A longitudinal study of employee adaptation to organizational change: The role of change-related information and change-related self-efficacy

This study examined the role of information, efficacy, and 3 stressors in predicting adjustment to organizational change. Participants were 589 government employees undergoing an 18-month process of regionalization. To examine if the predictor variables had long-term effects on adjustment, the authors assessed psychological well-being, client engagement, and job satisfaction again at a 2-year follow-up. At Time 1, there was evidence to suggest that information was indirectly related to psychological well-being, client engagement, and job satisfaction, via its positive relationship to efficacy. There also was evidence to suggest that efficacy was related to reduced stress appraisals, thereby heightening client engagement. Last, there was consistent support for the stress-buffering role of Time I self-efficacy in the prediction of Time 2 job satisfaction.

The clinical effectiveness of a multisensory therapy on clients with developmental disability

Many clients in Hong Kong with developmental disabilities stay in mental hospitals because of mental disorders and behavioural problems. There is a need to identify strategies that promote psychological well-being and reduce problem behaviours in this group of clients. This study evaluates the impact of multisensory therapy on participants’ emotional state, level of relaxation, challenging behaviour, stereotypic self-stimulating behaviour (SSB) and adaptive behaviour (AB). Using an experimental design, 89 participants were recruited from a developmental disability unit in a hospital in Hong Kong and randomly assigned to either an experimental (n = 48) or a control group (n = 41). Multisensory therapy sessions (n = 36) were conducted with experimental group and activity sessions (n = 36) were conducted with controls for 12 weeks. Multisensory therapy promoted participants’ positive emotions and relaxation. However, there was no evidence that multisensory therapy was superior to activity therapy in reducing aggressive behaviour and stereotypic self-stimulating behaviour or promoting adaptive behaviour. The key variables that influence clients’ behaviours in the multisensory therapy may be related to the relationship with the carer, constant environment, relaxation and freedom from demands rather than sensory input. Multisensory therapy could be used to provide leisure and promote psychological well-being, rather than for reducing problem behaviour.

Extending a model of shift-work tolerance

The present study contributes to theory and practice through the development of a model of shift-work tolerance with the potential to indicate interventions that reduce nurses' intention toward turnover and increase job satisfaction in hospital-based settings. Survey data from 1257 nurses were used to conduct structural equation modeling that examine the direct and indirect effects of supervisor and colleague support, team identity, team climate, and control over working environment on time-based work/life conflict, psychological well-being, physical symptoms, job satisfaction, and turnover intention. The analysis of the proposed model revealed a good fit The chi-square difference test was non-significant (χ2(26)=338.56), the fit indices were high (CFI=.923, NFI=.918, and NNFI=.868), the distribution of residuals was symmetric and approached zero, the average standardized residual was low (AASR=.04), and the standardized RMR was .072. In terms of the predictor variable, the final model explained 48% of the variance in turnover intention. The data revealed considerable evidence of both direct effects on adjustment and complex indirect links between levels of adjustment and work-related social support, team identity, team climate, and control. Nurses with high supervisor and coworker support experienced more positive team climates, identified more strongly with their team, and increased their perceptions of control over their work environment. This in turn lowered their appraisals of their time-based work/life conflict, which consequently increased their psychological well-being and job satisfaction and reduced their physical health symptoms and turnover intention. The type of shift schedule worked by the nurses influenced levels of turnover intention, control over work environment, time-based work/life conflict, and physical symptoms.