Work-related Social Support Research Articles

The Relationship Between Stress and Sleep Sufficiency in the Context of Varied Workplace Social Support.

Sufficient sleep is essential for well-being. We examined the relationship between work-related social support, work stress, and sleep sufficiency, predicting that workers with higher social support would report higher sleep sufficiency across varying levels of work stress. The data set analyzed in the present study included 2213 workers from approximately 200 small (<500 employees) businesses in high, medium, and low hazard industries across Colorado. Perceived social support variables moderated the relationship between work stress and sleep sufficiency such that employees reporting higher levels of social support reported higher sleep sufficiency when work stress was low or moderate but not high. Although preventing work stress is optimal, in cases where employers cannot apply primary interventions to prevent stress (eg, eliminating/reducing night shifts), employers should attempt to increase social support or other more relevant resources for employees.

The Influence of Activities and Functional Social Support on Adult Cochlear Implant Outcomes.

The objective of this study is to assess whether patient participation in specific activities and perceived social support correlate with speech perception following cochlear implantation. Tertiary referral hospital. Adult cochlear implantation patients implanted in their poorer hearing ear between January 2019 and December 2020 completed the Functional Social Support Questionnaire (FSSQ) and a modified version of the Victoria Lifestyle Study-Activities Lifestyle Questionnaire (VLS-ALQ). Demographics, FSSQ score, and individual activities were correlated with implanted ear and binaural AzBio scores. Twenty-three patients completed the survey and had at least 6 months of follow-up with appropriate speech perception testing. The average age at survey completion was 71.7 (SD, 9.1). Average pure-tone average in the contralateral ear was 70.1 (SD: 20) dB. The majority (N = 21, 91.3%) wore a hearing aid in the contralateral ear following cochlear implantation. Mean AzBioQuiet score improvement was 60.6% (range: 20%-99%) in the implanted ear and 42.6% (range: -2% to 67%) binaurally. Work-related social support correlated positively with improvement in the implanted ear (Pearson's R = 0.473; 95% CI, 0.075-0.741; P = 0.023). Improvement in the implanted ear correlated positively with creative writing (R = 0.542; 95% CI, 0.167-0.780; P = 0.008), attending films (R = 0.448; 95% CI, 0.044-0.726; P = 0.032), going out with friends (R = 0.423; 95% CI, 0.013-0.711; P = 0.044) listening to audiobooks (R = 0.433; 95% CI, 0.025-0.717; P = 0.039), and public speaking (R = 0.468; 95% CI, 0.069-0.738; P = 0.024). Gains in binaural performance correlated positively with watching TV news (R = 0.819; 95% CI, 0.509-0.941; P < 0.001) and negatively with eating at restaurants (R = -0.532; 95% CI, -0.829 to -0.002; P = 0.05). Activities that provide intellectual stimulation and engage auditory faculties correlate with greater speech perception testing improvements in adult cochlear implantation patients.

Predictors of Teaching Self-efficacy in Clinical Nursing Teachers: A Cross-sectional Study.

This study aimed to investigate the relationship among clinical nursing teachers' perceived stress, job stress, and teaching self-efficacy and to identify important predictors of clinical nursing teachers' teaching self-efficacy. A cross-sectional study was designed. Data were collected from May 2019 to January 2020, and 205 clinical nursing teachers were recruited from the Department of Nursing in Taiwan. Data were collected for the Perceived Stress Scale, Job Content Questionnaire, and Clinical Nursing Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale. Descriptive statistics, independent t-test, Pearson's correlation, and multiple/stepwise linear regressions were used for analysis. Perceived stress and work stress are related to clinical nursing teachers' teaching self-efficacy. Multiple regression analysis showed that perceived stress and three dimensions of job stress (workload, job control, and work-related social support) were identified as significant predictors of teaching self-efficacy, explaining 16.6% of the total variance. Workload was the strongest predictor of teaching self-efficacy, explaining 5.5% of the variance, while perceived stress, job control, and work-related social support accounted for 2.7%, 4.1%, and 1.7% of the variance, respectively. Perceived stress and job stress were identified as predictors of teaching self-efficacy of clinical nursing teachers. Managers can formulate self-efficacy improvement and decompression plans for clinical nursing teachers to improve teaching self-efficacy.

Getting crafty: Examining social resource crafting's relationship with work engagement and social support.

