| 1. |
- Arneson, Hanna, 1973-
(författare)
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Empowerment and health promotion in working life
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background: In ‘workplace health promotion’, empowerment is assumed to promote health. Nevertheless, few studies have examined the relationship between empowerment in working life, and health.Aim: To study the impact of empowerment in working life on health, with special focus on gender differences.Material and methods: Paper I is a review of the scientific literature, examining instruments intended to measure empowerment in working life. The second study (paper II) was a cross-sectional survey, assessing the relationship between psychological empowerment, and self-rated health and burnout among employees. Papers III and IV encompass a two-year longitudinal survey study of the gender-specific relationships between baseline levels of psychological empowerment, and the combination of psychological support and social support, and self-rated health and burnout two years later among employees. Study five (paper V) is a qualitative study, using focus-group interviews and phenomenography to evaluate a theory-based intervention method, problem-based learning, for workplace health promotion with regard to possible facilitation of empowerment processes.Results: In paper I, nine questionnaires were found and analysed. Most of the questionnaires focused on intra-individual issues, while a smaller number dealt with the interaction between individual and organisation. Control and competence were frequently used dimensions. The Psychological Empowerment Instrument had undergone the most comprehensive investigation, showing satisfactory validity and reliability. In paper II, men reported a greater degree of psychological empowerment than women in terms of self-determination and impact. Associations were found between psychological empowerment, and self-rated health and burnout (p<0.05). Men and women with higher levels of empowerment reported significantly better health, compared with those who had lower levels of empowerment. Papers III and IV show that for women, increasing levels of psychological empowerment at work at baseline were associated with better self-rated health as measured by the SF-36 scales physical role function, bodily pain, and mental health at the 2-year follow-up (p<0.05). Also for women, a combination of high psychological empowerment and high social support at the workplace was associated (p<0.05) with better self-rated health (bodily pain, general health, vitality, social functioning, emotional role, mental health, EQ-5D VAS, and EQ-5D index) and lower levels of work-related burnout at the 2-year follow-up. For men, psychological empowerment at baseline, and a combination of psychological empowerment and social support at the workplace, were associated with self-rated health at follow-up as measured by the EQ-5D VAS (p<0.05). Combinations of psychological empowerment and social support were associated with work-related burnout at the two-year follow-up for women only (p=0.002). The differences between men and women were confirmed in the gender×empowerment and social support interaction analysis for the measures bodily pain, social function, and work-related burnout (p<0.05). The phenomenographic analysis in paper V resulted in six descriptive categories: reflection, awareness and insight, self-direction and self-management, group coherence, social support and action. The results correspond to established theories on components of empowerment processes. The method “problem-based learning” initiated processes of change at organisational, workplace and individual levels. Social support and group coherence were expressed as essential in order to transform challenging strategies into action and goal realisation.Conclusions: This thesis demonstrates that psychological empowerment is associated with self-rated health and burnout. Psychological empowerment also impacts mental and somatic health after two years. The impact on health becomes more extensive when psychological empowerment is combined with social support at the workplace. Empowerment and social support are crucial core characteristics in ‘workplace health promotion’, but effects may differ for men and women. Empowerment processes can be facilitated by implementation of the participative intervention method known as “problem-based learning”. Practitioners and researchers who are active in health enhancement in working life should gain from implementing these findings, whether the focus is on health promotion, disease prevention, or rehabilitation back to work.
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| 2. |
- Berthelsen, Hanne, et al.
(författare)
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It is not just about occupation, but also about where you work
- 2017
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Ingår i: Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0301-5661 .- 1600-0528. ; 45:4, s. 372-379
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives: Dentistry is characterized by a meaningful but also stressful psychosocial working environment. Job satisfaction varies among staff working under different organizational forms. The aim of this study was to identify (i) to what extent crucial psychosocial work environment characteristics differ among occupations in general public dental clinics in Sweden, and (ii) how much of the variation within each occupation is attributable to the organizational level. Methods: All staff (N=1782) employed in four public dental organizations received an email with personal log-in to an electronic questionnaire based on the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire. After two reminders, a response rate of 75% was obtained. Responses from 880 nonmanagerial dentists, dental hygienists and dental nurses working in general practices were included in our analyses. Results: First, we compared the three dental occupations. We found that job demands, task resources (eg influence, possibilities for development and role clarity), strain symptoms and attitudes to work differed among occupations, dentists having the least favourable situation. Next, we compared the four organizations for each occupational group, separately. For dentists, a significant and relevant amount of variance (P<.05 and ICC >.05) was explained by the organizational level for 15 of 26 subscales, least pronounced for task resources. By contrast, for dental nurses and hygienists, the corresponding number was 2 subscales of 26. The psychosocial working environment of people working at the organization with the highest levels of strain indicators and the least positive work-related attitudes differed systematically from the organization with the most favourable profile, in particular regarding job demands and leadership aspects. Conclusion: In conclusion, the psychosocial working environment depended to a large degree on occupation and, for dentists in particular, also on their organizational affiliation. The findings suggest a potential for designing interventions at organizational level for improvements of the psychosocial working environment for dentists.
