Work changes and employee age, maladaptive coping expectations, and well-being: a Swedish cohort study

Purpose Older workers are expected to suffer more from work changes than younger ones, but empirical evidence is lacking. Negative responses to work changes may result rather from maladaptive coping expectations. This study examined possible age differences in job and life satisfaction, and sleep disturbances, after work changes (voluntary and involuntary job changes, reorganizations) and the moderating role of maladaptive coping expectations. Methods Four biennial waves from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH) including respondents who participated in all four waves (n = 3084). We used multilevel path analyses to estimate direct and moderated relationships between work changes and outcomes. Results Involuntary job changes were associated with lower job and life satisfaction and more sleep disturbances. Reorganizations were only associated with lower job satisfaction. Older employees were more satisfied with their jobs and lives than younger employees and experienced more sleep disturbances. After involuntary job changes, older employees had similar (lower) levels of well-being as younger ones, but they reported more sleep disturbances when having experienced reorganizations. Maladaptive coping expectations were related to lower job and life satisfaction and more sleep disturbances. Employees with maladaptive coping expectations reported more sleep disturbances after involuntary job changes and reorganizations. Conclusion Our results suggest that there are few age differences in well-being after work changes. Employee well-being seems to mostly depend on maladaptive coping expectations. Organizations aiming to prepare employees for job changes and reorganizations could focus their efforts on employees with maladaptive expectations rather than on older ones.

Pre-career exposure to violence as a predictor of emotional distress among police recruits

The occupational risks to police mental health are widely known; however, less is known about how early life experiences and pre-academy stressors influence the emotional wellness of recruits in an academy setting. The present study investigated the links between pre-career exposure to violence and emotional wellness among a sample of 1,072 police recruits. Results of path analyses revealed that direct exposure to physical violence prior to age 18 was a significant factor for recruit emotional distress, whereas indirect exposure to violence did not significantly predict emotional distress. Findings carry implications for considering a lifespan approach to understanding police stress.

Associations Between Pornography Consumption, Sexual Flexibility, and Sexual Functioning Among Austrian Adults

To date, only a few studies have examined the associations between pornography consumption and sexual functioning. The Acquisition, Activation, Application Model (3AM) indicates that the frequency of pornography consumption and the perceived realism of pornography may influence whether sexual scripts are acquired from viewed pornography. Having sexual scripts that are alternative to their preferred sexual behaviors may help people switch to alternative sexual behavior when sexual problems arise. The current study analyzed whether frequent pornography consumption was associated with greater sexual flexibility and greater sexual functioning. Additionally, the perceived realism of pornography consumption was tested as a moderator of those associations. At an Austrian medical university, an online cross-sectional questionnaire study was conducted among 644 medical students (54% women and 46% men; Mage = 24.1 years, SD = 3.8). The participants were asked about their pornography consumption, partnered sexual activity, sexual flexibility, perceived realism of pornography, and sexual functioning. Manifest path analyses revealed direct and indirect associations between frequent pornography consumption and greater sexual functioning through greater sexual flexibility in women but not in men. Perceived realism did not moderate those associations. In conclusion, our study was in line with previous studies that found no significant associations between men’s pornography consumption and sexual functioning in men. However, some women may expand their sexual scripts and learn new sexual behaviors from pornography consumption, which may help with their sexual functioning.

Subtypes of Aggressive Behavior in Children with Autism in the Context of Emotion Recognition, Hostile Attribution Bias, and Dysfunctional Emotion Regulation

The causes of aggressive behavior in children with autism are poorly understood, which limits treatment options. Therefore, this study used behavioral testing and parent reports of 60 children with autism to investigate the interplay of emotion misinterpretation and hostile attribution bias in the prediction of different aggressive behaviors. Further, the additional impact of dysfunctional emotion regulation was examined. Path analyses indicated that hostile attribution bias increased verbal and covert aggression but not physical aggression and bullying. Dysfunctional emotion regulation had an additional impact on bullying, verbal aggression, and covert aggression. Emotion recognition was positively associated with hostile attribution bias. These findings provide a first insight into a complex interplay of socio-emotional variables; longitudinal studies are needed to examine causal relationships.

Time Wasters?

The Dark Triad personality traits have previously been linked with dysfunctional types of procrastination (i.e., delaying certain tasks). From an evolutionary perspective, procrastination is recognized for facilitating a fast life history strategy. The present study investigated links between active and passive procrastination and the extended Dark Tetrad personality traits (psychopathy, Machiavellianism, narcissism, sadism). Participants ( N = 357) were invited via Prolific data collection platform and Survey Circle research sites to participate in an online survey exploring personality and procrastination. Path analyses revealed that all Dark Tetrad traits positively predicted several aspects of active procrastination only. Narcissism emerged as the only negative predictor of passive procrastination. Rather than linking these traits with dysfunctional procrastination types only, our results highlight the importance of considering the Dark Tetrad about functional forms of procrastination, which may be more beneficial for facilitating a fast life history strategy.

