Prevalencia de factores de riesgo psicosocial en trabajadores de una empresa del sector salud, Yopal 2014

Antecedentes: Los factores de Riesgo psicosocial según la resolución 2646 de 2008 “comprenden los aspectos intralaborales, extralaborales o externos a la organización y las condiciones individuales o características intrínsecas al trabajador, los cuales en una interrelación dinámica, mediante percepciones y experiencias, influirían en la salud y el desempeño de las personas”. El objetivo del estudio es establecer la prevalencia de factores de riesgo psicosocial y la asociación existente en la población trabajadora del área administrativa y asistencial, en una empresa del sector salud nivel II, Yopal, 2014 Materiales y método: Se diseñó un estudio de corte transversal para establecer la prevalencia de los factores de riesgo psicosocial en una población de 92 trabajadores del área administrativa (50) y asistencial (42) en una empresa del sector salud nivel II en Yopal, por medio de la batería de Riesgo Psicosocial del Ministerio de la Protección Social. Resultados: Se realizó un análisis multivariado, se puede afirmar con un nivel de confianza del 95% que en la población de estudio, la prevalencia de riesgo intralaboral en la población administrativa está entre el 9,5% y 34,5% y en los trabajadores del área asistencial entre el 9,7% y el 37,9%. El riesgo extralaboral en el área administrativa está entre el 4,8% y el 27,2%, en el área asistencial la prevalencia está entre el 1,5% y el 19,5%. La prevalencia de Riesgo de Estrés se encuentra en la población administrativa entre el 29,2% y el 58,8% y en el área asistencial entre el 17,9% y el 48,8%. Se encontró una asociación (p = 0,007) entre estado civil y riesgo intralaboral en la población asistencial, entre tipo de vivienda y nivel de estres (p= 0,003) en la población administrativa, y entre número de personas a cargo económicamente y riesgo extralaboral (p=0,004) en el área asistencial. Discusión: La prevalencia de riesgo psicosocial es evidente en las dos áreas de trabajo tanto administrativos como asistenciales, sin embargo se encuentra una prevalencia mayor de riesgo en el área asistencial en la dimensión exigencias del rol dado a un incremento en la responsabilidad y tiempo extra que se debe realizar para el desarrollo de tareas y su cumplimiento ante el rol desempeñado; los resultados permiten implementar programas de vigilancia epidemiológica que permitan mitigar y controlar los hallazgos en este estudio.

Stress Perception in Public Organizations: Expanding the Job Demands - Job Resources Model by Including Public Service Motivation

Although stress has been a longstanding issue in organizations and management studies, it has never been studied in relation to Public Service Motivation. This article therefore aims to integrate PSM into the job demands-job resources model of stress in order to determine whether PSM might contribute to stress in public organizations. Drawing upon original data from a questionnaire in a Swiss municipality, this study unsurprisingly shows that "red tape" is an antecedent of stress perception, whereas satisfaction with organizational support, positive feedback, and recognition significantly decrease the level of perceived stress. Astonishingly, the empirical results show that PSM is positively and significantly related to stress perception. By increasing individuals' expectations towards their jobs, PSM might thus contribute to increased pressure on public agents. Ultimately, this article investigates the "dark side" of PSM, which has been neglected by the literature thus far.

Symptoms of chronic stress at work in NGO workers

Working in a NGO often involves providing life saving resources (food, medicine, equipment, water, etc) to needy populations around the globe. Such duty requires highly dedicated employees and humanitarian workers are said to face a hign degree of pressure in their daily work. Despite the evidence of taxing work demands, and a high potential for stress related problems, very few studies on occupational chronic stress have specifically looked at NGO workers. Assuming that "field stress" can relay to workers at headquarters, we carried out an exploratory study about occupational health among employees of a NGO's headquarters. We sent a questionnaire to all employees (N=130) of a NGO headquarters located in Switzerland. We used the TST questionnaire (French version of the Langner's questionnaire on psychiatric symptoms) to identify cases with potential mental health problems. We also included in the questionnaire some items about motivation, acknowledgment, work-life balance, job demand, and autonomy. A total of 75 employees answered our questionnaire (57% response rate). 44% of our sample were men (n=33) and 56% were women (n=42). The mean age was of 40 years (SD=7.6). 56% were working at the headquarters of the NGO in questions as of 2 years or less. Not surprisingly, a majority of respondents reported to be highly motivated (74%) and the meaning of work was important for 80% of them. However, 35% indicated having problems in conciliating their private and professional life. Most frequent reported symptoms included feeling "weak all over" (81%), having "trouble getting asleep often" (35%), "clogging in nose" (35%), feeling "nervous often" (33%), and "memory not all right" (33%). The score for psychiatric symptoms was high in 8 (11%) employees whose health might therefore be at risk. In comparison, other sudies showed that this proportion was 9% for French teachers and 16% for sales personnel1. Results show that symptoms of mental health problems do occur among NGO workers. Some of these symptoms are known to be linked to occupational stress. Chronic stress manifests itself first in non-specific symptoms (e.g. fatigue) and later in specific pathologies. This could explain the relatively low proportion of cases with a high score in Langner's scale than was expected. Therefore, we hypothesize a healthy worker effect. The fact that our sample is 40 years old in average, and that the turnover is quite high can also support this hypothesis. Further research is needed in order to better understand occupational stress in this specific population. An upcoming study will investigate the role of organizational factors associated with health complaints. Therefore, a longitudinal survey including quantitative and qualitative methods is appropriate.

