| 1. |
- Andreeva, Elena, et al.
(author)
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Depressive symptoms as a cause and effect of job loss in men and women : evidence in the context of organisational downsizing from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health
- 2015
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In: BMC Public Health. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1471-2458. ; 15
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Few studies have examined depression as both a cause and effect of unemployment, but no prior work investigated these relationships in the context of organisational downsizing. We explored whether the exposure to downsizing is associated with subsequent depression (social causation), and whether pre-existing depression increases the risk of being laid off when organisations downsize (health selection). Methods: Two successive waves of the nationally representative Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health represented the baseline (2008) and follow-up (2010) of this study. Analyses included 196 workers who lost their jobs through downsizing, 1462 layoff survivors remaining in downsized organisations and 1845 employees of non-downsized workplaces. The main outcomes were: (1) Depressive symptoms at follow-up, assessed with a brief subscale from the Symptom Checklist 90, categorised by severity levels (major depression, less severe symptoms and no depression) and analysed in relation to earlier downsizing exposure; (2) Job loss in persons with downsizing in relation to earlier depressive symptoms. The associations were assessed by means of multinomial logistic regression. Results: Job loss consistently predicted subsequent major depression among men and women, with a somewhat greater effect size in men. Surviving a layoff was significantly associated with subsequent major depression in women but not in men. Women with major depression have increased risks of exclusion from employment when organisations downsize, whereas job loss in men was not significantly influenced by their health. Conclusions: The evidence from this study suggests that the relative importance of social causation and health selection varies by gender in the context of organisational downsizing. Strategies for handling depression among employees should be sensitive to gender-specific risks during layoffs. Policies preventing social exclusion can be important for female workers at higher risk of depression.
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| 2. |
- Andreeva, Elena, et al.
(author)
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Risk of psychological ill health and methods of organisational downsizing : a cross-sectional survey in four European countries
- 2017
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In: BMC Public Health. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1471-2458. ; 17
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: The manner in which organizational downsizing is implemented can make a substantial difference as to whether the exposed workers will suffer from psychological ill health. Surprisingly, little research has directly investigated this issue. We examined the likelihood of psychological ill health associated with strategic and reactive downsizing. Methods: A cross-sectional survey included 1456 respondents from France, Sweden, Hungary and the United Kingdom: 681 employees in stable workplaces (reference group) and 775 workers from downsized companies. Reactive downsizing was exemplified by the exposures to compulsory redundancies of medium to large scale resulting in job loss or surviving a layoff while staying employed in downsized organizations. The workforce exposed to strategic downsizing was represented by surplus employees who were internally redeployed and supported through their career change process within a policy context of no compulsory redundancy. Symptoms of anxiety, depression and emotional exhaustion were assessed in telephone interviews with brief subscales from Hospital Anxiety Scale (HADS-A), Hopkins Symptom Checklist (SCL-CD6) and Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI-GS). Data were analyzed using logistic regression. Results: We observed no increased risk of psychological ill health in the case of strategic downsizing. The number of significant associations with psychological ill health was the largest for the large-scale reactive downsizing: surviving a layoff was consistently associated with all three outcome measures; returning to work after the job loss experience was related to anxiety and depression, while persons still unemployed at interview had elevated odds of anxiety. After reactive medium-scale downsizing, unemployment at interview was the only exposure associated with anxiety and depression. Conclusions: The manner in which organizational downsizing is implemented can be important for the psychological wellbeing of workers. If downsizing is unavoidable, it should be achieved strategically. Greater attention is needed to employment and health policies supporting the workers after reactive downsizing.
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| 3. |
- Brenner, M. Harvey, et al.
(author)
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Organizational downsizing and depressive symptoms in the European recession : the experience of workers in France, Hungary, Sweden and the United kingdom
- 2014
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In: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 9:5
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Organizational downsizing has become highly common during the global recession of the late 2000s with severe repercussions on employment. We examine whether the severity of the downsizing process is associated with a greater likelihood of depressive symptoms among displaced workers, internally redeployed workers and lay-off survivors. Methods: A cross-sectional survey involving telephone interviews was carried out in France, Hungary, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The study analyzes data from 758 workers affected by medium-and large-scale downsizing, using multiple logistic regression. Main Results: Both unemployment and surviving layoffs were significantly associated with depressive symptoms, as compared to reemployment, but the perceived procedural justice of a socially responsible downsizing process considerably mitigated the odds of symptoms. Perception of high versus low justice was assessed along several downsizing dimensions. In the overall sample, chances to have depressive symptoms were significantly reduced if respondents perceived the process as transparent and understandable, fair and unbiased, well planned and democratic; if they trusted the employer's veracity and agreed with the necessity for downsizing. The burden of symptoms was significantly greater if the process was perceived to be chaotic. We further tested whether perceived justice differently affects the likelihood of depressive symptoms among distinct groups of workers. Findings were that the odds of symptoms largely followed the same patterns of effects across all groups of workers. Redeploying and supporting surplus employees through the career change process-rather than forcing them to become unemployed-makes a substantial difference as to whether they will suffer from depressive symptoms. Conclusions: While depressive symptoms affect both unemployed and survivors, a just and socially responsible downsizing process is important for the emotional health of workers.
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| 4. |
- Sack, Ulrich, et al.
(author)
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Quality and best practice in medical laboratories : specific requests for autoimmunity testing
- 2020
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In: Autoimmun Highlights. - : Springer. - 2038-0305 .- 2038-3274. ; 11:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Special conditions associated with laboratory autoimmune testing are not well compatible with recent developments in regulatory frameworks such as EN/ISO 15189 accreditation or in vitro diagnostic medical device regulation (IVD-R). In addition, international recommendations, guidelines and disease criteria are poorly defined with respect to requirements on autoantibody testing. Laboratory specialists from Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and The Netherlands collected information, reported national experience, and identified quality issues in relation to autoantibody testing that require consensus on interpretation of the regulatory frameworks and guidelines. This process has been organized by the European Autoimmunity Standardisation Initiative (EASI). By identifying the critical items and looking for a consensus, our objective was to define a framework for, in particular, EN/ISO accreditation purposes. Here, we present a review of current publications and guidelines in this field to unify national guidelines and deliver in this way a European handout on quality control and accreditation for laboratories involved in autoantibody testing. We focus on quality items that can be checked during accreditation visits. Despite various local varieties, we encountered an overwhelming dedication to quality assurance in all contributing countries.
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| 5. |
- Theorell, Töres, et al.
(author)
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Restructuring and Employee Health
- 2009
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In: Knowledge-Based Technologies and OR Methodologies for Strategic Decisions of Substainable Development. - 9789955284826 ; , s. 331-336
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)
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