Age of onset of epilepsy: its effects on coping strategies

Research into the use of coping strategies to reduce emotional distress from negative life events has identified specific subscales within the more general concepts of problem-focused and emotionfocused coping. This study presents a preliminary assessment of the ultilization of coping strategies during stressful incidents among people with epilepsy, and the differences which may arise as a result of the age of onset of the disorder. Twenty early-onset and 20 late-onset patients were asked to complete a questionnaire using subscales from the «Ways of Coping» scale (Aldwin and Revenson 1987) and from the «COPE» scale (Carver et al 1989). Data were also obtained from two groups of 20 subjects without epilepsy, matched for age and sex with the patient groups (a total of 80 subjects included in the study). Results indicated that subjects with epilepsy attempted to minimize problems more than non-epileptic subjects. Adult onset of the disorder appeared to increase the use of negotiation, acceptance and self-blame. Thus, there appear to be some significant differences in the types of coping strategy employed in stressful situations, with the late-onset group tending to utilize strategies that may be considered maladaptive, perhaps in an initial adjustment to the disorder.     

Stress and role satisfaction experienced by employed and nonemployed mothers with young children

The associations between employment status, role choice, social support, stressful events, and mothers' experiences of stress and role satisfaction were investigated. Interviews and questionnaires were used to obtain information from 105 mothers with two-year-old children. Role choice, social support, and stressful events each predicted the amount of stress mothers experienced in their lives, although not all did so independently. Employment status, role choice, and social support predicted role satisfaction.Thanks are extended to Lynn Arner, Susan Goodwyn, and Cindy Litman for their contributions to the project, and to Curt Acredolo and Leanne Friedman for their assistance with statistical analysis and computer programming.Susan B. Crockenberg received her Ph.D. from Stanford University. She is now a Professor, Department of Applied Behavioral Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA 95616. Research interests include the developmental, contextual, and child determinants of maternal role adjustment, maternal behavior, and their impact on the child's social-emotional development.     

Individual and organizational strategies for coping with organizational change

During times of significant change to organizations in strategies and structures, employees can experience high levels of stress as their jobs, areas of responsibility and roles also change. Yet research is curiously silent about how people react to organizational change, especially towards promoting healthy responses to change. As a first step to outlining areas for future research this paper considers a range of individual and organizational strategies that may be effective in reducing employee stress and related problems. Prior to the implementation of these strategies, however, organizations must empower employees to adopt the role of change agent and encourage them to take action to solve the problems that stress them. At the individual level, employees can respond to the stress created by organizational change by using problem- and emotion-focused strategies. Also important in coping with change are the personal resources of employees, including a sense of hardiness, beliefs about having control over their work environment, and the availability of social supports within and outside the organization. Although few organizations fully acknowledge their role in helping employees cope with change, there are a number of initiatives that organizations can pursue. Several strategies are discussed in relation to communication, leadership, job-related tasks and stress management programmes.     

Discrepancies between chronological age and personal age as a reflection of unrelieved worker stress

The general proposition that stress-related variables will be associated with discrepancies between chronological age and perceived personal age of working adults was examined. Responses from a field survey of day, afternoon, and night fixed-shift workers in a large manufacturing organization (n = 1674) were used to explore the relationships between a variety of reported stress-related variables and personal age constructs. Discrepancies between perceived personal age and chronological age were reported by a large proportion of the workers surveyed. Three categories of stress-related variables each accounted for a significant proportion of the variance in discrepancies. As hypothesized, the reported presence of stressors and the frequency/extent of strains (stress-related outcomes) were positively correlated with feeling older than one's chronological age. In addition, the reported presence of support mechanisms for coping with stressors was negatively correlated with feeling older than one's chronological age. The manner in which work and non-work stress may impinge upon personal age perceptions is discussed, and appropriate avenues for future research in this domain are considered.     

