Worker Psychological Health Research Articles

Effects of vr-based interactive interior design on the emotional and mental health of office worker

ABSTRACT From the perspective of the evolution of the concept of health, the purpose of mental health is to achieve better living conditions, higher adaptability and development level, and also the best combination of physical and mental well-being and social well-being. According to the literature, the region and privacy of office interior design, the comfort and convenience of office furniture, the charm of office environment and individuation all have an impact on the mental health of office workers. Interactive interior design based on virtual reality can improve the office environment, thus improving the work efficiency and productivity of employees. A comfortable office environment has a positive impact on physical factors for office workers, which is beneficial for improving their mental health. This paper aimed to study how to analyze and study the impact of interactive interior design based on virtual reality (VR) on the emotional and psychological health of office workers. In this paper, the impact of VR interior design was evaluated by fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method, and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was used to quantify the weight. In the experiment part of this paper, through the analysis of the questionnaire of the office workers in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, and the comparison of the experimental data, it can be known that before the experiment, the control group and the experimental group were both very healthy, and after the experiment, the psychological health of the two groups was very healthy, which was 0 and 4 people. It can be seen that the psychological health of the workers in the experimental group has changed significantly. This paper studied the influence of VR interaction design on worker’s emotion from the experimental point of view and proved its influence on employee’s emotion from the empirical point of view, which had certain reference significance for future research.

Economic costs of poor PSC manifest in sickness absence and voluntary turnover

Abstract Work-related stress is a major occupational health and safety (OHS) issue that has industrial relations origins. Aside from the moral and human rights imperatives to improve the corporate climate for worker psychological health (as per psychosocial safety climate, PSC), there are strong economic costs for not doing so. PSC refers to worker perceptions of the corporate safety system to protect and promote workers’ psychological health and wellbeing. It is a leading indicator of working conditions, which in turn affect workers’ health and work engagement. In this study, we estimate the attributable economic cost of low PSC due to sickness absence and turnover. Data were collected from a multinational company using survey at Time 1 (T1) and objective company data (i.e., sickness absence and turnover) after one year (T2). Using regression analysis and a matched sample of 617 responses, PSC was negatively related to future sickness absence. A binomial logistic regression with 1268 respondents (i.e., all responses at T1) showed that PSC was negatively related to future voluntary turnover. An economic analysis suggests that improving OHS via PSC could save an organisation with 5000 employees USD 0.6–2.7 million per year. Building PSC to protect and promote workers’ psychological health is a likely economic saving on organisational productivity.

Joint ICOH-WOPS & APA-PFAW global roundtable perspectives: exploring national policy approaches for psychological health at work through the 'National Policy Index' lens.

Worker psychological health is a significant global imperative which requires national policy action and stakeholder engagement. While national policy is a critical lever for improving worker psychological health, some countries are more progressive than others in relation to policy development and/or implementation. At the Joint Congress of the International Commission on Occupational Health, Scientific Committee on Work Organization and Psychosocial Factors and the Asia Pacific Academy for Psychosocial Factors Work in Tokyo (September 2023), a Global Roundtable was designed to initiate international dialogue and knowledge exchange regarding relevant national policy approaches. The Global Roundtable involved experts from diverse regions alongside an engaged audience of congress attendees and facilitators. Qualitative data were analysed against the five components of the National Policy Index tool, comprising policy priority, specific laws, nation-wide initiatives, sector-oriented initiatives, national survey and/or studies. Analysis revealed that while work-related psychological health is a policy priority across many countries, at the same time, there are global gaps in both legislation specificity and active regulation across different countries. For future policy development across countries, it will be beneficial to continue and deepen international discourse and for countries to share their approaches with others.

PSC as an organisational level determinant of working time lost and expenditure following workplace injuries and illnesses

