Stressor-detachment Model Research Articles

Mindfulness and cognitive-behavioral strategies for psychological detachment: Comparing effectiveness and mechanisms of change.

Recovering from work is essential for maintaining occupational well-being, health, motivation, and performance, but recovery is often difficult to achieve. In this study, we evaluated and compared the effectiveness of two (parallel) interventions aimed at promoting recovery: one based on mindfulness and one involving applying cognitive-behavioral strategies. Both interventions were embedded in a measurement burst design, which allowed us to examine the mechanisms underlying change or intervention success. To explore mechanisms of change, we used the stressor-detachment model as a theoretical framework. We operationalized the interventions' effects in three ways: as changes from pretest to posttest, as changes in daily states, and as changes in daily associations. To this end, we used intensive longitudinal data to examine the roles that daily negative activation plays in detachment and strain. In a randomized controlled trial (N = 393), we administered three assessments of traits: pretest, posttest (8 weeks later), and follow-up (3 months after the posttest). We also administered 2 work weeks of experience sampling questionnaires (preintervention and postintervention). Latent change models and Bayes factor equivalence tests revealed that both interventions substantially-and to a similar extent-increased detachment. Bayesian multilevel path models showed improvements in all state variables, including improvements in negative activation, and provided some evidence that mindfulness-based and cognitive-behavioral approaches might tackle different processes at the daily level. We discuss theoretical implications for the literature on recovery from work and specifically for the stressor-detachment model. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Work–family conflict and spouse’s job performance: when detaching from home is key

ABSTRACT Work–family conflict (WFC) is a common experience which frequently affects employees’ performance and wellbeing. But among dual-earner couples, is it possible that employees’ WFC relates to spouses’ job performance? Why does this occur and what are the associated consequences? Drawing on crossover literature and the stressor–detachment model, we explore a number of crossover and spillover effects. Specifically, we propose that employees’ WFC negatively affects spouses’ home detachment and job performance on the next day (crossover effects), which relates to spouses’ lower work detachment (spillover effects). We conducted a diary study among 145 working couples who responded to a daily survey over five consecutive working days (N = 1450 occasions). Our results from multilevel analyses largely supported our hypotheses. Employees’ WFC predicted lower home detachment of spouses on the following day, which, in turn, negatively affected spouses’ performance and work detachment. These findings show that WFC affects spouses beyond the family domain and that detachment from family-related issues is key to performing well and disconnecting from work.

Far from perfect sleep: A diary study on multidimensional perfectionism in the context of the stressor–detachment model.

Far from perfect sleep: A diary study on multidimensional perfectionism in the context of the stressor–detachment model.

The long-term effects of job demands on psychological detachment and health: the moderating role of leader behaviour

ABSTRACT A lack of recovery like psychologically detaching from work can be detrimental to health. High cognitive demands may jeopardise detachment from work. Longitudinal studies concerning the long-term effects of cognitive demands on health and work ability via psychological detachment are understudied. Research has shown that social support may buffer the relationship between job demands and psychological detachment. However, the role of supervisor support was not examined specifically. We hypothesise psychological detachment to mediate the relationship between cognitive demands, general health, and work ability. Supportive or inconsiderate behaviours of a supervisor can further moderate the relationship between cognitive demands and psychological detachment. Statistical analyses were carried out with three-wave panel data from the German Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health with lags of two years (2015–2019) from 3,867 employees who took part in the survey. The results conveyed that mediation by psychological detachment was significant, while supervisor (non)support moderated the relationship between cognitive demands and psychological detachment only cross-sectionally. This study emphasises the role of supervisor in the stressor-detachment model and the positive effect of recovery experience on health. Therefore, in practice, the role of supervisor behaviour for employees’ psychological detachment should be addressed in management training courses.

A longitudinal study on ICT workload in the extended stressor-detachment model: testing moderated mediation models for extended work availability and workplace telepressure

ABSTRACT Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are seen as essential tools for mastering knowledge work in the twenty-first century. However, ICTs do not solely improve workflows, but are experienced by employees as an additional demand described as ICT workload. In this study, we apply the stressor-detachment model in the context of ICT, and investigated relations of ICT workload to psychological detachment and emotional exhaustion. Furthermore, as extended work availability and workplace telepressure are organisational and individual factors associated with ICT use, we extend the stressor-detachment model by testing moderated mediational effects. Specifically, we investigated whether extended work availability and workplace telepressure strengthen the indirect effect of ICT workload on emotional exhaustion via psychological detachment. In a longitudinal study of 228 employees with three measurement points, ICT workload was positively related to emotional exhaustion over time. Additionally, we found tentative support for a mediation via psychological detachment, that is stronger for higher levels of workplace telepressure. In sum, our study shows that employees experiencing high levels of ICT workload have a higher risk of suffering from emotional exhaustion. An impaired ability to psychologically detach and high levels of workplace telepressure play a crucial role in this relationship.

