal study of newcomer role adjustment in US organizations

This paper examines the socialization and adjustment experiences of newcomers to organizations from a role stress perspective. A longitudinal field study is reported which tested a three-stage socialization model using physiological and psychological distress symptoms, general satisfaction, and intention to leave the organization as indicators of newcomer adjustment. Data were collected from newcomers (the focal role) (N = 91) at three times during me study and also from their supervisors (the role senders) (N = 41). While the data confirmed the general utility of the model, it also suggested some revisions by way of new and altered pathways between some of the variables.     

Health habits,type A behaviour and job burnout

Abstract

This study examined the effects of health habits and type A behaviour on psychological health outcomes in the face of daily life stress. Measures of the experience of life stress, health habits, type A behaviour, job burnout and psychological distress were collected for 146 employees at the UCLA Medical Centre. Analyses of covariance revealed that health habits contributed significant main effects to psychological distress but not job burnout. Type A behaviour, but not life stress or health habits, directly affected both job burnout and psychological distress. The implications of the research for employee health programmes are discussed.     

Testing the gender similarities hypothesis: differences in subjective task value and motivation to transfer training

ABSTRACT

Are female and male trainees similar or different in their reaction to training programmes, specifically regarding their subjective task value and motivation to transfer? According to the gender similarities hypothesis, women and men are alike on most psychological variables. However, according to research in organizational behaviour, female and male employees differ on certain aspects, such as their job satisfaction and work identity. To test these two views on gender similarities and differences in the context of human resource development and training evaluation, the present study examined the extent to which gender moderated reactions to training. Based on the expectancy-value theory of motivation and self-determination theory, a web-based questionnaire was used to measure six training reactions: intrinsic value, attainment value, utility value, perceived relative cost, autonomous motivation to transfer, and controlled motivation to transfer. The results indicated that women and men differed in their ratings of attainment value but were similar for the remaining five reaction measures. These outcomes support the gender similarities hypothesis. The findings are discussed in terms of their theoretical implications for modelling gender effects in HRD research and their practical significance for promoting training effectiveness and transfer of training.     

Stress, social support, and psychological and physical wellbeing in secondary school teachers

In order to evaluate the relationship between stress and social support, on the one hand, and indices of psychological and physical health, on the other, questionnaires were administered to 120 secondary school teachers. Full data were retrieved from 88 teachers, a response rate of 73%. Bivariate correlational analysis revealed associations between life stress and job stress and a variety of General Health Questionnaire measures of psychological wellbeing. Job stress was also correlated with self-reported short-term sickness absences from work. Social support measures were not. in the main, predictive of psychological health outcome measures. In contrast, neither stress nor social support measures were related to self-reported physical health problems or long-term sickness absences. It would appear that self-reported stress is largely associated with psychological wellbeing, and is not substantially related to indices of physical wellbeing. The former relationship does not appear to be substantially mediated by social support, and may be reflective of a general plaintive set.     

Research into work stress in Italy: A review

This paper reviews the development of stress research in Italy from the late 1960s onwards. It focuses on 1975 as the year when the first real studies on work stress were published, and interest was kindled in the psychological factors which affect physical health and in the physiological correlates of work stress. Much important work in these aspects of occupational health was started at this time at the Clinic of Work in Milan and at the University of Perugia. By the 1980s, Italian psychologists were also showing considerable interest in work stress, and the more psychological literature had begun to exceed that of a medical and physiological orientation. Despite this progress, stress research in Italy is still in its infancy, and the recognition of stress as an issue for management and trade unions is weak.     

Psychosocial stressors at work, psychological stress and musculoskeletal symptoms in the care for the elderly

This study was conducted in order to determine how occupational stressors (psychosocial stressors and physical load) are related to psychological stress (symptoms) and musculoskeletal symptoms among staff of Finnish residential homes, nursing homes and home help services (n = 204). Data obtained from questionnaires was used to test two hypotheses: that psychosocial stressors (time pressure, troublesome patients with dementia) are associated with psychological stress, and that musculoskeletal disorders are associated with physical load. The authors also tested whether psychological stress has a mediating effect between psychosocial stressors and musculoskeletal symptoms. The findings supported the hypothesis regarding the mediating effect of psychological stress.     

