Leading well is a matter of resources: Leader vigour and peer support augments the relationship between transformational leadership and burnout

ABSTRACT

Although studies suggest that transformational leaders play an important role in employee health and well-being, the relationship between transformational leadership and employee burnout remains unclear. One reason may be that moderators may play an important role. Building on conservation of resources theory, we examined if leaders’ perceptions of internal and external resources in terms of vigour and peer support augmented the relationship between transformational leadership and employee burnout in a sample of municipality workers and their leaders in Sweden (N?=?217). Multilevel analyses over two time points revealed that both vigour and peer support enhance this relationship, such that when leaders experience high levels of vigour or peer support, the negative relationship between transformational leadership behaviours and employee burnout was strengthened. Our findings suggest that both personal and contextual resources may help leaders to better engage in transformational leadership, which is important in order to protect employees from burning out.     

What about the fathers? The presence and absence of the father in social work practice in England,Ireland, Norway,and Sweden—A comparative study

Within Northern Europe, gendered roles and responsibilities within the family have been challenged through an emergence of different family forms, increasing cultural diversity, and progressive developments in welfare policies. To varying degrees, welfare policies in different countries support a dual‐earner model and encourage men to be more active as fathers by reinforcing statutory rights and responsibilities. In child welfare practice, there has traditionally been a strong emphasis on the mother as primary carer for the child; the father has been less visible. This paper explores, in four national welfare contexts, how child welfare social workers include fathers in practice decisions. Data were collected using focus group interviews with social workers from England, Ireland, Norway, and Sweden. Similarities and differences emerge in relation to services and the focus of social work assessments. However, overall, the research suggests that despite gains in policy and legislation that promote gender equality, fathers remain largely absent in child welfare practice decisions about the parenting of their children. From the research, we raise questions for social work practice and the development of welfare policies.     

Hispanic Parental Experiences of Learning a Child Identifies as a Sexual Minority

Sexual minority youth (SMY) who do not feel loved and supported by their families face greater challenges and often experience various health disparities. The coming out process is often difficult for all SMY and their families. Although there is limited research on the impact of sexual orientation disclosure on families, there is even less that focuses exclusively on Hispanic families. This qualitative study explores the impact on a sample of Hispanic parents of having a child come out as lesbian, gay, or bisexual. The results demonstrate that although coming out is often challenging for SMY and their families, these challenges may be exacerbated for Hispanics due to cultural factors that contribute to children living at home longer and negative reactions to being gay. Parental reactions, impacts of disclosure on the family, and the impact of cultural factors are discussed. This study helps illuminate how cultural factors influence the coming out experience of Hispanic parents. These findings are important for understanding the experiences of these families to provide culturally appropriate resources for families navigating the coming out process.     

Does the Reason Matter? Variations in Childlessness Concerns Among U.S. Women

Does the reason why women have no children matter with regard to level of childlessness concerns? Reasons include biomedical barriers, situational barriers, delaying motherhood, and choosing to be childfree. The concept of “childlessness concerns” captures the idea that holidays and family gatherings are difficult because of not having children or feeling left out or sad that others have children. Life course and identity theories guided the structural equation model analyses of a representative sample of 1,180 U.S. women without children from the National Survey of Fertility Barriers. The results indicated that women with the least control over pregnancy, those with biomedical barriers, had the highest childlessness concerns. As hypothesized, the association between reasons and childlessness concerns was mediated by the identity‐relevant measure, importance of motherhood. Contrary to the authors' hypothesis, the association was not mediated by social messages to have children. Thus, it is primarily involuntarily childless women who have high childlessness concerns.     