Supplemental Material for Far From Perfect Sleep: A Diary Study on Multidimensional Perfectionism in the Context of the Stressor–Detachment Model

Supplemental Material for Far From Perfect Sleep: A Diary Study on Multidimensional Perfectionism in the Context of the Stressor–Detachment Model

Mediating and Moderating Effects of Psychological Detachment on the Association Between Stressors and Depression: A Longitudinal Study of Japanese Workers.

This study examines the mediating and moderating effects of psychological detachment (PD) based on the stressor-detachment model in the long term. Two waves of Web-based surveys, 28 months apart, yielded 3556 responses from Japanese workers. Comparisons between models that included mediating and moderating effects of PD and reverse direction mediating effects (strain → PD → stressor) were made by structural equation modeling. Differences in depression as a strain between combinations of high and low stressors and PD were also examined. The best-fitting model was the moderation/reciprocal partial-mediation model. The effect of PD was significant in the group with stable or decreasing stressor. According to the worker's level of stressors, PD, and depression, targeted interventions may effectively prevent physical and mental health problems caused by chronic stress.

Does psychological detachment benefit job seekers? A two study weekly investigation.

On a weekly basis, job seekers need to exert effort to successfully navigate their search. Yet, despite the notion that job seeking is likely depleting, there has been little research and discussion to date surrounding whether taking time to recover from job seeking can be restorative and helpful for job seekers. Applying theory from the effort-recovery model (Meijman & Mulder, 1998) and the stressor-detachment model (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015) to the job search context, we highlight the self-regulatory and job search-related benefits associated with psychologically detaching from the job search each week. Specifically, we theorize that weekly psychological detachment from the job search (at t) helps job seekers feel recovered (at t) and, in turn, more vigorous (at t + 1), prompting subsequent job search effort (at t + 1); further, weekly job search effort is expected to engender an increase in subsequent interviews (at t + 2). We also explore the cross-level moderating effect of implicit theories of depletion, considering whether the beneficial impact of weekly psychological detachment is contingent on how depleting job seekers perceive the search process to be. We tested our model with two weekly experience sampling studies of over 200 new labor market entrants. Across both studies, we found considerable support for our model, suggesting that taking time to psychologically detach from the job search can help job seekers maintain their well-being and obtain job search success. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

The Mediating Role of Techno-Addiction

Rising stress levels in high-tech organizations have currently reached their highest peak. The dearth of empirical studies that focus on investigating the concept of technostress within FinTechs motivated this paper to address urgent research calls. Drawing on both the stressor-strain-outcome model and the stressor-detachment model, this paper focuses on examining the effects of techno-stressors on job performance with technological addiction as a mediator and psychological detachment as a moderator. A web-based survey panel of 179 employees from various US fintech companies was used to collect data. The paper delivers new understandings of how technostressors and technoaddiction are perceived among employees in the FinTech industry and thus attempts to extend earlier models related to digital culture and job design.

How Can We Cope with Self-Control Demands and Enhance Proactive Vitality Management? The Role of Leisure Crafting and Supervisor Recreational Sports Support

Studies have reported negative effects of self-control demands on the service-oriented physical and mental well-being of employees. Based on the stressor-detachment model and conservation of resources theory, the present study examined how and when the interplay between leisure crafting and perceived supervisor recreational sports support can lead self-control demands employees to exhibit proactive vitality management. A total of 212 employees completed surveys at three time points over six months. The results indicated that leisure crafting mediated the relationship between employees’ self-control demands and proactive vitality management. Perceived supervisor recreational sports support was shown to strengthen the relationship between leisure crafting and proactive vitality management. Furthermore, we demonstrated a moderated mediation model in which self-control demands, under employees’ perceived supervisor recreational sports support, did not motivate employees to engage in additional leisure crafting; rather, these demands enhanced employees’ leisure resources, which in turn promoted their proactive vitality management.

Energy Loss After Daily Role Stress and Work Incivility: Caring for Oneself with Emotional Wellness

The present study seeks to build on burnout research by examining daily fluctuations of role stress and work incivility, and their impact on employees’ energy loss. Optimism and recovery (i.e., psychological detachment and relaxation), two mechanisms that allow workers’ self-care and self-defence from these toxic conditions when faced by these job stressors, were included. In a daily study, 117 service sector workers completed surveys three times a day, over a period of one working week. Hierarchical linear modeling revealed work incivility as predictor of daily emotional exhaustion. Optimism and recovery play different roles in protecting workers from daily energy loss. Daily optimism increased employees’energy and decreased emotional exhaustion and negative affect at night. It also moderated the relationship between work incivility and positive affect at night. The results on psychological detachment supported the stressor-detachment model (Sonnentag, 2010), in which psychological detachment from work during nonworking time is not only a direct predictor of increased energy, but could similarly buffer the negative impact of role stress and work incivility. Relaxation basically showed main effects in predicting emotional exhaustion (inversely) and positive affect (directly). Our findings suggest two main implications: (1) the necessity for implemention of workplace policies to prevent role stress and work incivility in reducing daily loss of energy. (2) Training workers in self-care programmes focusing on optimism and recovery can provide early steps toward organizational change and employee daily well-being.

