Changes In Job Demands Research Articles

The impact of job crafting on job demands, job resources, and well-being.

This longitudinal study examined whether employees can impact their own well-being by crafting their job demands and resources. Based on the job demands-resources model, we hypothesized that employee job crafting would have an impact on work engagement, job satisfaction, and burnout through changes in job demands and job resources. Data was collected in a chemical plant at three time points with one month in between the measurement waves (N = 288). The results of structural equation modeling showed that employees who crafted their job resources in the first month of the study showed an increase in their structural and social resources over the course of the study (2 months). This increase in job resources was positively related to employee well-being (increased engagement and job satisfaction, and decreased burnout). Crafting job demands did not result in a change in job demands, but results revealed direct effects of crafting challenging demands on increases in well-being. We conclude that employee job crafting has a positive impact on well-being and that employees therefore should be offered opportunities to craft their own jobs.

Change in job strain and progression of atherosclerosis: The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns study.

Evidence of the association between job strain, that is, a combination of high psychological demands and low job control, and markers of atherosclerosis is mixed, but few studies with repeat measures are available. The purpose of this study was to examine cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between job strain and atherosclerosis. The participants were 335 men and 374 women from the prospective Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns study (mean age 38.5 years). Two sequential measurements of job strain and carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) were analyzed. No cross-sectional or longitudinal association between job strain and IMT was observed in women. In men, a cross-sectional association was found in 2001, but not in 2007. No dose-response effect was visible, nor a simple association between progression of job strain and progression of IMT. Instead, a more complex pattern of correlation was found in men with large decreases in job strain being associated with slower progression of IMT and combined decreases in job control and demands (a change toward passive jobs) being associated with greater IMT progression. These data suggest that temporal changes in job demands and control are associated with IMT in men via multiple mechanisms.

Could better jobs improve mental health? A prospective study of change in work conditions and mental health in mid-aged adults

ObjectivesTo investigate the extent improvement or deterioration in employee job security, control or workload is associated with a change in mental health.DesignSelf-report panel data (2000, 2004) on mental health (symptoms...

How changes in job demands and resources predict burnout, work engagement, and sickness absenteeism

AbstractThe present longitudinal survey among 201 telecom managers supports the Job Demands‐Resources (JD‐R) model that postulates a health impairment process and a motivational process. As hypothesized, results of structural equation modeling analyses revealed that: (1) increases in job demands (i.e., overload, emotional demands, and work‐home interference) and decreases in job resources (i.e., social support, autonomy, opportunities to learn, and feedback) predict burnout, (2) increases in job resources predict work engagement, and (3) burnout (positively) and engagement (negatively) predict registered sickness duration (“involuntary” absence) and frequency (“involuntary” absence), respectively. Finally, consistent with predictions results suggest a positive gain spiral: initial work engagement predicts an increase in job resources, which, in its turn, further increases work engagement. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Mental Health Effects of Changes in Psychosocial Work Characteristics: A Prospective Cohort Study

To explore a possible causal relationship between psychosocial work characteristics and mental health. Using longitudinal data from the Maastricht Cohort Study on "Fatigue at Work" (n = 2332), the effects of changes in job demands and decision latitude on subsequent changes in need for recovery and prolonged fatigue were studied. Increasing job demands are a significant predictor of a subsequent increase in need for recovery (beta = 0.063) and prolonged fatigue (beta = 0.057). An increase in decision latitude predicted a subsequent decrease in need for recovery (beta = -0.078) and prolonged fatigue (beta = -0.063). After adjusting for changes in other work characteristics, the effects on changes in prolonged fatigue were no longer significant. These findings support a possible causal relationship between work characteristics and mental health and can be used for designing effective prevention and intervention strategies.

The effects of new dimensions of psychological job demands and job control on active learning and occupational health

Recent changes in job content may have led to changes in job demands and control, and earlier operationalizations of the demand concept may be too general (MT). The aim of this paper is to show how new dimensions of psychological job demands are related to two sets of outcome variables, employee health and active learning, and how these relationships are modified or interact with social support and types of job control. The study was carried out as a survey among employees of 13 electric companies in Norway, N=2435. Lisrel was used to assess the fit of the proposed models. Compared to the traditional demands control model, an extended version used in this study increased the explained variance on an average by 4% on various occupational health variables. It was found that various dimensions of demands were differentially related to the outcome variables. Skill discretion uniformly reduced the effect of the demands: for groups low in skill discretion there was a stronger relationship between demands and outcomes than for groups high in skill discretion. The interaction pattern for the remaining control and support variables was however more complicated and warrants further study. The practical implications are that employers should carefully consider the quality of work. Special attention should be given to the quantitative demands of the jobs, since there seems to be few moderators for the relationship between those demands and job stress and subjective health complaints.