Attitudes Towards Gambling,Gambling Problems,and Treatment Among Hispanics in Imperial County,CA

Gambling problems are associated with a wide range of serious negative personal, social, health, and mental health consequences and are an important public health concern. Some data suggest that gambling problems may be more prevalent among Hispanics, but few studies have been conducted in this community. The aim of the current study was to gather community-based, gambling-related data in order to increase understanding of gambling problems and their treatment in the Hispanic community. We conducted a mixed-methods study of gambling behavior and attitudes towards gambling, those with gambling problems, and professional treatment for gambling problems in a publicly funded health center serving a primarily Hispanic clientele. Study participants included clinic staff and clinic patients. All participants completed a brief, self-report survey; however, staff participated in a focus group on gambling issues and patients were interviewed individually about gambling issues. Nearly 80 % of patients had gambled in the past month, as compared to about 36 % of clinic staff. Survey data showed that patients had many risk factors for gambling problems. Focus group and interview information indicated that most viewed gambling problems as a form of addiction, the elderly were seen as being at increased risk for gambling problems, and gambling outings represented one of the few recreational opportunities in the region. The majority of both staff and patients believed that there was a need for gambling-related treatment services in the county; however, a notable minority of patients said that they would first seek help from a trusted relative or family member. Possible avenues to increase awareness of, screening for, and treatment for gambling problems may include collaborations with publicly funded health care centers and the training of promotoras to serve as an interface between health services and the community.     

The impact of a respite volunteer ‘buddy’ programme on behavioural and psychological well-being in young carers

Young carers often face a great amount of emotional burden and have high practical and social responsibilities. The role of being a young carer is associated with behavioural, developmental, physical and psychosocial problems that may not only affect the individual in childhood but also in adulthood. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a Danish respite volunteer programme called The Buddies for Children and Youngsters Programme on young carers' (n = 49; aged 6–16) social–emotional functioning. A pre–post-design was applied, and data were collected through the parent version of the strengths and difficulties questionnaire (SDQ), here with an impact supplement at baseline and at the end of the programme (after 4 months). The programme showed a positive impact on emotional symptoms, hyperactivity symptoms, conduct problems, peer problems, prosocial aspects and impact aspects, with mean differences values of −2.50 (p = .000), −0.62 (p = .271), −1.18 (p = .000), −0.74 (p = .008), 0.62 (p = .004) and −0.88 (p = .007), respectively. Furthermore, a large effect was found for the total difficulties score: −5.03 (p = .000). In conclusion, the programme seems promising considering its effect on young carers' social–emotional functioning. However, future research should include comparative studies with a longer duration.     

Out of mind,out of sight? Leading distributed workers to ensure health and safety

ABSTRACT

Current frameworks of leadership are based on face-to-face interaction. A growing number of workers work away from their main location of work; this makes it challenging for leaders to ensure the health and safety of distributed workers. In the present study, we explore the relationship between line managers’ health and safety leadership and distributed workers’ health and safety behaviours. We also explore the organisational procedures and practices that may enhance the impact of health and safety leadership. We included a broad range of distributed workers (in analyses, minimum N?=?626) from 11 organisations. We found that health-and-safety-specific leadership was positively related to distributed workers’ self-rated health, safety compliance and safety proactivity. These relationships were augmented by distributed workers’ sense of being included in the workplace. Knowledge sharing among colleagues was associated with safety compliance when health-and-safety-specific leadership was low. Our results indicate that one way of addressing the challenges of distributed working may be through line managers putting health and safety on the agenda.     

The importance of employee participation and perceptions of changes in procedures in a teamworking intervention

The powerful positive results of implementing teamwork are not always achieved. It has been suggested that attempts to implement theories regarding teamwork do not always lead to those theories being put into practice, and as a result positive outcomes are not always found. The participation of employees in the development and implementation of an intervention may help to ensure that changes take place. In this longitudinal study (N = 583) of teamwork implementation in Denmark we examined the links between pre-intervention working conditions and well-being, levels of participation in planning and implementation, employees' reports of changes in procedures, and intervention outcomes. Pre-intervention levels of autonomy and job satisfaction predicted the degree of employee participation in the planning and implementation of the intervention. Pre-intervention well-being and social support were linked directly to the degree to which employees reported changes in existing work practices concerning teamwork. In addition, participation and changes in work procedures were significantly associated with post-intervention autonomy, social support and well-being. The results indicate that employee participation in intervention processes is crucial in what appears to be an important association with perceived changes in procedures and, therefore, in intervention outcomes.