The Roles of Mindfulness in the Relationships between Media Multitasking and Various Outcomes

Despite a growing body of research on workplace mindfulness, information on the mechanism underlying the relationship between at-work media multitasking and its psychological (happiness, emotional exhaustion), physical (general health, sleep quality), and behavioral (job performance, innovative work behavior) consequences, as well as the boundary conditions of these links, is limited. Considering the importance of mental health in the workplace, this study adopted the stressor-detachment model to investigate (1) the effect of media multitasking on various consequences, (2) the mediating effect of state mindfulness at work on the relationship between media multitasking and various consequences, and (3) the moderating effect of trait mindfulness at work on the relationship between media multitasking and various consequences. This study used an experience sampling method (ESM) to collect data from 97 full-time employees. Participants received five survey links every workday via mobile devices for two weeks. Hierarchical linear modeling and structural equation modeling were employed to test the hypotheses. The results showed a significant mediating effect of state mindfulness on the relationship between media multitasking and happiness, emotional exhaustion, general health, job performance, and innovative work behaviors. Furthermore, trait mindfulness significantly moderated the relationships between media multitasking and happiness, job performance, and innovative work behaviors. The study discussed theoretical and practical implications, limitations, and future research directions.

How empowering leadership influences medical workers' work-family conflict in the post-pandemic era: A moderated mediation model of leadership "black box".

After experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic, the status and mechanisms of leadership, and the challenges for medical workers in terms of family–work conflicts, have caused widespread concern. In the post-pandemic era, based on role theory and the stressor-detachment model, this paper seeks to break the “black box” of negative effects that can be caused by leadership, research the mechanism and boundary conditions of those negative effects, and explore factors to reduce those negative effects. We recruited 1,010 Chinese medical workers fighting COVID-19 on the frontline. Our study results showed that there was a significant negative correlation between empowering leadership and work–family conflict, and this relationship was completely mediated by role stress, while psychological detachment moderated the relationship between role stress and work–family conflict. Moreover, psychological detachment moderated the mediating effect of empowering leadership on work–family conflict through role stress. Therefore, higher levels of psychological detachment were less conducive to medical workers' family–work conflict. This study has important theoretical significance and practical value for revealing the negative effects and mechanisms of empowering leadership and for medical workers to better deal with work–family relations.

Daily work pressure and task performance: The moderating role of recovery and sleep.

Whereas previous research has focused on the link between (mental and physical) workload and task performance, less is known about the intervening mechanisms influencing this relationship. In the present study, we test the moderating roles of daily recovery and total sleep time in the relationship between work pressure and daily task performance. Using performance and recovery theories, we hypothesized that (a) work pressure relates positively to daily task performance, and that both (b) daily recovery in the form of psychological detachment and relaxation, and (c) total sleep time independently enhance this relationship. Our hypotheses were tested in a 30-day diary study with 110 officer cadets on a cross-Atlantic voyage on a Naval sail ship. The results of multilevel modeling lend support to all three hypotheses. Taken together, our findings suggest that recovery and sleep duration between shifts play a key role in the relationship between daily work pressure and task performance. We discuss the implications of these findings for the stressor-detachment model.

Employees' job insecurity perception and unsafe behaviours in human–machine collaboration

PurposeThis study aimed to explore the relationship between job insecurity and unsafe behaviour in human–machine collaboration, as well as investigating the mediating roles of emotional exhaustion and moderating roles of psychological detachment.Design/methodology/approachThe authors followed the stressor-detachment model to build our research model. The authors selected manufacturing and service industry employees as samples, and designed three independent studies using the time-lagged method for SPSS and AMOS to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe results indicated that emotional exhaustion mediated the relationship between the two types of job insecurity and unsafe behaviours among service industry employees, while psychological detachment moderated the effect of qualitative job insecurity on emotional exhaustion. In manufacturing, psychological detachment moderated the effect of quantitative job insecurity on emotional exhaustion, while emotional exhaustion mediated the relationship between quantitative job insecurity and unsafe behaviours.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors enhance understandings of how individual employee characteristics and the work environment jointly influence employees' levels of emotional exhaustion and likelihood of engaging in unsafe behaviours under the stressor-detachment model.Practical implicationsThe authors suggest an important role of psychological detachment in human–machine collaboration. The authors also that organisations and managers could encourage employees not to check work-related emails on weekends to achieve full detachment.Originality/valueThis study contributes to both the stressor-detachment model and job insecurity literature. In addition, it investigates the role of detachment and emotional exhaustion by employees in human–machine collaboration.