ObjectivesFinding an association between organisational factors and working time loss following workplace injury and illness (hereafter injury) could rightfully shift the focus in injury management strategies from the individual to the organisation. We investigate whether working time loss and expenditure following compensable injury can be predicted by knowing about organisational characteristics, particularly the Psychosocial Safety Climate (PSC) − the organisation’s climate for worker psychological health. MethodsOur prospective multisource study linked ‘objective’ reports of working conditions assessed in an independent Australian Workplace Barometer (AWB) sample (random population interviews of 1067 workers) to future workers compensation claims data held by a government safety regulator, by aggregating both data sets to the organisational (employer) level. We selected compensation data prior to big policy changes to a short tail scheme. We selected claims with working time loss due to injury or illness ≥1 day yielding 100 organisations and 12,624 claims. ResultsResults support organisational PSC as a leading indicator of future time loss and expenditure, and its effect was mediated through skill discretion, job satisfaction, and rewards. Decision authority, supervisory support, and bullying were also related to time loss but not as strongly as PSC. In very low PSC organisations, days lost were 160 % higher than for those in high PSC organisations (177 vs 68 days). Likewise, expenditure for the injury or illness (e.g., health expenses, wages) was 104 % higher in very low PSC vs high PSC organisations (AUD $67 260 vs $32 939). ConclusionPSC is a modifiable social determinant of injured workers working time loss and expenditure. Practically, it is essential to target PSC for safety improvement — beyond injury prevention PSC is important for return to work and to prevent the shift of the burden of organisational problems to the individual and public health.

Advance in occupational health risks and management of shift work

The occupational health issues of shift workers has received increasing attention in the field of occupational health, and discussed in this article through literature review on the health risks and management of shift work both domestically and internationally. Based on this, a series of impacts of shift work on the physiological and psychological health of workers, as well as their family and social life, are revealed. Combined with relatively mature regulations and policies in foreign countries, it is proposed that China should fully learn from the relevant experience of health management in shift work abroad, Strengthen research and explore effective management intervention measures to provide ideas for accelerating the development of scientifically feasible regulations and policies related to occupational health in shift work in China.

Slow Work: The Mainstream Concept

The global acceleration of the pace of life has led to an increase in working hours, time pressure, and intensification of work tasks in organisations, with consequences for the physical and psychological health of workers. This acceleration and its consequences make it especially relevant to consider the principles of the slow movement and how they can be applied to the work context, focusing on the importance of slowing down the current pace of work and its implications for the sustainability of people and organisations. The key purpose of this study is to define the concept of slow work and understand its relationship with individual and organisational factors in order to extract the structuring dimensions, enabling its empirical study and practical application. Using grounded theory methodology, we conducted 12 semi-structured interviews with leaders of organisations from different sectors. Data analysis was performed using the MAXQDA programme. It was concluded that slow work is a way of working that respects the balance between individual rhythms and the objectives of the organisation, in favour of the sustainability of both parties, and that advocates qualitative goals, thinking time, individual recovery, purpose, and the humanisation of work. The main contribution is the conceptualisation of a construct that may be used in future studies, as well as in the development of organisational policies promoting the slow work culture.

근골격계통증 관련요인이 건설업 근로자의 심리적 건강에 미치는 영향

근골격계통증 관련요인이 건설업 근로자의 심리적 건강에 미치는 영향

Psychosocial safety climate as a predictor of work engagement, creativity, innovation, and work performance: A case study of software engineers.

Creativity is vital for competitive advantage within technological environments facing the fourth industrial revolution. However, existing research on creativity has rarely addressed how a climate beneficial for worker psychological health, a psychosocial safety climate (PSC), could additionally stimulate the growth of workplace creativity, innovation, and performance in digital environments. To examine how individually perceived PSC influences subsequent work engagement promoting higher levels of computer-based radical and incremental creativity, innovation, and work performance, employees in a software engineering firm (N = 29, 86 observations) completed a weekly questionnaire for 4 consecutive weeks. At the between-person level PSC was positively related to average future weekly individual fluctuations of creativity (radical and incremental), work engagement, and job performance. Additionally weekly work engagement was related to future creativity (radical and incremental). Work engagement also mediated the between-person relationship between PSC and future creativity (both radical and incremental). PSC did not predict innovation. This study contributes to the theory on PSC, creativity, and work performance by elucidating the individual perceived PSC-creativity relationship and suggesting PSC systems as meaningful antecedents to digital work performance.

Quantitative Analysis of Online Labor Platforms' Algorithmic Management Influence on Psychological Health of Workers.

Online labor platforms (OLPs) can use algorithms to strengthen the control of the labor process. In fact, they construct work circumstances with higher work requirements and pressure. Workers' autonomy in behavior is limited, which will have a great influence on their labor psychology. In this paper, taking the online take-out platform as an example and by using a qualitative study of take-out riders' delivery processes, which were supplemented by semi-structured, in-depth interviews with online platform executives and engineers, we used grounded theory to explore the influencing factors of OLPs' algorithmic management on take-out riders' working psychology. The quantitative analysis results showed that, in the context of conflict between work autonomy and algorithmic management, platform workers experienced psychological tensions relating to work satisfaction, compensation, and belonging. Our research contributes to protect public health and labor rights of OLP workers.

