Changes In Job Demands Research Articles

Managers in the context of small business growth: a qualitative study of working conditions and wellbeing

PurposeIn view of the importance of managers’ wellbeing for their leadership behaviour, employee health, and business effectiveness and survival, a better understanding of managers’ wellbeing and working conditions is important for creating healthy and sustainable businesses. Previous research has mostly provided a static picture of managers’ wellbeing and work in the context of small businesses, missing the variability and dynamism that is characteristic of this context. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore how managers in small companies perceive their working conditions and wellbeing in the context of business growth.MethodsThe study is based on qualitative semi-structured interviews with 20 managers from twelve small companies. Content and thematic analysis were applied.ResultsThe findings indicate that a manager’s working environment evolves from its initial stages and through the company’s growth, leading to variations over time in the manager’s experiences of wellbeing and work–life balance as well as changes in job demands and resources. Managers’ working situation becomes less demanding and more manageable when workloads and working hours are reduced and a better work–life balance is achieved. The perceived improvement is related to changes in organizational factors (e.g. company resources), but also to individual factors (e.g. managers’ increased awareness of the importance of a sustainable work situation). However, there were differences in how the working conditions and wellbeing changed over time and how organizational and individual resources affected the studied managers’ wellbeing.ConclusionsThis study shows that, in the context of small business, managers’ working conditions and wellbeing are dynamic and are linked to growth-related changes that occur from the start of organizational activities and during periods of growth. In addition, the findings suggest that changes in managers’ working conditions and wellbeing follow different trajectories over time because of the interaction between organizational and personal factors.

A Multilevel Analysis of Changes in Psychological Demands over Time on Employee Burnout

In pursuing this study, we were interested in the effect of changes in psychological demands over time on burnout. We were also interested in examining the moderating role resources could play between changes in job demands over time and employee burnout. Multilevel regression analyses of repeated measures were conducted to capture the hierarchical structure of the data (time (Level 1, n = 537 (12-month period between T1 and T2)); employees (Level 2, n = 289)) nested in firms (Level 3, n = 34). To measure change in psychological demands, the distribution of psychological demands at T1 and T2 were dichotomized at the T1 median. Following this dichotomization, four groups were created: low T1 and low T2; high T1 and low T2; low T1 and high T2, high T1 and high T2. In terms of direct associations, an increase in psychological demands over time was associated with emotional exhaustion and cynicism but not professional efficacy. Locus of control, self-esteem, and social support from supervisors were also directly associated with burnout. As for interaction effects, social support from coworkers attenuated the effect of changes in psychological demands over time (i.e., increasing psychological demands) on cynicism. In other words, employees facing greater psychological demands over time (increasing psychological demands) and benefitting from social support from their coworkers had less cynicism. Our findings offer meaningful insights into possible ways of lowering burnout levels. Based on the results obtained, psychological demands, social support, locus of control, and self-esteem should be considered valuable intervention targets.

Mental well-being of teachers working at home during the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction: Teachers in Bosnia and Herzegovina had insufficient skills in educational technology but had to lead the introduction of online teaching and adapt all aspects of the educational process to the online environment, which placed a great burden on them. The main objective of this research was to identify the challenges faced by teachers during the lockdown period. The sudden shift to online teaching, lack of preparation, and social isolation resulted in significant changes in job demands, perceived control, and social support in the workplace. Methods: A correlational study was conducted with a sample of 345 employees in the education sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Descriptive analysis, multiple regression analysis, and t-tests were performed using SPSS version 20.0. Results: The results indicate that teachers who did not have adequate workspace at home experienced greater workload but remained highly motivated. High job demands and low social support at work are associated with increased stress and decreased psychophysical functioning, while higher social support is associated with higher life satisfaction. In addition, higher job demands and stronger social support were related to greater intrinsic and extrinsic motivation at work. Conclusion: Results show that teachers lacking proper home workspaces reported their work as notably more demanding and stress-inducing, with a reported decline in their overall psychophysical well-being. Moreover, they expressed a reduced sense of control over their work, diminished social support, and lower levels of life satisfaction. These findings provide a valuable foundation for developing recommendations to address crisis situations in education, particularly when teachers transition from physical classrooms to virtual spaces, which is also important for online teaching and learning in typical times.