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| 3. |
- Burr, Hermann, et al.
(författare)
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The Third Version of the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire
- 2019
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Ingår i: SH@W Safety and Health at Work. - : Elsevier. - 2093-7911 .- 2093-7997. ; 10:4, s. 482-503
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction A new third version of the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ III) has been developed in response to trends in working life, theoretical concepts, and international experience. A key component of the COPSOQ III is a defined set of mandatory core items to be included in national short, middle, and long versions of the questionnaire. The aim of the present article is to present and test the reliability of the new international middle version of the COPSOQ III. Methods The questionnaire was tested among 23,361 employees during 2016–2017 in Canada, Spain, France, Germany, Sweden, and Turkey. A total of 26 dimensions (measured through scales or single items) of the middle version and two from the long version were tested. Psychometric properties of the dimensions were assessed regarding reliability (Cronbach α), ceiling and floor effects (fractions with extreme answers), and distinctiveness (correlations with other dimensions). Results Most international middle dimensions had satisfactory reliability in most countries, though some ceiling and floor effects were present. Dimensions with missing values were rare. Most dimensions had low to medium intercorrelations. Conclusions The COPSOQ III offers reliable and distinct measures of a wide range of psychosocial dimensions of modern working life in different countries; although a few measures could be improved. Future testing should focus on validation of the COPSOQ items and dimensions using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Such investigations would enhance the basis for recommendations using the COPSOQ III.
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| 4. |
- Conway, Paul Maurice, et al.
(författare)
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Workplace bullying and risk of suicide and suicide attempts : A register-based prospective cohort study of 98 330 participants in Denmark
- 2022
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health. - : Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health. - 0355-3140 .- 1795-990X. ; 48:6, s. 425-434
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives: The aim of this study was to analyze whether individuals reporting exposure to workplace bullying had a higher risk of suicidal behavior, including both suicide attempt and death by suicide, than those not reporting such exposure. Methods: Using a prospective cohort study design, we linked data from nine Danish questionnaire-based surveys (2004–2014) to national registers up to 31 December 2016. Exposure to workplace bullying was measured by a single item. Suicide attempts were identified in hospital registers and death by suicide in the Cause of Death Reg-ister. Among participants with no previous suicide attempts, we estimated hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI), adjusting for sex, age, marital status, socioeconomic status, and history of psychiatric morbidity. Results: The sample consisted of 98 330 participants (713 798 person-years), 63.6% were women, and the mean age was 44.5 years. Of these participants, 10 259 (10.4%) reported workplace bullying. During a mean follow-up of 7.3 years, we observed 184 cases of suicidal behavior, including 145 suicide attempts, 35 deaths by suicide and 4 cases that died by suicide after surviving a suicide attempt. The fully-adjusted HR for the association between workplace bullying and suicidal behavior was 1.65 (95% CI 1.06–2.58). The HR for suicide attempts and death by suicide were 1.65 (1.09–2.50) and 2.08 (0.82–5.27), respectively. Analyses stratified by sex showed a sta-tistically significant association between workplace bullying and suicidal behavior among men but not women. Conclusions: The results suggest that exposure to workplace bullying is associated with an elevated risk of suicidal behavior among men.
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| 5. |
- Eller, Nanna H, et al.
(författare)
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Work-related psychosocial factors and the development of ischemic heart disease : a systematic review.
- 2009
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Ingår i: Cardiology in review. - 1538-4683. ; 17:2, s. 83-97
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Forskningsöversikt (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The literature on the relationship between work-related psychosocial factors and the development of ischemic heart disease (IHD) was systematically reviewed: 33 articles presented 51 analyses of studies involving male participants, 18 analyses involving female participants, and 8 analyses with both genders. Twenty of the studies originated in the Nordic countries, and the major dimensions of the Demand-Control Model were the focus of 23 articles. A balanced evaluation of the studies indicates moderate evidence that high psychologic demands, lack of social support, and iso-strain are risk factors for IHD among men. Studies performed during recent years have not shown evidence for lack of control as a risk factor for IHD. Several studies have shown that job strain is a risk factor, but in the more recent ones, these associations can be fully explained by the association between demands and disease risk. Insufficient evidence was found for a relationship between IHD and effort-reward imbalance, injustice, job insecurity, or long working hours. Studies involving women are too few to draw any conclusion concerning women, work stress, and IHD.
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