The role of psychosocial safety climate on flexible work from home digital job demands and work-life conflict.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of employees in flexible work from home has increased markedly along with a reliance on information communication technologies. This study investigated the role of an organisational factor, psychosocial safety climate (PSC; the climate for worker psychological health and safety), as an antecedent of these new kinds of demands (specifically work from home digital job demands) and their effect on work-life conflict. Data were gathered via an online survey of 2,177 employees from 37 Australian universities. Multilevel modelling showed that university level PSC to demands, y=-0.09, SE=0.03, p<0.01, and demands to work-life conflict, y=0.51, SE=0.19, p<0.05, relationships were significant. Supporting the antecedent theory, university level PSC was significantly indirectly related to work-life conflict via demands (LL -0.10 UL -0.01). Against expectations PSC did not moderate the demand to work-life conflict relationship. The results imply that targeting PSC could help prevent work from home digital job demands, and therefore, work-life conflict. Further research is needed on the role of digital job resources as flexible and hybrid work takes hold post COVID.

The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Psychological Health and Dental Practice of Oral Healthcare Workers: A Scoping Review.

This study aims to identify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the psychological health and dental practice of oral health-care workers (OHCWs). The search for relevant literature was carried out online using PubMed, Web of science, and science direct databases from January 2020 to February 2021. Those articles were included that provided complete information about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on oral health-care workers during covid-19 and were original articles and reviews. Those articles were excluded from the current study that was not in English Language and involved case reports/book chapters/short communications. Finally, only 8 articles were selected for the scoping review considering that complete information regarding the provision of dental care in the time of COVID-19 was provided. Increased psychological distress (especially those with existing comorbidities) was noted among the OHCWs during this pandemic. They had enough knowledge about COVID-19 and showed concern regarding the future of dentistry. Either complete or partial closure of dental clinics had introduced financial constraints among them. However, the majority of them did not switch their profession. The institutions were not prepared for any such situation and no training was conducted to control the spread of COVID-19 infection. OHCWs are fully aware of the knowledge regarding COVID-19 and showed concerns for dentistry and dental health-care workers during this pandemic. Complete or partial closure of dental clinics has had adverse effects on the future of dentistry, economically as well as psychologically. Institutions need to upgrade and strengthen their systems to cater to any such situation efficiently. Proper counseling sessions should be conducted for the OHCWs to monitor, identify and treat the cases found.

Contextualising the Effectiveness of an Employee Assistance Program Intervention on Psychological Health: The Role of Corporate Climate.

Organisations often engage Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) to assist employees experiencing psychological distress, yet EAPs primarily focus on individual remedies rather than addressing the context of the problem (e.g., the corporate climate) which may render them limited in effectiveness. We investigated the effectiveness of EAPs and the role of organisation psychosocial safety climate (PSC) (the corporate climate for worker psychological health and safety) and client satisfaction in reducing client psychological distress. Client participants (Time 1, n = 100, Time 2, n = 28, Matched n = 25) from Australia and New Zealand entering an EAP took part in two online surveys, pre- and post-EAP, around five weeks apart. Multilevel analysis showed a significant reduction in psychological distress due to the EAP (individual effect) but particularly at high levels of PSC (organisational effect). Thus, EAPs could engender a more significant impact by also assisting organisations to improve their PSC (i.e., through implementation of policies, practices and procedures for worker psychological health and safety), in combination with individual interventions.

Technologies to Support the Psychological Health and Well-being of Social Workers in China in a Professional Environment

Technologies to Support the Psychological Health and Well-being of Social Workers in China in a Professional Environment

Organizational context matters: Psychosocial safety climate as a precursor to team and individual motivational functioning

Beyond its function to protect worker psychological health, psychosocial safety climate (PSC) may be construed as a context factor that affects employee work motivation. This study explores the effect of PSC on various aspects of motivational functioning at work. We expected PSC to be positively related to wellbeing-related outcomes (work engagement and organizational commitment) and that these relations would be mediated through job resources and job crafting, and that they would be evident at both the individual and team level.Multilevel mediation analysis was used with data from 963 health professionals (doctors and nurses) from 66 work units in two Chinese hospitals. At the individual level, there were significant effects of, individual resources on work engagement and organizational commitment through individual crafting; PSC through individual resources on individual crafting, and PSC through individual crafting on work engagement and organizational commitment. At the team level, team resources were related to average team work engagement and organizational commitment through team crafting; PSC was related to team crafting through team resources, and the indirect effects of PSC through team crafting on average work engagement and organizational commitment were significant.Overall, the results support the proposition that the PSC context positively predicts team- and individual-level work motivation. We conclude that PSC theory can serve as an integrative contextual framework to explain the complex interplay of factors from different sources (i.e., the team and the individual) that contribute to work motivation.