Changes in work conditions and well-being among healthcare professionals in long-term care settings in the Netherlands during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal study

BackgroundHealthcare professionals working in long-term care facilities reported heavy job demands and a lack of job resources during the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. However, how job demands and resources in these facilities changed during the pandemic, and how possible changes affected professionals’ work-related well-being, remains unclear. Thus, we explored changes in job demands and resources in the face of surging COVID-19 infection rates, and investigated associations of these changes with changes in burnout and work engagement, among healthcare professionals working in long-term care facilities in the Netherlands.MethodsThis longitudinal study was conducted with healthcare professionals working in five long-term care facilities in the Netherlands. Data were collected in early and late 2021, when infection rates in long-term care facilities were low and high (mean, 29.1 and 275.4 infections/day), respectively. In total, 173 healthcare professionals completed the validated Job Demands and Resources Questionnaire, Copenhagen Burnout Inventory, and Utrecht Work Engagement Scale at both timepoints. We performed paired-samples t tests to examine changes in job demands and resources, and fixed-effects linear regression analyses to examine associations of within-person changes in job demands and resources with those in burnout and work engagement.ResultsHealthcare professionals perceived increased workloads, associated with increased burnout and decreased work engagement during the study period. Within-person increases in perceived collegial support were associated positively with work engagement and negatively with burnout symptoms.ConclusionsHealthcare professionals in long-term care facilities perceived increased workloads in the wake of surging infection rates during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in increased burnout and decreased work engagement. These changes in burnout and work engagement were also perceived in response to declining collegial support. Efforts to protect the work-related well-being of healthcare professionals working in long-term care facilities in the pandemic context that focus on workload reduction and the promotion of collegial support may be most beneficial.

A Process Perspective on Adaptive Performance: Research Insights and New Directions

Given its acceptance and value as an important facet of workplace behavior, research has primarily attempted to understand adaptive performance by way of examining its antecedents. Although useful, these findings provide little insight into the in-situ, intra-individual processes that occur during adaptive performance (i.e., How do people adapt to change? What determines the speed at which people adapt? How do failures to adapt occur?). The current paper develops and presents a process model of adaptation in order to provide a framework for organizing, understanding, and investigating the in-situ process involved when individuals adapt to changes in job demands. In particular, we suggest that in order to successfully adapt to a changing task environment, individuals must go through a series of processes in order to detect the nature of a change, diagnose its cause, develop or refine strategies, learn additional knowledge or skills, and enact appropriate performance behaviors. At the same time, dynamic emotional, cognitive, motivational, and situational factors serve as proximal inputs and outputs of these processes. In doing so, they shape the success and speed with which people adapt and suggest a broadened set of outcomes of adaptive performance. We describe how this model can be leveraged to stimulate dynamic adaptive performance research and to promote adaptive performance in applied settings.

Changing the Underlying Conditions Relevant to Workplace Bullying through Organisational Redesign.

In view of the discrepancy between anti-bullying strategies used in organisations and knowledge of bullying that is grounded in the international scholarly literature, the aim of this study is to implement and evaluate an intervention program specifically targeting the root causes of workplace bullying by identifying, assessing, and changing the contexts of people management in which bullying arises. The present research describes the development, procedures, and co-design principles underpinning a primary intervention that is focused on improving organisational risk conditions linked to workplace bullying. Our study evaluates the effectiveness of this intervention using deductive and abductive approaches and multi-source data. Specifically, our quantitative analysis examines changes in job demands and resources as a central mechanism underlying how the intervention takes effect and provides support for job demands as a mediator. Our qualitative analysis expands the inquiry by identifying additional mechanisms that form the foundations of effective change and those that drive change execution. The results of the intervention study highlight the opportunity to prevent workplace bullying through organisational-level interventions and reveal success factors, underlying mechanisms, and key principles.