Psychosocial variables related to transit safety: The application of catastrophe theory

This research applied a paradigm for the study of occupational safety and health risks in manufacturing settings to the risks associated with urban and regional transit operation. Subjects were 290 transit operators who completed a questionnaire measuring safety management, danger ratings, beliefs about accident control, work experience, physical stress, social stress, anxiety, environmental hazards, transit hazards (assaults and insults upon the operator, the need to reprimand passengers for various infractions, etc.), vehicle crashes and operator injuries, and alcohol and drug use. Principal findings were that operator injuries were most closely associated with transit hazards, which were more frequent at night and on the least desirable routes. Injuries occurred in a climate of elevated stress and anxiety which may have hampered the operators' ability to respond effectively to potentially dangerous situations. The cusp catastrophe model provided a non-linear dynamic explanation for accident occurrence and was more accurate (R = 0.71) for modelling accident incidence than the next best linear alternative (R = 0.51).     

Adult attachment styles and their relationship to burnout: a preliminary, cross-cultural investigation

While many studies have addressed the relationship between adult attachment styles and stress, so far no studies have addressed the relationship between attachment styles and burnout, which is thought often to characterize highly motivated individuals. Based on a psychodynamic existential perspective it was predicted that adult attachment styles would correlate with burnout: that there would be a negative correlation between secure attachment style and burnout and a positive correlation between insecure attachment styles (avoidant or anxious/ambivalent) and burnout. A pilot study was conducted in a sample of Israeli MBA students (N=41), nearly all of whom were in full-time employment. A further four studies were then conducted on Hungarian social studies students (N=751), Israeli dialysis nurses (N=216) and national samples of Israeli Jews (N=511) and Arabs (N=505). These studies supported this hypothesis. Finally, a follow-up study involving Israeli students (N=160), who described the importance of various work features and their strategies for coping with burnout-causing situations, helps to explain the findings. These results have a theoretical and a practical implication: burnout research and intervention should include greater emphasis on personal factors in addition to contextual factors.     

Self-reported mood and running under natural conditions

This paper reports the results of two field studies which examined possible changes in self-reported psychological mood with running. The participants in both studies were regularly exercising male and female university students. In the first study, mood was monitored pre- and post-running sessions during a 7-week course designed to improve individual levels of physical fitness. In a follow-up study, mood was measured pre- and post-running and subjects also made a number of colour choices as an indication of arousal preference, as they ran. In addition, subjects' times over a fixed distance were recorded and in both studies subjects were further subdivided into two groups: 'fast' and 'slow' runners. The results from the first study indicated that, in spite of the increasing demands ofthe running programme, subjects' mood experience was generally pleasant, characterized by high arousal and low stress. In both studies, significant increases in male and female self-reported arousal scores pre- to post-running were obtained, along with non-significant increases in preferred arousal levels. When the mood response of fast runners was compared with that of slow runners, some significant findings with respect to self-reported arousal were observed. Indicators of stress and arousal discrepancy pre- to post-running were low and mostly did not change significantly. Where significant changes did occur, scores decreased significantly with running. The implications of the findings for modulating arousal levels at work are discussed.     

Employee fitness programmes, absenteeism and general well-being

Increasingly, European organizations are developing employee fitness programmes (EFPs) on the assumption that doing so will improve the health, well-being and work performance of employees. Although rigorous evaluation is not common practice among these organizations, this study represents an attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of an EFP at the headquarters of the ING bank in Amsterdam. The study focused on possible changes in absenteeism, general well-being, self-confidence and perceived physical condition among EFP participants and non-participants over a 12-month period. Data were collected from 152 white-collar employees subdivided into four groups on the basis of participation or non-participation in the bank's EFP. The results indicated that taking part in an EFP could lead to a significant decrease in absenteeism amongst both regular and irregular participants. With respect to employee general well-being, scores on the factor 'worn out' did not differ significantly among the four groups. Differences between a non-exercising group and both EFP and non-EFP exercising groups' scores on the general well-being factor 'up-tight' approached significance. No significant differences in self-confidence between the groups were obtained, but significant differences in perceived physical fitness were apparent.     

