Abstract
The Management Competencies for Preventing and Reducing Stress at Work framework represents one of the few tailored models of leadership for work stress prevention purposes, but it has never been empirically evaluated. The aim of this study was to investigate whether supervisors’ stress-preventive management competencies, as measured by the Stress Management Competencies Indicator Tool (SMCIT), are related to employees’ affective well-being through psychosocial work environmental factors. To this end, multilevel structural equation modelling (MSEM) was developed and tested, including data provided by both supervisors and employees. Supervisors (n = 84) self-assessed their stress-preventive management competencies (i.e., being respectful and responsible, managing and communicating existing and future work, reasoning and managing difficult situations, and managing the individual within the team) with a previously validated reduced version of the SMCIT. The supervised employees (n = 584) rated job content (e.g., job demands) and work context (e.g., role clarity) psychosocial factors and their job-related affective well-being. Supervisors’ job-related affective well-being was also included in the tested model. The results revealed that the stress-preventive competencies factor was related to employees’ affective well-being through the psychosocial work environment only when the latter was operationalized by means of contextual work factors. Supervisors’ affective well-being was related to their stress-preventive competencies, but it was not related to employees’ affective well-being. We discuss the implications of the results obtained.
Highlights
The important role that leaders play in determining employees’ outcomes has been expanded from “traditional” performance-related consequences to occupational health outcomes, such as psychological well-being, work stress, cardiovascular disease, organizational safety climate, workplace accidents and injuries, and health-related behaviours [1]
The results revealed that the stress-preventive competencies factor was related to employees’ affective well-being through the psychosocial work environment only when the latter was operationalized by means of contextual work factors
Kelloway and Barling [1] focused on the empirical evidence concerning leadership development as an intervention in occupational health psychology, and concluded: “the available data suggest that leadership development provides occupational health psychologists with a pragmatic and effective tool” (p. 274)
Summary
The important role that leaders play in determining employees’ outcomes has been expanded from “traditional” performance-related consequences to occupational health outcomes, such as psychological well-being, work stress, cardiovascular disease, organizational safety climate, workplace accidents and injuries, and health-related behaviours [1]. In this context, a growing body of studies has applied leadership models to the domain of work stress and well-being. Leader stress, leader behaviours and leadership style impact on employee stress and affective well-being” Public Health 2018, 15, 397; doi:10.3390/ijerph15030397 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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