Reliability of the Demand-Control Questionnaire for sewing machine operators

The Demand-Control Questionnaire (DCQ), a 20-item scale that measures psychological work demands, job control and workplace social support, has frequently been used to assess occupational stress. The purpose of this study was to determine the test-retest reliability and internal consistency of the DCQ with sewing machine operators. Forty-six sewing machine operators completed the DCQ on two occasions with an 11-week time interval. A repeated measures analysis of variance model and subsequent application of generalizability theory were used to calculate the test-retest reliability of the subjects' ratings on the DCQ. Cronbach's alpha was used to determine the internal consistency of the scale. The test-retest reliability was 0.33 (95% confidence interval = 0.05-0.61), indicating fair reliability. Good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.70) was found. The DCQ appears to be a reliable measure for assessing occupational stress in sewing machine operators. Workplaces need to place greater emphasis on the role of occupational stress in the prevention and treatment of musculoskeletal injuries among sewing machine operators.     

An attribution model of public discrimination towards persons with mental illness

In this study, we build on previous work by developing and estimating a model of the relationships between causal attributions (e.g., controllability, responsibility), familiarity with mental illness, dangerousness, emotional responses (e.g., pity, anger, fear), and helping and rejecting responses. Using survey data containing responses to hypothetical vignettes, we examine these relationships in a sample of 518 community college students. Consistent with attribution theory, causal attributions affect beliefs about persons' responsibility for causing their condition, beliefs which in turn lead to affective reactions, resulting in rejecting responses such as avoidance, coercion, segregation, and withholding help. However, consistent with a danger appraisal hypothesis, the effects of perceptions of dangerousness on helping and rejecting responses are unmediated by responsibility beliefs. Much of the dangerousness effects operate by increasing fear, a particularly strong predictor of support for coercive treatment. The results from this study also suggest that familiarity with mental illness reduces discriminatory responses.     

Multi-family psychoeducation groups in the treatment of children with mood disorders

This study examined the impact of adjunctive multi-family psychoeducation groups (MFPG) on mood-disordered children aged 8 to 11 and their families. Participants were 35 children and 47 parents from families randomly assigned to either immediate MFPG plus treatment as usual (n = 18) or a 6-month wait-list condition plus treatment as usual (n = 17). At the 6 month follow up, immediate treatment families reported: Increased parental knowledge about childhood mood symptoms; increased positive family interactions as reported by the parent; increased perceptions of parental support as reported by children; and increased utilization of appropriate services by families. Expected impact on decreasing negative family interactions was not found. Results are largely consistent with hypothesized findings and support the need to further investigate the adjunctive role of psychoeducation in the treatment of childhood mood disorders.     

Chicanas modernize domestic service

The shift from live-in to day work was a step in the modernization of domestic service because it limited the length of the working day and reduced the psychological exploitation involved in the interpersonal relationship between domestics and mistresses. Even the shift to an hourly wage did not end the extraction of emotional labor, however. Interviews with Chicanas employed as private household workers reveal the next step in the evolution of domestic services. The current development is away from wage work, in which labor time is sold, selling a service in which a job is exchanged for a specified amount of money. Chicanas are defining themselves as expert cleaners hired to do general housework. Most supervision and personal services are thus eliminated from the job. Mistress-servant relations are being transformed into customervendor relations, reducing the personalism and asymmetry of employer-employee relationships.An earlier draft of the paper was presented at the 1986 National Association for Chicano Studies, El Paso, Texas. This research was made possible by a grant from the Business and Professional Women's Foundation and a University of California President's Fellowship. I wish to thank Frances Kleinman and Eric Margolis for their helpful comments on this paper     

Predictors of retention in an alcohol, tobacco, and other drug prevention study

This article explored retention patterns, as well as factors that predicted these patterns, in the evaluation of a relationship-based substance abuse prevention intervention study that targeted inner-city African American youth. A total of 851 contacts were made to retain 82% (n = 104) of the baseline sample (N = 127) in the evaluation. Results from multinomial regression analyses indicated that participants who were retained in the evaluation were more likely to perceive alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use as less risky and were more likely to report higher levels of family supervision than were evaluation attrits. Those who were easy to retain reported lower family conflict and fewer family relocations during the past year than those who were difficult to retain. Implications of these findings for developing retention strategies, as well as future research, are discussed.     