“准平面”法——平面光弹点测法的新方法

本文分析了三维效应对平面光弹技术测量精度的影响,并以阿朋(Aben)的偏振光在光弹性体中传播的三维理论为基础,提出了平面光弹的“准平面”特征以及平面光弹的“准平面”点测法。此方法消除了三维效应所导致的测量误差,提高了测量精度。实验证明新方法是可行的。     

Social construction of work stress: Australian newsprint media portrayal of stress at work, 1997-98

Public understanding of health issues is influenced by the social and political interests of those who gather the information and by the media which disseminates it. This has implications for lay people's beliefs about work stress and has potentially serious personal implications in terms of recognizing, reacting to, and reporting stress in the workplace (Furnham, 1997). The somewhat ambiguous nature of work stress renders it vulnerable to political, social and economic manipulation. This study explores how the issue of work stress is represented in the Australian newsprint media. Fifty-one work-related articles from all major Australian newspapers from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 1997 were selected if 'stress' appeared in the headline. The articles were examined for dominant ideologies and themes. Attention was given to the language used to describe stress, the intended audience, and the voices represented in the articles. Results showed that work stress is represented in the media as an economically costly epidemic, as an outcome of unfavourable work conditions but with individual remedies, and as primarily situated within the public sector. The main voice represented in the media was that of the unions. The reproduction of work stress as a public sector phenomenon serves the interests of public sector unions, the newspapers, and the managers of private sector workers and is not consistent with available workers' compensation data (which is itself problematic).     

A psychometric evaluation of a Dutch version of the Job Content Questionnaire and of a short direct questioning procedure

Using the demand-control-support perspective on job stress, a Dutch translation of an adapted version of the Job Content Questionnaire (AJCQ) was administered to a large population ( N = 3638) of Flemish workers in a variety of jobs, together with the General Health Questionnaire, and a negative affectivity scale. Overall, the AJCQ was shown to be a solid measurement instrument as indicated by several estimated reliability indices and validity of the subscales. A factor analysis largely reproduced the a priori structure of the AJCQ. A short 10-item direct questioning procedure was constructed to measure the 10 subscales of the AJCQ and the results of this procedure were compared with the AJCQ in a subsample ( N = 660). The correlations with six criterion variables showed that single questions were equally predictive than the much longer version of the AJCQ.     

A re-analysis of the occupational stress indicator

Abstract

This paper investigates the reliability of the Occupational Stress Indicator (OSI). Data from a sample of university staff, drawn from all areas of an urban university, are used to reassess the apparently low reliabilities of many of the OSI subscales reported by Cooper et al. (1988). In addition, factor analysis results are reported for the first time for the sources of pressure data. The reliability data reported here, while higher reliabilities than originally obtained, remain unacceptably low. A lack of stability in the device as it is currently formulated seems apparent. The paper also presents for the first time a detailed analysis of the sources of pressure scale, indicating a solution different from that proposed by Cooper et al. (1988). Certain areas of the OSI clearly need refinement; the inclusion of locus of control and type A behaviour as personality variables in particular is called into question. Observations regarding the particular strengths and weaknesses of this device, and suggestions for future refinements, are offered.     

From metaphorical information overflow and overload to real stress: Theoretical background,empirical findings,and applications

The paper presents the reader with a psychological analysis of one of the results of the global phenomenon of information overflow and how it translates into an observable psychological outcome, information stress, thus hindering the process of decision-making. Both, the anchoring in the broader context of civilizational changes and, in the particular, in the field of psychology, especially individual differences and stress psychology, are provided, followed by a series of results of our own investigations of managers and emerging adults (entering the job market). Particularly, self-control and the styles of thinking are presented as correlates of increased infostress. We then explore the implications these results might have for the selection and training of managers.     

The social construction of the meaning of acute stressors: A qualitative study of the personal accounts of police officers using a stress counselling service

The police profession is one in which acute stressors are encountered more frequently than in other occupations. Using the personal accounts of 35 police officers attending an in-house stress counselling clinic, the aim of the present study was to provide a qualitative examination of how the institutional context of policing influenced the ways in which acute stressors signified to individual police officers experiencing felt distress. Using the framework of Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy as an analytical tool, it is argued that beliefs contributing to the experience of felt distress are related to the way in which policing as both an identity and an activity is constructed through the police organizational culture. Not only do these constructions influence the ways in which officers perceive themselves and their environments, but they also operate at the collective level to 'normalize' some emotional responses and to 'pathologize' others which, it is argued, could impact upon the outcomes of interventions such as stress counselling.