Who said there is no place like home? Extending the link between quantitative job demands and life satisfaction: a moderated mediation model

PurposeBased on the job demands and resources (JD-R) model and conservation of resources (COR) theory, this paper aims to develop and test a model that examines the moderating role of daily remote work hours and the mediating role of work–family conflict on the effects of excessive workload and time pressure on life satisfaction due to mandatory remote work arrangements.Design/methodology/approachHierarchical regression analysis was used to analyze data from 400 professionals working in the IT sector in Turkey. Scales developed by previous researchers were used to measure excessive workload, time pressure, work–family conflict and life satisfaction. While these four variables were measured with 19 statements, daily remote work hours were determined with a single question. The collected data were validated using confirmatory factor analysis, and the hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. Furthermore, the reliability and validity of the data were confirmed. Finally, PROCESS was applied to examine moderated mediation.FindingsAccording to the analysis results obtained from the above sample data, daily remote work hours moderate the mediating role of work–family conflict in the relationships between (1) excessive workload and life satisfaction and (2) time pressure and life satisfaction. In other words, the findings show that job-related demands arising from workload, time pressure and remote work hours prevent employees from meeting their family obligations, thereby increasing work–family conflict and ultimately affecting life satisfaction.Practical implicationsThe study can help employers, managers, human resource professionals, policymakers and researchers increase employees' life satisfaction due to the changes in job demands experienced by employees in companies that have transitioned to remote work practices. It can provide new approaches for dealing with dissatisfaction arising from work-related conflicts in Turkey's changing environment. The results can greatly facilitate the Turkish companies' efforts to create more innovative work arrangements and make an outstanding contribution to improving employee performance in Turkey's transition to remote work practices by focusing on reducing workload, time pressure and long working hours and creating employee-centered remote work models.Originality/valueAs per World Health Organization, the world will face frequent pandemic in the coming years, and thus organizations should be aware of remote work practices that will become widespread. This study provides a new perspective on the impact of employees' changing job demands on work–family conflict and life satisfaction during organizations' transition to new work arrangements in the face of the social crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The study also contributes to closing the research gap between job demands, work–family conflict and life satisfaction.

Profiling “Occupational Changers”: A Longitudinal Study

Occupational change is a common and impactful career transition, but previous research has not yet clarified how employees’ job satisfaction, health, and well-being develop after such a change, and which factors contribute to their favorable or unfavorable development. Addressing these issues, we analyzed panel data of young employees in Switzerland covering the first four years of entering the labor market after completing vocational education and training (N = 352). We examined different trajectories of changes in job satisfaction, health, and well-being indicators after an occupational change across four years, from one year before the occupational change to two years after the change. We also examined levels and changes in job demands, job resources, and personal resources over the same period as potential explanatory factors for these trajectories. Longitudinal growth mixture analyses (LGMA) revealed four trajectories of job satisfaction, health, and well-being variables: (1) favorable development– particularly in mental health, (2) favorable development– particularly in physical health, (3) unfavorable development, and (4) stable favorable. Different trajectories after changing occupation were explained by changes but not by levels in job demands, job resources, and personal resources in the new occupation. We discuss the implications of the results at the occupational and individual levels.

Associations Between Work Characteristics, Engaged Well-Being at Work, and Job Attitudes — Findings from a Longitudinal German Study

ObjectiveThe Job Demand & Resources model suggests work characteristics are related to mental well-being and work engagement. Previous work describes the development of a combined construct ‘engaged well-being at work’ (EWB). To what extent changes in measures of this construct are responsive to changes in job demands and resources or associated with changes in job-related attitudes has not been established. MethodsLongitudinal employee-level data from three waves (German Linked Personnel Panel) were used. Logistic and linear fixed effects regression analyses explored longitudinal associations between changes in EWB for participants over a three-year period with changes in job demands and resources and job-related attitudes (job commitment, satisfaction, and turnover intentions). ResultsWhile job resources were associated with increased odds for a change into a healthier and/or more engaged category of EWB, job demands reduced them. Job resources were more strongly related to higher EWB (ORrange = 1.22 – 1.61) than job demands (ORrange = 0.79 – 0.96). Especially psychological job demands showed negative associations with improved EWB (OR = 0.79). A change from the least desirable category ‘disengaged strain’ to any other category of EWB was associated with greater odds by up to 20.6 % for increased commitment and job satisfaction and lower odds for turnover intentions. DiscussionImproving work characteristics, especially job resources, could increase employees' EWB, emphasizing the importance of job characteristics for a healthy workplace. Because EWB seems to be associated with job attitudes, an improvement of this indicator would be relevant for employees and employers.