Interaction among general practitioners age and patient load in the prediction of job strain, decision latitude and perception of job demands. A Cross-sectional study

BackgroundIt is widely recognized and accepted that job strain adversely impacts the workforce. Individual responses to stressful situations can vary greatly and it has been shown that certain people are more likely to experience high levels of stress in their job than others. Studies highlighted that there can be age differences in job strain perception.MethodsCross-sectional postal survey of 300 Lithuanian general practitioners. Psychosocial stress was investigated with a questionnaire based on the Reeder scale. Job demands were investigated with the Karasek scale. The analysis included descriptive statistics; logistic regression beta coefficients to find out predictors and interactions between characteristics and predictors.ResultsResponse rate was 66% (N = 197). Logistic regression as significant predictors for job strain assigned – duration of work in primary care; for job demands- age and duration of working in primary care; for decision latitude- age and patient load.The interactions with regard to job strain showed that GP's age and job strain are negatively associated to a low patient load. Lower decision latitude for older GP age is strongly related to higher patient load. Job demands and GP age are slightly positively related at low patient load.ConclusionsLithuanian GP's have high patient load and are at risk of stress, they have high job demands and low decision latitude. Older GP's perceive less strain, lower job demands and higher decision latitude in case of low patient load. Young GP's decision latitude has week association to patient load. Regarding to the changes in patient load younger GP's perceive it more sensitively as changes in job demands.

Effects of stable and changing demand-control histories on worker health.

The present study examined effects of stability and change in exposure to job demands and job control (demand-control histories) in relation to the strain hypothesis of Karasek's demand-control model. The hypotheses [(i) high (low) levels of ill health were expected for workers exposed to stable 1 levels of high (low) job demands and low (high) job control; (ii) decreases (increases) in strain-related health outcomes were expected for workers with positive (negative) changes in job demands and job control; (iii) workers reporting major changes in job demands or control were expected to report more "objective" job changes] were tested with a group-by-time analysis of variance using data from a four-phase Dutch cohort study on musculoskeletal disorders, absenteeism, stress, and health. Associations between demand-control histories and job changes were tested in a log-linear analysis. The hypotheses for the stable exposure groups were supported for depression and job satisfaction. Those for positive and negative changes were partially supported. There was no relation, however, between the level of stability or changes in exposure to demands and control for the registered duration and frequency of sickness absence. Finally, the results showed that workers reporting major changes in demand-control histories over time had more job changes, and those reporting job changes towards high strain jobs evaluated the changes as more distressful. This longitudinal study supports the strain hypothesis of the demand-control model and shows a significant association between major changes in demand-control histories and job changes.

A Longitudinal Study of Work Characteristics and Health Complaints Among Insurance Employees in VDT Work

Employees using visual display terminals (VDI) in their work in the head office and branch offices of a Finnish insurance company were followed for 8 years. Their job satisfaction and health complaints were studied in relation to VDT-use characteristics and job demands and stressors. A total of 144 employees participated 3 times in a questionnaire survey: in 1985 before a major change was implemented m the data system used just after its implementation in 1987, and later after the gradual increase of VDT application and enlargement of the data system in 1993. Most of the employees were women (65%) in customer service work. The original group of 477 decreased to these 144 employees during the follow-up due to employees leaving the company, moving to other departments, retiring, and nonresponding. The dropouts did not differ considerably from the retainees in the central variables of the study. The follow-up results showed an increase in the daily amount of VDT work and a better mastering of VDT applications. Only minor changes in job demands were found. A slight increase occurred between 1985 and 1987 in attention and psychomotor demands. The greatest increase was found in job insecurity between 1987 and 1993. The level of job dissatisfaction, psychological symptoms, and eye discomfort decreased somewhat, and neck and upper limb complaints increased between the two later study phases. The factors explaining job dissatisfaction and subjective symptoms were partly different in the 3 study phases. In the last study phase, job dissatisfaction was dependent on job insecurity, being earlier explained mainly by psychological and social job demands. Neck and upper limb complaints were in the beginning clearly related to high physical workload and later more directly dependent on VDT use characteristics.

Safety climate in the road administration

The objective of the study was to determine the factors comprising the safety climate of the Finnish National Road Administration. Workers ( N = 1890) and supervisors ( N = 562) in road maintenance, road and bridge construction and central repair shops were asked to fill out a questionnaire. Both the workers and supervisors felt that safe work habits improve production, that the prevention of accidents is the responsibility of everyone, and that safety is a part of skilful job performance. In the workers' opinions, a job well done should receive more positive feedback. The supervisors themselves felt that they gave instructions on safety, in addition to those required by law, more frequently than the workers thought it to be the case. The safety climate of the workers consisted of four dimensions: attitude towards safety in the organization, changes in work demands, appreciation of the work, and safety as a part of productive work. The safety climate of the supervisors consisted of four dimensions: changes in job demands, attitude towards safety within the organization, value of the work, and safety as a part of productive work.

The Moderating Effect of the Type A Behavior Pattern and Locus of Control upon the Relationship Between Change in Job Demands and Change in Psychological Strain

This paper examines (1) the relationship between changes in job demands and changes in psychological strain across time, and (2) the moderating effect of the Type A behavior pattern (TABP) and locus of control, or internality-externality (I-E) on this relationship. TABP and I-E were hypothesized to moderate job demands because they appear as factors likely to affect the longer-term coping patterns of individuals, or coping styles. Among the job demand variables, increases in qualititative "low-load" were most strongly predictive of increases in psychological strain. Significant moderating effects were observedfor both TABP and I-E. With the TABP, a uniform pattern offindings emerged in that all the significant partial correlations were negative in direction, indicating that where job demands increased, Type As experienced less psychological strain than Type Bs. With I-E, however, the direction of the partial correlations varied dependent on the type of job demand.