The ‘digital glimpse’ as imagining home

This paper proposes the concept of the ‘digital glimpse’, which develops the existing framing of imaginative travel. Here it articulates the experiences of mobile workers digitally connecting into family life and everyday rituals when physically absent with work. The recent embedding of digital communication technologies into personal relationships and family life is reconfiguring how absence is experienced and practiced by workers on the move, and through this, new digital paradigms for life on-the-move are emerging. This paper explores how such social relationships are maintained at-a-distance through digital technology – using evidence from qualitative interviews with mobile workers and their families. Digital technology now enables expressive forms of ‘virtual travel’, including video calling, picture sharing, and instant messaging. This has implications for the ways in which families can manage the social and relational pressures of being apart. Experiences of imaginative travel created through novel media can enrich the experience and give a greater sense of connection for both those who are at home and those who are away. While technology is limited in its ability to replicate a sense of co-presence, ‘digital glimpses’ are an emergent set of sociotechnical practices that can reduce the negative impact of absence on family relationships.     

Prediction of posttraumatic stress disorder symptomatology after childbirth – A Croatian longitudinal study

Background

Following childbirth, a vast number of women experience some degree of mood swings, while some experience symptoms of postpartum posttraumatic stress disorder.

The Promethean role of Europe: changing narratives of the political and scholarly left

ABSTRACT

The gradual abandoning of the ‘socialism in one country’ doctrine during the post-war period and the intensive transformation of European social democracy in the 1990s pushed social democratic politicians and intellectuals into the front line of advocates of a unified and powerful Europe. They contributed to the inclusion of social democratic and environmentalist values in the EU’s official narrative. The success of European integration and George W. Bush’s presidency created the narrative of the Promethean role of Europe. Scholars with a social democratic or environmentalist background created this narrative and it was also shaped by authors’ national contexts.     

Limited Role of Body Satisfaction and Body Image Self-Consciousness in Sexual Frequency and Satisfaction in Pregnant Women

This cross-sectional study examined the role of maternal body image and body image self-consciousness in sexual satisfaction and intercourse frequency during pregnancy when controlling for satisfaction with partnership. Pregnant women in their third trimester of pregnancy (N = 150) participated in the study. Body image was measured by the Body Areas Satisfaction Scale (BASS) and Body Image Self-Consciousness Scale (BISC), while relationship satisfaction was measured by different subscales of the Perceived Quality of Marital Relationship (PQMR) Scale. Sexual satisfaction was also measured by one of the subscales of the PQMR (Intimate Relationship). The sexual behavior questionnaire comprised questions about frequency of sexual intercourse, desire, and other aspects of sexual functioning as well as the reasons that might prevent women from having intercourse during pregnancy. Findings suggested that satisfaction with body image and body image self-consciousness were related to sexual satisfaction. Nevertheless, other aspects of partnership, such as communication, appeared to be much more important predictors of sexual satisfaction than body image variables. The best predictor of sexual frequency was fear that intercourse might harm the fetus. Implications for education about sexuality issues in pregnancy are discussed.     

Associations Between Observed Mother–Adolescent Interactions and Adolescent Information Management

Associations between observed mother–adolescent interactions during a conflict task and adolescents’ information management strategies were examined in 108 primarily middle class, European‐American adolescents (M = 13.80 years, SD = 1.52) and their mothers. Teens who communicated more clearly disclosed more about personal and multifaceted activities, lied less about personal activities, and engaged in less avoidance regarding multifaceted and prudential activities. Mothers’ clear communication was associated with less adolescent disclosure and more avoidance about personal and multifaceted activities. Teens with more receptive mothers omitted less prudential information but avoided discussing prudential issues more. Maternal warmth was not associated with information management. The results highlight the need to distinguish between parent and teen behaviors and between affective quality and specific communicative behaviors.     

Musculoskeletal symptoms and workers' perception about job factors in a pulp and paper industry

The study aimed to conduct a literature review as a step of the development of a new questionnaire about the nursing workers' perception of job factors that may lead to musculoskeletal symptoms. An information synthesis was achieved by collecting data from studies that fitted the search criteria. The results showed that despite the existence of several job factors related to musculoskeletal symptoms, no specific questionnaire that evaluates this relationship was found. Therefore, this literature review presents important topics for developing the first questionnaire to analyze work activities that may contribute to pain and discomfort among nursing personnel.     

Work of gravediggers and health

Gravediggers have death as object of their work. Their activities are painful, physically and mental demanding, as well as unhealthy. Literature is scarce about this theme. The aim of this study is to evaluate gravediggers' work activities and health consequences. The methodological frame which guided this study was Dejours' psychic suffering and its association with the psychodynamic aspects of work. Data collection took place in April-May 2011 in one public and one private cemetery of S?o Paulo, Brazil. Four male workers, aged between 45 to 60 years old were interviewed. Their work activities were observed during a workday. Participants reported their life dreams, defense mechanisms and frustration. The discourse of gravediggers showed serious problems associated to physical and mental demands, public invisibility and/ or social devaluation of work. The most important physical symptom was body pain. In spite this is a preliminary study, it was possible to raise a number of work stressors and health outcomes of gravediggers, an "invisible" worker of our society.     

Work ability among hospital food service professionals: multiple associated variables require comprehensive intervention

The work of hospital food service is characterized by demands that can be associated with work ability--WA. The aim of this study was to evaluate factors associated with WA among hospital food service professionals and recommend intervention measures. This is a cross sectional study carried out in 2009, conducted in a hospital of S?o Paulo, Brazil. Participants were 76 (96.2%) of the eligible. They filled out a questionnaire including socio-demographic data, life styles, working conditions and WA. Multivariate linear regression analyses were performed. Factors associated with WA were age (p = 0.051), over commitment (p = 0.011), effort-reward ratio (p = 0.002) and work injuries (p < 0.001). In spite was a young population, age was associated with WA. Association with work injuries is consistent with the theoretical model that demonstrated that health status is the basis to maintain the WA. The association of effort-reward imbalance shows that issues related with work organization are relevant for these workers. The association of overcommittment suggests that workers recognize their responsibility with the therapeutic processes of patients. Results showed a number of features of different nature that should be taken into account when implementing measures to improve the WA, to be applied at different levels: individual, task and institutional.