Social resource crafting is a job crafting strategy in which employees proactively increase their social resources (e.g., feedback from coworkers, coaching from supervisor). We examined social resource crafting's relationships with work-related social support (perceived supervisor and coworker support) and work engagement. Specifically, as there has been growing interest in understanding resource crafting and work engagement, we investigated the directionality of this relationship. Using a two-wave study and structural equation modelling, we tested the dual pathways between resource crafting and work engagement as well as resource crafting's relationship with each type of support. The results suggested social resource crafting was associated with higher levels of coworker support-but not supervisor support - over time and supported a unidirectional path from social resource crafting to work engagement. Our findings provide valuable insight into the power employees have to craft their own positive experiences at work.

Influence of social support on return to work after total hip or total knee arthroplasty: a prospective multicentre cohort study

ObjectivesThere is strong evidence that social support is an important determinant of return to work (RTW). Little is known about the role of social support in RTW after total hip...

Work-related social support affects return-to-work after total hip or total knee arthroplasty

Work-related social support affects return-to-work after total hip or total knee arthroplasty

Moderating effect of work-related social support on the relationship between role conflicts and job satisfaction among female nurses pursuing a further degree in China.

This study aimed to determine the moderating effect of work-related social support on the relationship between work-family-school role conflicts and job satisfaction among female registered nurses pursuing further degrees in China. The study had a cross-sectional correlational design. Convenience sampling was applied to recruit participants from eight hospitals in China from January to August 2017. SPSS software and the PROCESS macro were used to conduct the data analyses in the present study. A total of 320 nurses were included in the present study. Work-family-school role conflicts were negatively correlated with job satisfaction (r = -0.21, P < 0.001). Work-related social support was a significant moderator (interaction effect: β = 0.22, P = 0.039) on the relationship between work-family-school role conflicts and job satisfaction. The study revealed that when nurses perceived that they received a low or moderate level of social support in the workplace that strengthened the relationship between work-family-school role conflicts and job satisfaction. Hospital administrators should implement school- and family-friendly policies that increase the social support provided to nurses pursuing further degrees to balance their responsibilities of work, family and school and to improve their job satisfaction.

HRM practices, employee engagement, organisational commitment and work-related social support

The term employee engagement has become one of the leading foci in human resource development and employee behaviour literature. Both conceptual as well as empirical research on employee engagement are studied to explore the multiple aspects of engagement and its predictors. The outcomes of previous studies have sometimes been unsystematic and inconsistent. They also found a confusion concerning the concept and overlaps between commitment and engagement. The present study tackles these gaps with a theoretical model suggesting the mediating moderating role on HRM-engagement linkage. It further explains the relationships of research framework under the norms of social exchange theory and gives guidance for upcoming research.

HRM practices, employee engagement, organisational commitment and work-related social support

The term employee engagement has become one of the leading foci in human resource development and employee behaviour literature. Both conceptual as well as empirical research on employee engagement are studied to explore the multiple aspects of engagement and its predictors. The outcomes of previous studies have sometimes been unsystematic and inconsistent. They also found a confusion concerning the concept and overlaps between commitment and engagement. The present study tackles these gaps with a theoretical model suggesting the mediating moderating role on HRM-engagement linkage. It further explains the relationships of research framework under the norms of social exchange theory and gives guidance for upcoming research.

High strain and low social support at work as risk factors for being the target of third-party workplace violence among healthcare sector workers.

Introduction:Healthcare workers are particularly vulnerable to third-party workplace violence. The experience of work-related stress, by threatening the psychological balance of healthcare workers, making them less effective in managing the relationship with patients and their family members, may significantly contribute to third-party violence.Objective:To investigate whether stress-related psychosocial situations at work as defined by the widely known Demand-Control model, and the level of work-related social support, act as risk factors for third-party violence among healthcare workers. Specifically, we explored whether the risk of violence is higher in situations associated with higher levels of work-related stress (i.e., active or passive situations, and especially the high strain situation) when compared to a work situation related to lower levels of stress (i.e., low strain situation). We also explored whether the risk of violence is lower at higher levels of social support.Method:Cross-sectional study on 633 healthcare workers. Psychosocial work situations and third-party workplace violence have been operationalized by using well validated scales.Results:Logistic regressions including a number of relevant covariates (e.g., gender, job role, night shift work) revealed that, compared to a low strain situation, an active or passive situation had an increased risk for workplace violence. However, the highest risk was observed for a high strain situation (i.e., the situation associated with the highest level of work-related stress). High social support acted as a protective factor.Conclusion:Healthcare workers’ experience of stress at work may make them more vulnerable to third-party violence. Ensuring better psychosocial working conditions may contribute to the prevention of workplace violence and its consequences.