COVID-19: prevalence of job-demands, stress, work–life difficulties and work–life balance among international business travelers

PurposeInternational business travelers (IBTs) face daily challenges pertaining to the frequency and duration of travel. Following the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the study aims to draw upon the job demands-resources (JD-R) model and the literature on work–life balance (WLB) to examine how this crisis have disrupted IBTs routines and the implications for their WLB.Design/methodology/approachData were collected in April 2020 with an online survey answered by 141 IBTs from different locations. The first set of analyses examined the perceived change in job-demands (i.e. business travel and workload) including stress and work–life difficulties following the outbreak of COVID-19. The second set of analyses tested the hypotheses that the perceived change in workload and stress predict IBTs' work–life difficulties, which, in turn, affect their WLB.FindingsThe results show that the decline in job-demands (i.e. business travel and workload) after the outbreak of COVID-19 was not enough to reduce IBTs' stress and ameliorate their work–life difficulties and WLB. Only respondents who experienced a decrease in workload, including less relational difficulties, reported a superior WLB.Originality/valueThe study widens the scope and relevance of global mobility studies in crisis settings by timely reporting the changes in job-demands, stress and work–life difficulties among IBTs following the outbreak of COVID-19. Additionally, the research extends the use of the JD-R model in the international context by advancing our knowledge of the interplay between contextual demands and job-demands in affecting IBTs' stress, work–life difficulties and WLB.

Occupational trajectories of working conditions in Sweden: Development trends in the workforce, 1997-2015.

Objective:This study aimed to explore the development of working conditions within and between occupations in the Swedish labor market from 1997 to 2015 and whether any polarization in working conditions concurrently occurred between occupations.Methods:Cross-sectional data from ten waves of the Swedish Work Environment Surveys (1997–2015) were used and an aggregated occupational-level dataset was created using the Swedish Standard Classification of Occupations. To capture the patterns of change in working conditions over time (ie, growth), growth curve modeling was used to identify the starting points for 89 occupations (intercepts) as well as both the shape (functional form) and rate of growth (slope) over time.Results:The Swedish labor market was stable overall, with some small, mainly positive, changes in job demands and resources. Different occupations developed in divergent directions, but there was no evidence of polarization.Conclusions:The findings indicate that macro-level stability can hide highly heterogeneous patterns of change among different occupational groups. This type of analysis, taking context into account, could be valuable for decision makers intending to improve the work environment.

The double‐edged sword of job crafting: The effects of job crafting on changes in job demands and employee well‐being

AbstractJob crafting is theorized to operate via changes that employees make to their work designs, yet this critical mechanism has remained scarcely tested. This study examined whether job crafting facilitates changes in two types of challenge demands, namely workload and job complexity, and hindrance demands and whether these changes explain why job crafting may have both positive and negative implications for employee well‐being. We utilized a two‐wave sample of 2,453 employees to examine the relationships between job crafting and within‐person changes in job demands, work engagement, and burnout. The findings showed that approach type of job crafting was related to increases in work engagement via increased job complexity. However, approach crafting was also associated with increases in burnout via increased workload. Avoidance type of job crafting, in turn, was related to increases in burnout and decreases in work engagement via decreased job complexity. The findings imply that job crafting may both promote and mitigate employee well‐being depending on how it changes specific features of work design and that also approach crafting may deteriorate well‐being. We discuss the practical implications of different types of job crafting on work design and employee well‐being.

Adaptación de la escala de job crafting: evidencias de validez en el contexto laboral argentino