Danish home care policy and the family: implications for the United States

This paper provides an overview of reforms in Danish long-term care initiated in the early 1980s, describes the relationship between elder care in Denmark and the family, and considers implications for U.S. policy. The success of Denmark's community-based experimentation with new models of home care and housing for the elderly resulted in a national decision to eliminate new construction of nursing homes and increase access to publicly funded home care. Lingering concern that the provision of paid assistance for the elderly could undermine family structure is allayed by the findings of a recent survey: Three-fourths of the elderly report seeing their children on a weekly or more frequent basis. Findings from the Danish experience provide evidence that community-based services can aid family caregivers, enable the frail elderly to live in the setting of their choice, and be cost-effective from a public policy perspective.     

Is Speeding a Form of Gambling in Adolescents?

Speeding is a major contributor to motor vehicle accidents, which are the leading cause of death in adolescents. This study compares the extent to which adolescents with gambling behavior and substance use reported driving over the posted speed limits (“speeding”). Florida adolescents ages 13–17 (n = 1051) were surveyed, and asked about gambling activities, problems related to gambling, substance use, demographic questions, and speeding. Of the 562 respondents who were drivers, the gender distribution was 52.1% male and 47.9% female. Of those respondents, 76.9% were Caucasian, 6.8% were African American, 10.1% were Hispanic, and 6.1% were Native American/Asian/Other. Simple correlation analysis revealed that self-reported speeding is significantly related to gambling behavior and substance use. When a linear regression model was used, four factors showed the most significant influence on self-reported speeding: past year gambling tendency, age, trouble with the police due to drinking, and tranquilizer usage. Gambling behavior and high-risk speeding (driving ≥ 10 mph over speed limit) also were noted to be positively correlated. Our data indicate a relationship between risky driving, gambling, and other risk-taking behaviors in adolescents, and support the hypothesis that speeding may be a form of gambling behavior in this age group.     

INTEGRATING PAID WORK AND FAMILY WORK

This qualitative study explores the nature and variation of parenting in the workplace (PIW) childcare practices in a purposive sample of 55 businesses that allowed employees to personally care for children at the workplace while simultaneously performing their job duties. Major findings indicate that although PIW occurred in a variety of industries and organizations of different sizes, the practice was limited to employees who held administrative type positions. Businesses supported PIW on an occasional basis for employees who experienced breakdowns in routine childcare arrangements or on a regular basis for employees who did not have continuing access to acceptable or affordable childcare. According to business representatives in this sample, the practice helped maintain worker productivity and decrease employee absenteeism but was supported only on the condition that employees accomplish work tasks and supervise well-behaved children. The author also considers what PIW might suggest about the relationship between paid work and family work in today's society. Because family and child well-being appeared to be secondary to business goals, theoretical and practice frameworks that align the needs of children and families with the needs of businesses should direct future research on parenting in the workplace. Insights about father involvement in PIW, implications of PIW for child development, and the potential of Border Theory and the Work-life Systems Framework to inform future PIW studies are addressed.

Este estudio cualitativo explora la naturaleza y la variación en el cuidado de los niños en el lugar del trabajo ‘parenting in the workplace’ (PIW) en una muestra planificada de 55 empresas que permitieron que los empleados cuiden personalmente a los niños en el lugar de trabajo mientras simultáneamente hacen sus deberes del trabajo. Los resultados principales indican que aunque PIW ocurrió en una variedad de industrias y organizaciones de tamaños diversos, la práctica era limitada a los empleados con papeles administrativos. Los negocios apoyaron PIW de vez en cuando para los empleados que experimentaron interrupciones en sus arreglos cotidianos para cuidar a sus niños o de manera habitual para los empleados que no tenían acceso a recursos aceptables o asequibles de cuidar a los niños. Según los representantes de negocios en esta muestra, la práctica fomentó el mantenimiento de la productividad del trabajador y disminuyó el ausentismo pero se apoyó solamente a condición de que los empleados lograran sus tareas de trabajo y que los niños se comportaran bien. El autor también considera qué PIW puede sugerir sobre la relación entre el trabajo pagado y el trabajo dentro de la familia en la sociedad de hoy. Ya que el bienestar de la familia y del niño pareció subordinado a las metas de negocio, es necesario que marcos de teoría y práctica que alinean las necesidades de niños y de familias con las necesidades de negocios deben dirigir la investigación futura sobre el cuidado de los niños en el lugar del trabajo. Se tratan también ideas sobre la participación de los padres en PIW, implicaciones de PIW para el desarrollo del niño, y la potencial de Border Theory (teoría de la frontera) y Work-life Systems Framework (marco de sistemas de trabajo-vida) para informar los estudios de PIW más adelante.