The Sacred and Stressed: Testing a Model of Clergy Health.

In many ways, clergy and religious leaders are an ignored, yet high-risk population. A clergy member unable to cope with challenges in his or her own life may be ineffective at helping church members to cope with their stress. In the present study, we developed and tested an operational model of clergy holistic health, including occupational demands, and personal and job-related resources. Data were collected from clergy (N = 418) and analyzed using correlational and regression-based techniques. Results from the present study provide support for the demands-control-support model (Johnson and Hall in Am J Public Health 78(10):1336-1342, 1988). Specifically, our findings suggest that clergy mental health may be improved by (a) an increase in the work-related social support needed to take advantage of job control followed by (b) an increase in job control. Furthermore, the present findings expand on previous research by identifying spiritual well-being as an important outcome that may be impacted by job-related demands. The present findings also underscore the value of contextualized or occupation-specific measures, given the stronger correlations that were observed between the occupation-specific measure of perceived job demands than the general measure of perceived job demands.

Psychological and physical job demands, decision latitude, and work-related social support among Iranian waste collectors

Waste collection is known as a stressful and physically demanding job in low/middle income countries. This study aimed to assess the psychological and physical job demands, decision latitude, and work-related social support among Iranian waste collectors. In this cross-sectional study, field observation, video capture, and unstructured interviews were performed to understand the process of waste collection. Data were collected from 200 waste collectors of Shiraz city using a demographic/work characteristics questionnaire and a job content questionnaire (JCQ). Logistic regression analysis was used for the prediction of independent variables affecting job content dimensions. A p < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results show that the rate of municipal solid waste (MSW) generation in Shiraz city was 0.576 kg/capita/day, which translates into about 1076 tons of waste per day per the current population of 1,869,001. The total amount of MSW produced in Shiraz over a four-year period from 2014 to 2017 were 346,093, 363,505, 392,869, and 400,863 tons, respectively. About half of the waste collectors reported high levels of psychological and physical job demands. More than half were concerned with the low level of decision latitude and social support in the workplace. Night-workers (OR = 3.29) and smokers (OR = 2.75) reported higher psychological job demands than day-workers and non-smokers, respectively. Decision latitude and social support were inversely associated with the level of education (OR = 1.90), and daily working time (OR = 2.46), respectively. Based on the Demand-Control-Support Model, waste collectors were exposed to relatively high levels of job stress associated with occupational risk factors.

Investigating Work Family Experiences of Workaholic Women with Moderating Effect of Family Support

Though the work is an important component of life but most of the time especially female employees view it as a passion and forget to pay attention to their own health, family and entertainment. The purpose of this study was to investigate work family experiences of workaholic women with moderation effect of family support through underpinning conservation of resources theory (COR) in banking sector of Pakistan. Total sample size was 110. The Smart PLS version 3.2.8 was used to assess the structural model measurement. Structural model measurement comprised of Path co-efficient (R2) within the limit whereas the P values for workaholism and work family conflict is significant. Similarly, the moderation effect of family support also significant and hence both hypotheses were accepted. The model shows adequate predicative accuracy (Q2) within the threshold value. The study has implication for the banking sector in Pakistan to understand that their workaholic behavior is a productive and valuable phenomenon that needs to be rewarded and addressed ethically and negative outcome can be neutralized through social intervention like family support. However, the future study needs to explore other specific work-related social support as moderation on work family conflict with large sample size and different context.

