Understanding US PETE Faculty Stress in the Sociopolitical Environment of Higher Education

Teacher socialization theories have been extensively applied to understand the sociopolitical stressors faced by inservice physical education teachers. On the other hand, little is known as it relates to how physical education teacher education (PETE) faculty members experience and navigate stress in their jobs. Through the lens of occupational socialization theory, this study sought to understand US PETE faculty members’ experiences navigating the stress of their work in sociopolitical department and university environments. Participants included 36 US PETE faculty members (20 female, 16 male). Data were collected using in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Results highlighted the ways in which participants experienced and navigated the stress associated with their work environments. Specific themes included: (a) ambiguous, conflicting, and high expectations for performance contribute to role stress, (b) department cultures can challenge and marginalize physical education, (c) (development of) personal approaches and coping strategies to manage role stressors, and (d) networks of support are integral to faculty development and socialization. Results are discussed with implications for how various roles and the internalization of those roles impacted participants’ perceived stress while addressing the intra- and interpersonal strategies participants employ to navigate these stressors. Recommendations related to both doctoral education and continuous faculty development are provided and future directions for research are forwarded.

Assessment of burnout levels among anesthesiologists and anesthesiology technicians in Kosovo: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Anaesthesiology practitioners experience extraordinary pressure and stress in their daily work. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this research is to assess the occupational factors and burnout syndrome among anaesthesiologists and anaesthesiology technicians in Kosovo. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study carried out on a sample of 154 (out of 220) anaesthesiologists and anaesthesiology technicians in Kosovo. We collected the data using the Maslach Burnout Inventory and Occupational Role Stressors Scale. RESULTS: The mean ± SD age of the study sample was 42.5 ± 8.7 years, and 57% of them were working more than 40 h per week. A high level of burnout in terms of depersonalization (DP) was found among 48 of anaesthesiologists and anaesthesiology technicians, 26 had high level of emotional exhaustion (EE). EE and DP showed significant positive correlation with work overload, managerial responsibility role, and overall occupational stress (p < 0.05). Female anaesthesiologists and anaesthesiology technicians showed higher score of personal achievement (PA) compared to males (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Approximately one-third of Kosovar anaesthesiologists and anaesthesiology technicians showed high level of burnout and it is rising as work overload and the role of managerial responsibility increases. Increasing the number of employed anaesthesiologists and anaesthesiology technicians in health institutions in Kosovo will lead to a better workload distribution and lower burnout syndrome.

ROLE STRESSORS AND ALIENATION FROM WORK DURING COVID-19 SETTING

Summary: This study explores the interrelationships between work alienation and the role stressor dimensions of ambiguity and conflict. Diagnostics of role stressors in the workplace /Radoslavova, M. 2005/ and Assessment of alienation from work /Velichkov, A. 2005/. The data were collected with an online questionnaire, entered with Google Forms and processed with SPSS-21 using: descriptive statistics, and correlation analysis. The results are compared with similar previous studies conducted in Bulgaria and abroad. Respondents were 75 individuals, 72% of them were doctors working in a government hospital in a regional city. The results of the study showed that role ambiguity is a major workplace stressor in coping with the Covid-19 pandemic. Alienation from work is very high, which is also a significant antecedent for developing Burnout Syndrome.

Burnout in the disaster response workforce: The impact of work roles and the COVID-19 pandemic

The coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic cor­responded with a record-breaking year for billion-dollar disasters. While the pandemic swept across the United States, the country also experienced a record-setting hurricane season on the East Coast and an unprecedented wildfire season on the West Coast. These co-occurring threats have placed unprecedented strain on our disaster response workforce with poten­tial long-term implications for turnover and disaster response efficacy. In this paper, we draw from the Job Demands-Resources model to address the influence of workers’ role stressors and community infection rates during the COVID-19 pandemic and job burnout and turnover in the disaster response workforce.

Indian Women at Workplace: Coping with “Role boundedness” through “Hardiness”

Stress has become a matter of concern in the present post-globalization world which has brought in enormous changes in the ways organizations work, the professionals’ work-style and pattern, extended working hours, meeting deadlines, added roles and responsibilities, role overload and ambiguities; and cultural and technological changes. Researchers have demonstrated a gender variation with respect to coping with role stressors or stressful life events. Golpelwar [1] finds that Indian women professionals suffer from a role stress typically termed as “Role boundedness”, a result of wanting “to be everything for everybody”. The present descriptive research work, probably one of the first on the issue, highlights the importance of “hardiness” - a stress resilient personality disposition [2] - in coping with “role boundedness” and shows a relationship between role boundedness and hardiness in women professionals indicative of the protective mechanism of hardiness in coping with role boundedness.