Impact of Supportive Leadership During Covid-19 on Nurses' Well-Being: The Mediating Role of Psychological Capital.

The corona virus disease (Covid-19) has significantly affected the social, physical, and psychological health of workers, specifically the nurses working in the healthcare sectors. Studies have been conducted on the impact of Covid-19 on employees' well-being, organizational structure, and job design; however, limited studies have been conducted focusing on the impact of leadership on employee's well-being during the Covid-19 pandemic. Drawing on job demands resources model and social exchange theory, we examined the impact of supportive leadership on employees' physical, social, and psychological well-being during the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, we examined the mediating role of psychological capital in examining the relationship between supportive leadership and employees' physical, social, and psychological well-being. Based on three wave time-lagged design, the data were collected from 214 nurses' linear regression analysis and Hayes Process for mediation to test the proposed hypothesis. As hypothesized, supportive leadership predicted employees' physical, social, and psychological well-being. In addition, psychological capital mediated the relationship between supportive leadership and employees' physical, social, and psychological well-being. Implications for research, theory, and practice are discussed.

Research on the Effects of Occupational Stress and the DRD2 Gene on the Psychological Health of Workers in the Xinjiang Desert Oil Field.

Background: This study investigated the relationship between occupational stress and the mental health of people working in oil fields in the arid desert environment of Xinjiang, and revealed the causal relationship between occupational stress and psychological disorders, while furthermore exploring the relationship between psychological disorders and genetic levels.Methods: The participants of this study included oil field company workers from the Xinjiang Petroleum Administration of Karamay City, Xinjiang, who underwent occupational health examinations. The Occupational Stress Inventory Revised Edition (OSI-R) was used to measure the occupational stress of the oil workers. The mental health status of oil workers was evaluated using the Symptoms Checklist-90.Results: Occupational tasks: The total scores of the personal strain and mental health questionnaires were positively correlated with somatization, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, terror, paranoia, and psychosis (P < 0.05). Individual coping resources and the mental health total score was negatively correlated with somatization, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, interpersonal sensitivity, anxiety, hostility, terror, paranoia, and psychosis. The following factors were identified as mental health risk factors: female gender; age 45 and above (relative to ≤30 years old); high scores on the personal strain questionnaire; occupational stress; external effort; internal investment; and high effort-low return. The following factors were identified as protective factors for mental health: Han nationality; oil transportation (relative to drilling); individual resilience; and work returns. In respect to the abnormal psychological group and the normal psychological group, statistically significant differences were found in the distribution of genotypes and allele frequencies at the rs1800497 locus (P < 0.05). The depression and paranoia scores observed between different genotype groups at the rs1800497 locus were statistically significant (P < 0.05).Conclusions: This study shows that occupational stress and the D2 dopamine receptor (DRD2) gene have an impact on the mental health of oil field workers in the arid desert environment of Xinjiang. Effort-reward imbalance and occupational stress were identified as risk factors for mental health, while rewards for work were protective factors. Higher levels of occupational stress may lead to depression and other psychological disorders, adversely affecting mental health. In oil field operators in the arid desert environment of Xinjiang, the AA genotype of the DRD2 gene in the rs1800497 locus was identified as a genotype specific to susceptibility to mental health problems, and a correlation was found between the A allele and an increased risk of psychological problems. Therefore, it is necessary to devise relevant measures to alleviate occupational stress among oil workers and increase their job rewards, so as to improve their mental health.

6 Health Care Worker Psychological and Physiological Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Previous work has established that frontline health care workers (HCWs), such as emergency physicians and nurses, are vulnerable to the development of adverse behavioral, psychological, and physical sequelae, which may persist long after the disaster. We examine the prevalence and predictors of psychological distress in ED clinicians working during the COVID-19 pandemic. We examined psychological and physiological (sleep, resting heart rate, blood pressure) of a sample of frontline providers during the COVID-19 pandemic

Anxiety, depression, stress, fear and social support during COVID-19 pandemic among Jordanian healthcare workers.