The Mediating Effect of Teacher Efficacy on the Relation between Social Support and Burnout in Elementary School Teachers

본 연구에서는 사회적 지지가 지지 제공자에 따라 효과가 다르다는 연구를 바탕으로 초등교사의 직장내·직장외 사회적 지지가 소진에 미치는 영향과 그 관계에서 교사효능감의 매개효과를 검증하고자 하였다. 이를 위해 초등교사 207명의 사회적 지지, 소진, 교사효능감을 설문으로 측정하였고, 통계적 분석 결과는 다음과 같다. 초등교사의 직장내 사회적 지지는 소진에 직접적으로 긍정적인 영향을 미치고, 초등교사의 직장외 사회적 지지는 소진에 직접적으로 부정적인 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 또한 초등교사의 직장내 사회적 지지 및 직장외 사회적 지지와 소진의 관계에서 교사효능감이 매개효과를 보였다. 이러한 결과는 관리자 및 동료 교사가 학교 내에서 상호간 지지를 표현하는 것이 소진을 예방하는 요인이 될 수 있으며, 직장 외에서 가족, 친구들이 제공하는 사회적 지지는 소진을 높일 가능성을 시사한다. 또한 사회적 지지는 교사효능감을 향상시킴으로써 소진을 예방할 수 있다. 연구 결과를 토대로 소진에 대한 사회적 지지 및 교사효능감의 영향과 직장외 지지의 특징에 대해 논의하였다.This study examined the mediating effect of teacher efficacy on the relation between work-related/work-unrelated perceived social support and elementary school teacher’s burnout. Social support, burnout, and teacher efficacy of 207 elementary school teachers were measured and data were analyzed. The result showed that work-related social support decreases burnout and work-unrelated social support increases directly burnout. Teacher efficacy has mediating effect on the relation between both social supports and burnout. The results suggest that social support from school managers and fellow teachers may prevent burnout, but social support from family members and friends outside of work can increase burnout. Plus, both social support may decrease burnout by increasing teacher efficacy. Based on the result, the effects of social support and teacher efficacy on burnout and the assumed feature of work-unrelated social support were discussed.

Attitudes toward evidence-based practices, occupational stress and work-related social support among health care providers in China: A SEM analysis.

Individuals’ attitudes toward evidence-based practices (EBP) are critical in adopting, implementing and maintaining the EBP in clinical settings. Multiple empirical studies have examined how work context may shape perceptions and attitudes towards EBP. The current study aims to further explore how both work and family contexts, as assessed by three psychosocial indicators (i.e., occupational stress, work-related social support from coworkers, and work-related social support from family), may affect attitudes toward EBP among health care providers in HIV clinics in China. We analyzed cross-sectional survey data from 357 health care providers recruited from 40 HIV clinics across 16 cities/counties in Guangxi China. Structural equation model (SEM) was constructed to test the hypothesized relationships among key study variables. Occupational stress was negatively associated with work-related social support from coworkers (β = -.19, 95%CI = [-.31,-.12]), which in turn was positively associated with attitudes toward EBP (β = .17, 95%CI = [.04, .30]). Similarly, occupational stress was negatively related to work-related social support from family (β = -.34, 95%CI = [-.42,-.25]), which in turn was positively related to attitudes toward EBP (β = .23, 95%CI = [.12, .35]). Occupational stress was negatively associated with attitudes toward EBP, but the magnitude of association did not reach statistical significance at α = .05. Work-related social support from family partially mediated the association between occupational stress and attitudes toward EBP (Sobel’s z = 3.27, p < .05). Our findings suggest the importance of integrating work and family contexts, especially family support into the strategies of facilitating the adoption and implementation of EBP. The current study also underscores the needs to reduce occupational stress and enhance work-related social support among health care providers who are in frequent contact with HIV patients. In addition, lack of work-related family support may be a main barrier preventing health care providers from developing a positive attitude toward EBP. Therefore, the interventions aiming for promoting adoption and utilization of EBP need to involve specific strategies to resolve work-family conflicts and improve family members’ understanding and support for health care providers in China, especially those who work in a stressful work context such as HIV care.

Life after pelvic organ prolapse surgery: a qualitative study in Amhara region, Ethiopia