Moderating Role of Organizational Levels in the Autonomy, Feedback, Role Stressors, and Job Satisfaction Model

The present study determines the moderating role of organizational levels in autonomy, feedback, role stressors (role conflict and role ambiguity), and job satisfaction among Indian software employees because very few Indian researchers explore this aspect. This study also determines the impact of autonomy, feedback, and the role of stressors on job satisfaction among low and middle levels of software employees. Multi-group moderation analysis found that high autonomy is experienced by low-level software employees, and high feedback is experienced by high-level software employees. In case of role stressors, role conflict was experienced more by middle level as compared to low-level, and role ambiguity was significantly more experienced by low-level as compared to middle-level software employees. Chi-square difference test found invariant moderation effects of organizational levels in autonomy, feedback, role conflict, role ambiguity, and job satisfaction model.

Relationship between role stressors, job tasks and job satisfaction among health surveillance assistants in Malawi: a cross-sectional study

ObjectivesThe objective of this study was to investigate the role stressors, sociodemographic characteristics and job tasks of health surveillance assistants (HSAs) and to explore major predictors of role stressors and job satisfaction of HSAs in Malawi.SettingData were collected from health centres and hospitals of three Malawi districts of Mangochi, Lilongwe and Mzimba.ParticipantsRespondents were 430 HSAs. 50.20% of them were male, while 49.8% were female.DesignA cross-sectional study of the observational correlational design was carried out.Main outcome measuresRespondents perceptions of job tasks, role stressors and job satisfaction.ResultsThe key findings of this study were role ambiguity and role overload were significantly negatively related to job satisfaction, while role conflict was insignificantly related to job satisfaction. Additionally, the clinical tasks of the HSAs and some of the sociodemographic variables were associated with the role stressors and job satisfaction of the HSAs in Malawi.ConclusionsSince the HSAs clinical tasks were significantly related to all role stressors, there is need by the government of Malawi to design strategies to control the role stressors to ensure increased job performance and job satisfaction among HSAs. Furthermore, studies may be required in the future to assist government to control role stressors among HSAs in Malawi.

Role stressors and turnover intention among doctors in Malaysian public hospitals: work–family conflict and work engagement as mediators

Purpose This study aims to investigate the role of work–family conflict (WFC) and work engagement (WE) and its influence on role stressors and turnover intention among medical doctors in Malaysian public hospitals. Doctors who experience higher work stress will inevitably experience WFC, consequently triggering their intention to quit. Design/methodology/approach A total of 202 structured questionnaire responses were collected from medical doctors in four Malaysian public hospitals. The study used partial least squares structural equation modeling (SmartPLS 3.0) for hypotheses testing. Findings As hypothesized, WFC encourages turnover intention while WE mitigate the relationship between role ambiguity (RA)-TI. RA is also observed to reduce WE, which, in turn, increases the intention to quit. Findings showed that both role conflict and WFC share a positive relationship with TI while WE and TI are negatively related. Furthermore, it was found that WE and WFC are significant mediators in the RA and TI relationship. WFC is also reported to be a significant mediator between the RC and TI relationship. Research limitations/implications The causality effects remain limited due to the nature of the cross-sectional design. Future studies should use a longitudinal approach to gauge a better understanding of these relationships. Practical implications This study provides insights for policymakers in resolving the increase of turnover issues by providing support and relieving medical doctors’ stress levels. Health directors should be encouraged to focus on the key aspects that may directly affect the well-being of medical doctors and eventually reduced staff turnover. Originality/value The study contributes to existing knowledge by measuring variables such as job demand (RS and WFC), personal resources (WE) and job outcomes (TI) in the public health care sector. Additionally, research involving COR theory in Asian countries like Malaysia remains relatively underexplored.

The Response to Stress Questionnaire for Parents Following Neonatal Brain Injury

Objective The Response to Stress Questionnaire-Brain Injury (RSQ-BI) was adapted utilizing a patient-oriented approach, exploring parental stress, coping, and associated mental health outcomes in parents of children with neonatal brain injury. The contributions of social risk, child adaptive functioning, and brain injury severity were also explored. Methods Using a mixed-method design, this study explored adapted stressor items on the RSQ-BI. Parents and clinicians engaged in semistructured interviews to examine key stressors specific to being a parent of a child with neonatal brain injury. The adapted RSQ-BI was piloted in a parent sample (N = 77, child mean age 1 year 7 months) with established questionnaires of social risk, child adaptive functioning, severity of the child’s injury, coping style, and parent mental health. Descriptive statistics and correlations examined parent stress, coping, and their association with parent mental health. Results The final RSQ-BI questionnaire included 15 stressors. Factor analysis showed stressors loaded onto two factors related to (a) daily role stressors and (b) brain injury stressors. Using the RSQ-BI, parents reported brain injury stressors as more stressful than daily role stressors. When faced with these stressors, parents were most likely to engage in acceptance-based coping strategies and demonstrated lower symptoms of parent depression and anxiety. Conclusions The RSQ-BI provides a valuable adaptation to understand both stressors and coping specific to being a parent of a child with neonatal brain injury. Relevant interventions that promote similar coping techniques are discussed for future care and research.