The emergence of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected health-care workers’ psychological and mental health. Few studies have been conducted examining the psychological effect of COVID-19 on health-care worker psychological health in Jordan. Therefore, the present study aims to assess the respective levels of fear, anxiety, depression, stress, social support, and the associated factors, experienced by Jordanian health-care workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic. This study adopted a cross-sectional, correlational design to collect data from 365 health-care workers in Amman, Jordan, from August 16th to 23rd, 2020. Along with collecting sociodemographic characteristics, the Fear of COVID-19 Scale, the Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale, and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support electronically administered to participants. The majority of the participants (69.3%) were registered nurses. The mean overall score for the Fear of COVID-19 scale was 23.64 (SD + 6.85) which again exceeded the mid-point for the total score range (21), indicating elevated level fear of the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants had displayed extremely severe depression 40%, extremely severe anxiety 60%, and 35% severely distressed. Scores for depression (21.30 ± 10.86), anxiety (20.37 ± 10.80), stress (23.33 ± 10.87) were also high. Factors determined to be associated with psychological distress were being male, married, aged 40 years and older, and having more clinical experience. Assessment of social support indicated moderate-to-high levels of perceived support for all dimensions (significant other: 5.17 ± 1.28, family: 5.03 ± 1.30, friends: 5.05 ± 1.30). Weak significant correlations were found between social support and the other study variables (r < 0.22), indicating a weak association with fear, depression, anxiety, and stress, respectively. Overall, Jordanian health-care workers sample reported fear, depression, anxiety, and stress. The associated factors were being male, married, aged 40 years and older, and having more clinical experience. Regarding social support, participants primarily relied on support from their families, followed by support from friends.

Estratégias de enfrentamento para manutenção da saúde mental do trabalhador em tempos de Covid-19: Uma Revisão Integrativa

OBJETIVO: Apresentar evidências científicas de possíveis estratégias que podem ser empregadas em trabalhadores para minimização de sofrimento psíquico decorrente do contexto pandêmico. MÉTODO: Durante o mês de maio e junho de 2020 realizou-se uma revisão integrativa da literatura científica acerca da temática em questão, sendo utilizados os descritores indexados no DeCS: estratégias de enfrentamento; infecções por coronavírus; saúde mental e trabalhadores. Para realizar a pesquisa, os descritores foram combinados nas bases de dados Pepsic, Pubmed e Scielo. RESULTADOS: Foi possível identificar as seguintes estratégias de enfrentamento de caráter preventivo: medidas de identificação precoce dos sintomas mentais, medidas regulares de descanso e treinamento de pessoal. Assim como, foi possível evidenciar medidas de promoção em saúde mental aos trabalhadores, tais como: utilização de primeiros socorros psicológicos; participação de grupos terapêuticos; gerenciamento de crises. E, na área da reabilitação em saúde mental: utilização de técnicas de meditação e mindfulness, tanto para serem executadas por profissionais de saúde, no âmbito organizacional, quanto por ações governamentais. CONCLUSÃO: Considera-se que a informação de técnicas e práticas psicológicas voltadas a saúde psíquica do trabalhador possa contribuir na identificação e controle dos riscos psicossociais e colaborar para o desenvolvimento no campo da Saúde Pública em relação aos processos de saúde-doença dos trabalhadores, em especial, dos agravos a saúde mental derivados da pandemia.

Effect of psychosocial safety climate on psychological distress via job resources, work engagement and workaholism: a multilevel longitudinal study

Objective. Our innovation was to propose a multilevel model to explain how an organizational factor, psychosocial safety climate (PSC) – the climate for worker psychological health – related to work investment (work engagement and workaholism) and, in turn, psychological distress. Methods. Longitudinal data were collected in Peninsular Malaysia across 26 police departments from 392 police personnel, matched across 4 months, and were tested using hierarchical linear modeling. Results. The analysis revealed between-group effects linking PSC to job resources, to work engagement and to workaholism. When PSC operated by improving job resources, aside from increased work engagement, it could unwittingly boost workaholism. However, this only existed under low PSC conditions. The secondary function of PSC buffered the impact of job resources on workaholism and psychological distress. When PSC was high, job resources reduced both workaholism and psychological distress, suggesting that PSC enabled resources to do their job of mitigating unfavorable conditions. Conclusions. Results support a multilevel PSC-extended job demands–resources motivational path with cross-links, and PSC’s moderation function, as an explanation of worker psychological health. Confirming PSC as a leading indicator and the importance of a motivational path, this article presents new evidence in support of targeting PSC to improve worker psychological health.