Chronic stress and chronic disease in life and work: Conceptual and methodological issues

This paper argues that the lack of strong prospective evidence linking occupational and social stress to chronic disease stems from the failure of research designs to attend sufficiently to the aetiological chronicity of such diseases. Studies of both supposedly acute stress (life events) and chronic stress in life or work must increasingly be designed to distinguish between stress which is sustained or chronic over a period of yean or even decades, and hence capable of causing a serious chronic disease, and brief or transient stress, which may produce transient or brief psychological or physiological disturbances but cannot generate major chronic disease. Prospective studies are needed which collect measures of both stress and health or disease at multiple points over an extended period of time. Measures of stress should focus more on affect (for example, feelings of pressure and tension) than on cognition (for example feelings of satisfaction). Limited existing evidence is consistent with these ideals.     

The effects of new dimensions of psychological job demands and job control on active learning and occupational health

Recent changes in job content may have led to changes in job demands and control, and earlier operationalizations of the demand concept may be too general (MT). The aim of this paper is to show how new dimensions of psychological job demands are related to two sets of outcome variables, employee health and active learning, and how these relationships are modified or interact with social support and types of job control. The study was carried out as a survey among employees of 13 electric companies in Norway, N=2435. Lisrel was used to assess the fit of the proposed models. Compared to the traditional demands control model, an extended version used in this study increased the explained variance on an average by 4% on various occupational health variables. It was found that various dimensions of demands were differentially related to the outcome variables. Skill discretion uniformly reduced the effect of the demands: for groups low in skill discretion there was a stronger relationship between demands and outcomes than for groups high in skill discretion. The interaction pattern for the remaining control and support variables was however more complicated and warrants further study. The practical implications are that employers should carefully consider the quality of work. Special attention should be given to the quantitative demands of the jobs, since there seems to be few moderators for the relationship between those demands and job stress and subjective health complaints.     

Muscle pain and coping with working life in Norway: A review

This paper reviews ongoing research initiated by the Norwegian Research Council for Science and Humanities aimed at improving Health and Living Conditions (HEMIL). Attempts to classify muscle pain states are reviewed, and the pathophysiology and psychophysiology of the condition are evaluated. The psychological aspects are emphasized, in particular relationships to coping resources, coping strateges and to what extent the individual feels able to cope with the environment. Also reviewed are multidisciplinary approaches to treatment, aimed at both psychological and physical aspects. Interventions involving physical as well as psychological training seem to have the best effects. The contribution from physical load is moderate, except for static muscle work. There is a growing concern that the response from the welfare society may produce attitudes that are counterproductive for prevention and treatment. Do we over-react and impose disease concepts on regular complaints that may be a part of normal life?.     

Nurses: Training for new job demands

This paper argues that both the present and future job demands faced by nurses are likely to exceed the resources of the training which is currently provided for them. This argument will be supported by reference to the authors' studies of stress in nursing, as well as a variety of other sources. The common themes underlying reactions to both present and future demands include first, awareness of high stress levels to be found amongst nurses, and second, an emphasis on communication as both the problem and as the proposed solution. Common responses to these two themes are outlined, including training in stress management, and communication training. Some of the problems and unexamined assumptions (for example that hospital management actually wants to lower stress levels and improve communication in nursing) are examined. Some suggestions are made for developing training in health care contexts, to deal more adequately with likely future demands.     

Nurses: Training for new job demands

Abstract

This paper argues that both the present and future job demands faced by nurses are likely to exceed the resources of the training which is currently provided for them. This argument will be supported by reference to the authors' studies of stress in nursing, as well as a variety of other sources. The common themes underlying reactions to both present and future demands include first, awareness of high stress levels to be found amongst nurses, and second, an emphasis on communication as both the problem and as the proposed solution. Common responses to these two themes are outlined, including training in stress management, and communication training. Some of the problems and unexamined assumptions (for example that hospital management actually wants to lower stress levels and improve communication in nursing) are examined. Some suggestions are made for developing training in health care contexts, to deal more adequately with likely future demands.