Coping with pandemics using social network sites: A psychological detachment perspective to COVID-19 stressors

Prior research has often portrayed information technology (IT) as a stressor. In this paper, we propose and demonstrate that IT can also be an effective means of coping with life stressors, including those induced by pandemics such as COVID-19. We thus deviate from the common IT-as-a-stressor perspective and adopt an IT-as-a-coping-mechanism viewpoint. To this end, we apply the stressor-detachment model from organisational psychology to the use of social network sites (SNSs) in coping with stressors wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic. We examine psychological well-being as our dependant variable and introduce psychological detachment through SNS use as a mediator and moderator of the associations between psychological well-being and two COVID-19 stressors: work–family conflict and perceived isolation. We used structural equation modelling and tested this model with survey data collected from 398 professionals who were in lockdown and working from home during the pandemic. The results indicated that psychological detachment through SNS uses increased psychological well-being and that heightened work–family conflict motivated this detachment strategy. In contrast, consistent with helplessness and motivation–opportunity theories, perceived isolation as a stressor did not influence psychological detachment through SNS use. While perceived isolation directly reduced individual well-being, the effect of work–family conflict on well-being was contingent upon users' levels of psychological detachment through SNS use. These findings suggest that while psychological detachment through SNS use is an effective means of improving one's well-being, it can be positively or negatively affected by stressors. Our study contributes to research on technology-mediated strategies for coping with stress and the psychosocial implications of global pandemics.

When Thinking About Work Makes Employees Reach for Their Devices: A Longitudinal Autoregressive Diary Study

Based on the stressor-detachment model, previous research has assumed that work-related ICT use in the evening impairs psychological detachment. However, since most of the studies to date have assessed cross-sectional relationships, little is known about the actual direction of effects. In this 5-day diary study, we implemented a day-level longitudinal model to shed light on the causal relationships between work-related ICT use, detachment, and task progress (N = 340 employees, N = 1289 day-level cases). We also investigated the role of unfinished work tasks because we assumed, based on boundary theory, that they are a driving force leading to impaired detachment and work-related ICT use in the evening. Contrary to current research consensus but in line with our expectations, we found that low psychological detachment increased work-related ICT use and task progress. We found no evidence for reversed lagged effects. These results applied both to planned and unplanned ICT use. Furthermore, our results support the notion that unfinished work tasks precede ICT use and detachment. Thus, our findings suggest that work-related ICT use should not be treated as a stressor in its own right in the stressor-detachment model. Instead, it needs to be investigated as a behavioral outcome that employees engage in when they cannot detach from work.

Work Intensification and Psychological Detachment: The Mediating Role of Job Resources in Health Service Workers.

Psychological detachment is the central experience of recovery from work-related stress that allows individuals to reduce burnout symptoms. The stressor-detachment model (SDM) contends that job resources moderate the relationship between job stressors and psychological detachment. We designed an instrument to measure job resources from a multidimensional perspective. A sample of n = 394 individuals from the health service industry participated in the study. Data indicate that job resources comprise a four-factor structure underlying a formative model. Consistent with the SDM, a partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) analysis suggests a moderating effect of job resources (e.g., control over working conditions, leaders’ emotional support), between work intensification and psychological detachment. In addition; results indicate that workers who perceive high levels of support from their organization achieved higher levels of detachment compared with those who perceived low levels of support. Theoretical as well as practical implications for stress management practices, occupational health, and well-being are discussed.

Work pressure and recovery during a cross-atlantic voyage: A test of the stressor-detachment model.

Work pressure and recovery during a cross-atlantic voyage: A test of the stressor-detachment model.

To detach or not to detach? The role of psychological detachment on the relationship between heavy work investment and well-being: A latent profile analysis

This study focuses on two types of heavy work investment, namely workaholism and work engagement, and on psychological detachment from work. Both workaholism and work engagement refer to an intense work effort, yet with a different impact on work and personal life. Building on Stressor–Detachment Model (SDM), we examine how different levels of workaholism, work engagement, and psychological detachment influence different outcomes related to employees’ well-being (i.e., perceived health, negative affectivity, positive affectivity). Data were collected from 342 employees via online survey and analyzed by mean of latent profile analysis. Five employee profiles were identified: High-Detachment and Engaged, Heavy Work Investors, Mild-Detachment and Disengaged, Mild-Detachment and Engaged, and Pure Workaholics. The profiles showed different patterns of the outcomes under investigation. Our findings also indicate that psychological detachment is an important factor that alleviates the detrimental effects of heavy work investment on employees’ well-being and that work engagement can play an immediate protecting role for employees’ well-being even in absence of significant levels of psychological detachment.