El término job crafting designa una forma específica de comportamiento proactivo por la cual el empleado realiza voluntariamente cambios en las demandas y/o recursos laborales para impactar positivamente en su propio trabajo. El objetivo de este estudio fue adaptar y validar la Escala de Job Crafting desarrollada por Tims, Bakker y Derks en una muestra de trabajadores argentinos. Se empleó un diseño empírico-instrumental transversal bi-etápico En la primera etapa se ejecutó un estudio sobre una muestra no probabilística de 229 (56% varones; Medad= 33 años; DEedad= 6.24 años; Mantigüedad= 7 años, DEantiguedad= 3.81 años) trabajadores de PYMES radicadas en la ciudad de Rosario. El análisis paralelo optimizado sugirió 4 factores con autovalores propios sobre el percentil 95, los que explicaban el 60% de la varianza del constructo. En la segunda etapa se estudió una nueva muestra no probabilística integrada por 449 trabajadores (67% mujeres; Medad = 34.5 años; DEedad = 12.9; Mantigüedad= 8.6 años, DEantiguedad= 10.21 años) de diversas organizaciones localizadas en el centro-sur de Santa Fe. Análisis factoriales confirmatorios indicaron la adecuación de un modelo tetra-factorial con 19 ítems como variables observables. La versión adaptada de la escala mostró adecuada consistencia interna, confiabilidad compuesta y validez convergente-discriminante. Las correlaciones positivas significativas encontradas entre las puntuaciones en las escalas de job crafting, capital psicológico, implicación en el trabajo y personalidad proactiva indicaron validez concurrente. Los resultados obtenidos proporcionan evidencias de validez de la adaptación de la escala de job crafting en el contexto laboral argentino. Se discuten los hallazgos. Se señalan fortalezas, limitaciones e implicancias de la investigación realizada.

An evaluation of job crafting as an intervention aimed at improving work engagement

Orientation: In the construction industry, a lack of engagement by employees can have serious and costly health and safety consequences. Research purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether a job-crafting intervention could improve the work engagement of individuals employed in the construction industry. Motivation for the study: Because of tight deadlines and stringent requirements, managers in the construction industry are often unable to reduce the demands on, or increase the resources available to, their employees. Hence, if employees are to increase their work engagement, they need to exert personal agency by recrafting their own jobs. Research approach/design and method: A quasi-experimental research approach was used. One group of employees ( n = 33) completed the pre- and post-measures and participated in a 1-day job crafting training session. A comparison group ( n = 22) only completed the measures, at the same intervals. Main findings: At the post-intervention measurement point, participants exposed to the intervention showed significantly higher levels of work engagement than those in the comparison group. Across the entire sample, changes in work engagement were correlated with changes in job-crafting behaviours but were not, however, correlated with changes in job demands and resources. Practical/managerial implications: Job-crafting interventions have the potential to enable employees to proactively improve their work engagement. Contribution/value-add: The study findings support a relatively rich literature, which suggests that employees who take a proactive role in crafting their job-related tasks and environments tend to take on psychologically fulfilling activities and will be more engaged in their work.

Specific components of a complex depression care program can affect staff outcomes differently: post-hoc analyses of a stepped-wedge cluster-randomized trial in nursing homes.

The Act in case of Depression program showed effects on the quality of life and depression in nursing home (NH) residents. We aimed to explore the effects of this complex multidisciplinary program on job satisfaction, job demands, and autonomy in nursing home staff. Four data points from a stepped-wedge cluster-randomized trial on patient outcomes were used for secondary analyses on staff outcomes. Sixteen dementia special care and 17 somatic care units in Dutch NHs.Participants were 717 (90.1%) care staff or trainees, 34 (4.3%) paramedical staff, and 45 (5.7%) other staff members.Intervention describes procedures for nursing staff, activity therapists, psychologists, and physicians. It contains evidence-based pathways for depression assessment, treatment, and monitoring treatment results. Mixed models for intention-to-treat analyses showed no significant changes in job demands, job satisfaction, or autonomy. Models corrected for the ratio of unit residents who received, when indicated, a specific program component revealed reduced job demands and improved job satisfaction and autonomy when treatment procedures were used. A better use of assessment procedures was associated with increased job demands, while conducting monitoring procedures was associated with increased job demands and decreased autonomy. Components of complex care programs may affect the staff outcomes in opposite directions and, taken together, produce a zero-sum or a statistically insignificant effect. While implementing treatment protocols affecting patients directly can also improve job outcomes such as satisfaction and autonomy and decrease job demands, it is possible that other procedures of complex programs may have unfavorable effects on job outcomes. It is important to account for specific components of complex interventions when evaluating intervention effects.