BackgroundWomen living in resource constrained settings often have limited knowledge of and access to surgical treatment for pelvic organ prolapse. Additionally, little is known about experiences during recovery periods or about the reintegration process for women who do gain access to medical services, including surgery. This study aimed to explore women’s experiences related to recovery and reintegration after free surgical treatment for pelvic organ prolapse in a resource-constrained setting.MethodsThe study had a qualitative design and used in-depth interviews in the data collection with a purposive sample of 25 participants, including 12 women with pelvic organ prolapse. Recruitment took place at the University of Gondar Hospital, Ethiopia, where women with pelvic organ prolapse had been admitted for free surgical treatment. In-depth interviews were carried out with women at the hospital prior to surgery and in their homes 5–9 months following surgery. Interviews were also conducted with health-care providers (8), representatives from relevant organizations (3), and health authorities (2). The fieldwork was carried out in close collaboration with a local female interpreter.ResultsThe majority of the women experienced a transformation after prolapse surgery. They went from a life dominated by fear of disclosure, discrimination, and divorce due to what was perceived as a shameful and strongly prohibitive condition both physically and socially, to a life of gradually regained physical health and reintegration into a social life. The strong mobilization of family-networks for most of the women facilitated work-related help and social support during the immediate post-surgery period as well as on a long-term basis. The women with less extensive social networks expressed greater challenges, and some struggled to meet their basic needs. All the women openly disclosed their health condition after surgery, and several actively engaged in creating awareness about the condition.ConclusionsFree surgical treatment substantially improved the health and social life for most of the study participants. The impact of the surgery extended to the communities in which the women lived through increased openness and awareness and thus had the potential to ensure increased disclosure among other women who suffer from this treatable condition.

Managers' social support: Facilitators and hindrances for seeking support at work.

Previous research has shown that social support is important for health and performance at work, but there is a lack of research regarding managers' social support at work, and if it needs to be improvedOBJECTIVE:To investigate managers' perception of work-related social support, and facilitators and hindrances that influence their seeking of social support at work. Semi-structured interviews with sixty-two managers in two Swedish organizations. Work-related support, which strengthened their managerial image of being competent, was sought from sources within the workplace. Sensitive and personal support, where there was a risk of jeopardizing their image of being competent, was sought from sources outside the workplace. Access to arenas for support (location of the workplace, meetings, and vocational courses) and the managerial role could facilitate their support-seeking, but could also act as hindrances. Because attending different arenas for support were demanding, they refrained from seeking support if the demands were perceived as too high. Different supportive sources are distinguished based on what supportive function they have and in which arenas they are found, in order to preserve the confidence of the closest organization and to maintain the image of being a competent and performing manager.

Work-related social support modulates effects of early life stress on limbic reactivity during stress.

Early life stress (ELS) affects stress- reactivity via limbic brain regions implicated such as hippocampus and amygdala. Social support is a major protective factor against ELS effects, while subjects with ELS experience reportedly perceive less of it in their daily life. The workplace, where most adults spend a substantial amount of time in their daily lives, might serve as a major resource for social support. Since previous data demonstrated that social support attenuates stress reactivity, we here used a psychosocial stress task to test the hypothesis that work-related social support modulates the effects of ELS. Results show decreased amygdala reactivity during stress in ELS subjects who report high levels of work- related social support, thereby indicating a signature for reduced stress reactivity. However, this effect was only observable on the neural, but not on the behavioral level, since social support had no buffering effect regarding the subjective experience of stress in daily life as well as regarding feelings of uncontrollability induced by the stress task. Accordingly, our data suggest that subjects with ELS experiences might benefit from interventions targeted at lowering their subjective stress levels by helping them to better perceive the availability of social support in their daily lives.

Swedish Police Officers’ Job Strain, Work-Related Social Support and General Mental Health

This study investigated the association between psychosocial job characteristics and general mental health among police officers and the extent to which social support at work plays a role in this ...

Health-related quality of life association with work-related stress and social support among female and male disabled employees

ABSTRACTFew studies have focused on adverse relations of job strain to health in disabled employees by gender. In this study, the author explores gender differences in work-related stress, social support, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among 106 disabled employees in an electronics manufacturing plant during 2012–2013, using questionnaire data on demographics, perceived work-related stress, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Chinese version of the Job Content Questionnaire (C-JCQ), and HRQoL. The prevalence of stress related to workload, colleagues, and supervisor were 26.4%, 14.1%, and 8.5%, respectively. Disabled females had higher scores for psychological job demand than male disabled employees (p = .0219). Increasing psychological job demand scores were adversely related to physical function scores (β = −1.6) in males, whereas increasing decision latitude scores were positively related to role-limitation due to physical function (β = 2.3), general health (β = 1.2), vitality (β = 1.3), role-limitation due to emotional health (β = 2.6), and mental health (β = 0.9) scores in females. These results provide a better understanding of the HRQoL in female and male disabled workers, allowing for the development of stress-prevention programs specific for gender in disabled laborers.