Hospitality Industry Employees’ Intention to Stay in Their Job after the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic had a devastating effect on the tourism and hospitality industries in Taiwan, causing some small companies to cease trading and large companies to place their employees on unpaid leave. Placing employees on unpaid leave may have negatively affected the intention of hospitality employees to remain in their jobs. This study examined whether employees’ job insecurity and organizational identification affected their intention to stay in their job during the COVID-19 pandemic. Previously developed scales were adopted to develop items measuring job insecurity, organizational identification, and intention to stay in a job. Responses to 515 returned questionnaires were examined. The results revealed that job insecurity significantly affects organizational identification. Both job insecurity and organizational identification significantly affected intention to stay. Few studies have used path analyses to investigate the relationships among intention to stay, job insecurity, and organizational identification. The indirect effect of organizational identification was analyzed, and evidence supporting a total effect and total indirect effect was obtained. This implies that hospitality companies seeking to retain staff during crises should promote organizational identification among staff.

Depression among diabetes mellitus patients: A study of the protective factors

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease with patients that continue to increase per year. This study aimed to understand the role of self-esteem and religious orientation on depression with resilience as a mediator among patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). A total of 100 patients were recruited from four public health centers. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) was used to measure depression. In contrast, self-esteem was measured using two aspects of Rosenberg’s self-esteem scale, namely self-liking and self-competence. Religious orientation was measured using Allport and Ross’s religious orientation scale, while resilience was measured using Connor and Davidson’s resilience scale. The results were analyzed using path analyses. The study found that resilience mediated the relationship between self-esteem and depression among DM patients. Self-esteem was also shown to correlate with resilience, and resilience also showed a significant relationship with depression. In contrast to initial predictions, however, there was no significant effect of religious orientation on resilience. The research implications suggest that resilience serves as an important protective factor toward depression among patients suffering from DM.

Predicting Students’ Interest in Aging-Related Careers: Suggestions for Pedagogical Intervention

College students often hold negative attitudes toward elders and rank this area of practice at the bottom of their future professional life; colleges and universities have an important role to play in changing attitudes and attracting more professionals to work with older adults. This study examined factors contributing to students’ attitudes toward older adults to provide suggestions for pedagogical intervention. Data was collected from 195 undergraduates participating in an online survey with questions on the quality of relationships with a grandparent and other nonfamilial older adults, previous experience and future interest in pursuing a career in an aging-related field, and The Fabroni Scale of Ageism (Fabroni et al., 2010). Path analyses using hierarchical multiple regression revealed that high quality relationships with older adults (i.e., both grandparents and nonfamilial elders) was associated with less negative attitudes and more interest in pursuing a future career in age-related jobs/internships. Although both types of relationship quality were significant in the model (p<.05), path coefficients demonstrated that relationships with nonfamilial elders have a greater impact on participants’ attitudes (β= -.250, p=.001 versus β= -.146, p=.045). Previous working/internship experiences with older adults also predicted a greater willingness to pursue a future career in an aging-related field (β= .333, p<.001). Findings suggest that colleges could increase students’ interest in pursuing aging-related careers with multiple interventions, such as developing opportunities to interact and build relationships with older adults in the community, updating information on job opportunities, pay scales, and advancement opportunities, and providing more gerontological course or modules.

Job Resignation in Nursing Homes During COVID-19: The Role of Employer Communication and Worker Preparedness

Although research on factors mitigating the negative impact of strain/stress experienced by nursing home (NH) workers during the pandemic is emerging, there is no research on how COVID-19-related work stress and employer supports influence NH workers decision to resign. The purpose of this study was to investigate if high quality communication related to COVID-19 by the employer – a form of job support - can mitigate the impact of work stress on NH employees (N=1,730) decision to resign by optimizing employees’ preparedness to care for residents with COVID-19. Guided by the Job-Demands-Control-Support Model and employing path analyses, results indicate that higher stress was associated with greater likelihood of resigning, which operated through the paths of communication quality and preparedness. While higher stress was associated with less optimal quality of communication, good quality of communication was associated with more optimal preparedness which was associated with reduced likelihood of leaving one’s job.

Self-efficacy in Thought Control , not Positive Gains, Mediates Effect of Benefit-Finding Intervention for Carers

This study examines the therapeutic mechanism of the benefit-finding therapeutic (BFT) intervention that used cognitive reappraisal and alternative thinking to construct positive aspects of caregiving (PAC), in a cluster-randomized controlled trial for Alzheimer caregivers. 42 caregivers received BFT whereas 87 received psychoeducation as control. Both interventions were held in groups. Depressive symptoms and global burden were outcomes measured at baseline, postintervention, and 4- and 10-month follow-up. Mediators considered included PAC and three self-efficacies—controlling upsetting thoughts (SE-CUT), responding to disruptive behaviors, and obtaining respite. Using mixed-effects regression, we demonstrated that benefit-finding increased caregivers’ PAC and SE-CUT, but that only SE-CUT uniquely predicted depressive symptoms and global burden longitudinally. Path analyses with bootstrapped confidence intervals showed that SE-CUT change from baseline to postintervention mediated intervention effects on depressive symptoms, but not global burden, at both follow-ups. No mediation effects were found for PAC and the other self-efficacies. As a conclusion, The BFT effect on depressive symptoms was partly accounted for by improvement in SE-CUT. The therapeutic mechanism for the effect on burden remained unknown. The study sheds light on the importance of actively promoting positive caregiver functioning.