Relationship and Interaction between Person and Work Environment Fit Dimensions

In the context of permanent changes in labour market it is insufficient to assess the correspondence between an employee and job only in terms of an employee’s skills, knowledge and competencies in respect to job requirements. We should search for a greater variety of common aspects between the individual and the working environment s/he acts in. Organizations want to select employees who will best meet the demands of the job, adapt to training and changes in job demands, and remain loyal and committed to the organization. Prospective employees in their turn are looking for the organizations which make use of their particular abilities and meet their specific needs. Today’s high-performing employees are looking for more than compensation packages and benefits, they are interested in the increase of their value in labour market. Congruence between the employee and his/her working environment is examined by the multidimensional theory of person-environment fit. A number of studies proving the impact of different dimensions of person-environment fit on employees’ attitudes and behaviour have been carried out. It is established that different dimensions of fit are related to employees’ behaviour and attitude benevolent for the organization, such as job satisfaction, organizational commitment, better performance quality, lower turnover of employees, organizational citizenship behaviour, job engagement, and lower job stress indexes. Nevertheless, scientific literature review has demonstrated that some forms of person-environment fit have not comprehensively been explored and there is a shortage of integrated studies on individual forms of person-environment fit, as well as their correlation with other variables.The aim of the research was to examine the relations of selected person-environmental fit dimensions and their connections to certain attitudes of employees. The objectives of the research were as follows: to analyze theoretical aspects of person and profession, organization and job fit conceptions and their relation to the attitudes of employees; to analyze the interconnection of employees’ profession, organization and job fit and their relations to job satisfaction and intentions to quit the job in one of the biggest Lithuanian insurance companies. The research is relevant as insurance market of the country is permanently increasing, the number of loyal and competent employees is insufficient and high rates of turnover are notable. Thus, it is important to study the factors relating to the above described context and to analyze how person-job environment fit relates to the factors important to employees’ turnover. The research was implemented during the period of January – February, 2018. The respondents were 91 employees of the insurance enterprise holding professionally and hierarchically different positions in the organization.The data analysis has revealed that positive relationships exist between all explored dimensions of person-environment fit. Further analysis has demonstrated that with the growing person-profession, personorganization and person-job fit, employee job satisfaction is increasing and thus his/her intent to leave a position is diminishing. The only dimension, i.e. demands-abilities fit, did not correlate with the employee intention to leave. The results of the study have also revealed that links between person-environment fit dimensions and the analyzed employee attitudes are more complex than simple direct links.This research revealed the importance of needs – supplies correspondence in forecasting the attitudes of employees important for the organization, i.e. job satisfaction and intentions to quit the job. Skills, knowledge and competencies’ based correspondence to job requirements which is widely analyzed in previous research and practically applied in the employee selection and recruitment procedures, had no forecasting effect on the employees’ attitudes. These results revealed the satisfaction of employees’ needs in the efforts to retain him/her. Moreover, the results indicated that the satisfaction of employees’ needs better forecast employees job satisfaction than employee-organization fit. The research also revealed the indirect impact of person-profession fit on the attitudes of employees. It became clear that employee-profession fit influences needs-suppliers correspondence which forecasts employees’ attitudes. Thus, insufficient person-profession fit preconditions diminishes the satisfaction of employees’ needs, which in its turn directly predicts job satisfaction and intentions to quit the job. This confirms the assumption that employees’ needs as expressed in the organizational environment highly depend on the employees’ embeddedness in their profession.

Managerss Interview Decisions About Older Job Applicants: Effects of Human Capital-Related Characteristics, General Economic Conditions, and Changes in Job Demands

Older job applicants are vulnerable to stereotype related bias in the recruitment process. In the current study, we examined how managers’ job in terview invitation decisions regarding older job applicants are influenced by a pplicants’ human capital-related characteristics, general economic conditions and managers’ experiences of changes in job demands. Data were collected with two waves of a vignette experiment, three years apar t, among a sample of 211 Dutch managers from various organisations. Multilevel analysis showed that managers were more likely to invite older job applicants who had matching qualifications, were employed at the time of application, and came with recommendations. In addition, managers’ propensity to invite ol der job applicants was higher in better economic conditions. The effects of recommendations were moderated by the general economic conditions and changes in job demands, such that a recommendation from another employer was especially influential in bad economic conditions, while a recommendation from an internal employee was especially influential when job demands had increased. The results emphasize the importance of considering the organisational and economic context in understanding the recruitment of older workers. The findings also suggest that older workers, employers, and policy makers should invest in older workers’ human capital to protect their employability.

Modification Effects of Changes in Job Demands on Associations Between Changes in Testosterone Levels and Andropause Symptoms: 2-Year Follow-up Study in Male Middle-Aged Japanese Workers.

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to ascertain if changes in job demands modify associations between changes in testosterone levels and andropause symptoms in male Japanese workers. A baseline survey including job demands and the Aging Males' Symptoms scale, lifestyle factors, and blood levels of testosterone was conducted in 2007. Among 192 men (mean age ± SD 52.2 ± 7.6years) who completed all relevant questionnaires and provided blood at baseline, 104 men (50.9 ± 7.2years) were followed up in 2009. Changes of variables in 2years were calculated (data of follow-up minus those of baseline). Testosterone levels were increased significantly, whereas job demands and somatic symptoms were reduced significantly, at follow-up. Changes in testosterone levels were negatively associated with changes in total andropause symptoms, psychological symptoms, and sexual symptoms (standardized β = -0.27, -0.24, and, -0.29, p < 0.05, respectively), after adjustment for confounders. Changes in job demands were positively associated with changes in somatic symptoms (standardized β = 0.21, p < 0.05). Significant interactions of changes in testosterone levels and job demands were noted for changes in psychological symptoms (standardized β = 0.26, p < 0.05). For men with a 1-SD reduction in job demands, negative associations between changes in testosterone levels and psychological symptoms were intensified, but not for men with a 1-SD increase in job demands. Andropause symptoms may be affected by changes in testosterone levels and job demands. Change in job demands may modify associations between changes in testosterone levels and andropause symptoms.

Changes in working conditions and physical health functioning among midlife and ageing employees.

The aim this study was to examine the effect of changes in physical and psychosocial working conditions on physical health functioning among ageing municipal employees. Follow-up survey data were collected from midlife employees of the City of Helsinki, Finland, at three time points: wave 1 (2000-2002), wave 2 (2007), and wave 3 (2012). Changes in physical and psychosocial working conditions were assessed between waves 1 and 2. Physical health functioning was measured by the physical component summary (PCS) of the Short-Form 36 questionnaire at each of the three waves. In total, 2784 respondents (83% women) who remained employed over the follow-up were available for the analyses. Linear mixed-effect models were used to assess the associations and adjust for key covariates (age, gender, obesity, chronic diseases, and health behaviors). Repeated and increased exposure to adverse physical working conditions was associated with greater decline in physical health functioning over time. In contrast, decrease in exposures reduced the decline. Of the psychosocial working conditions, changes in job demands had no effects on physical health functioning. However, decreased job control was associated with greater decline and repeated high or increased job control reduced the decline in physical health functioning over time. Adverse changes in physical working conditions and job control were associated with greater decline in physical health functioning over time, whereas favorable changes in these exposures reduced the decline. Preventing deterioration and promoting improvement of working conditions are likely to help maintain better physical health functioning among ageing employees.

‘Sound of Well-being’ revisited – Choir singing and well-being among Norwegian municipal employees

Abstract A recent cross-sectional study investigating an organizational choir-singing intervention called ‘Sound of Well-being’ (SOW) indicated health and organizational benefits, and a gender-specific pattern of participation and outcomes. In this study we investigate participation and effects in a short version of SOW. A total of 1100 employees of a Norwegian municipality were invited to participate in SOW. At baseline, 472 (42.9 per cent) employees filled in a questionnaire concerning demographics, personality, health, engagement, commitment and psychosocial work environment. A total of 312 (66.1 per cent) of these completed the same survey one to three weeks after SOW was finished. We found that female gender and extroversion were linked to participation in SOW. Women reported significant changes in engagement, self-perceived health and control, while men reported changes in job demands. Overall, participants reported an increase, while non-participants reported decrease on aforementioned variables. In terms of participation and effects of SOW, findings differed between professions, personality types and gender. In order to provide desirable alternatives to a wider group of employees, future interventions should include a variety of both receptive and creative activities.