Exploring the path through which career adaptability increases job satisfaction and lowers work stress : the role of affect

The construct of career adaptability, or the ability to successfully manage one's career development and challenges, predicts several important outcomes; however, little is known about the mechanisms contributing to its positive effects. The present study investigated the impact of career adaptability on job satisfaction and work stress, as mediated by individuals' affective states. Using a representative sample of 1671 individuals employed in Switzerland we hypothesized that, over time, career adaptability amplifies job satisfaction and attenuates work stress, through higher positive affect and lower negative affect, respectively. The data resulted from the first three waves of a longitudinal project on professional paths conducted in Switzerland. For each wave, participants completed a survey. Results of the 3-wave cross-lagged longitudinal model show that employees with higher career adaptability at Time 1 indeed experienced at Time 3 higher job satisfaction and lower work stress than those with lower career adaptability. The effect of career adaptability on job satisfaction and work stress was accounted for by negative affect: Individuals higher on career adaptability experienced less negative affect, which led to lower levels of stress and higher levels of job satisfaction, beyond previous levels of job satisfaction and work stress. Overall results support the conception of career adaptability as a self-regulatory resource that may promote a virtuous cycle in which individuals' evaluations of their resources to cope with the environment (i.e., career adaptability) shape their affective states, which in turn influence the evaluations of their job.

Exposure to psychosocial risk factors in the context of work: a systematic review

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To analyze the scientific literature about the effects of exposure to psychosocial risk factors in work contexts. METHODS A systematic review was performed using the terms “psychosocial factors” AND “COPSOQ” in the databases PubMed, Medline, and Scopus. The period analyzed was from January 1, 2004 to June 30, 2012. We have included articles that used the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ) as a measuring instrument of the psychosocial factors and the presentation of quantitative or qualitative results. German articles, psychometric studies or studies that did not analyze individual or work factors were excluded. RESULTS We included 22 articles in the analysis. Individual factors, such as gender, age, and socioeconomic status, were analyzed along with work-related factors such as labor demands, work organization and content, social relationships and leadership, work-individual interface, workplace values, justice and respect, personality, health and well-being, and offensive behaviors. We analyzed the sample type and the applied experimental designs. Some population groups, such as young people and migrants, are more vulnerable. The deteriorated working psychosocial environment is associated with physical health indicators and weak mental health. This environment is also a risk factor for the development of moderate to severe clinical conditions, predicting absenteeism or intention of leaving the job. CONCLUSIONS The literature shows the contribution of exposure to psychosocial risk factors in work environments and their impact on mental health and well-being of workers. It allows the design of practical interventions in the work context to be based on scientific evidences. Investigations in specific populations, such as industry, and studies with more robust designs are lacking.

A study on the Effect of Psychological Empowerment on Job Satisfaction and Job Related Stress Among the Bank Employees

The present research is carried out to understand how psychological empowerment, job satisfaction and job related stress are related.In banking sector, employees are less satisfied and less motivated than employees in other lines of work (Kelley, 1990; Bajpai, Naval and Deepak, 2004). The banking industry also suffers from high employee turnover rate (Branham, 2005; Nelson, 2007) and high level of stress (Chen and Lien, 2008). There are no adequate studies linking psychological empowerment and job satisfaction, stress, turnover etc. among employees of banking sector. Lack of psychological empowerment could be a reason for these problems faced by banking sector. Further majority of studies in psychological empowerment are carried out in manufacturing sector and studies in service sector are concentrated on hotel industry and hospitals. Empowerment takes different forms in different contexts (Zimmerman, 1995). In the light of above discussion, the present research is directed to explore the dimensions of psychological empowerment of employees in banking sector and to find out whether high psychological empowerment can increase job satisfaction and reduce job related stress among employees in banking sector

A study on the Effect of Psychological Empowerment on Job Satisfaction and Job Related Stress Among the Bank Employees

This study focuses on psychological empowerment of employees in banking sector because of the reasons stated below: Firstly, very little research has been conducted in understanding empowerment as a psychological construct. Majority of the studies have been conducted on the various empowerment practices in the organizations. Secondly, there is no empirical evidence that the empowerment practice will create a subjective feeling of empowerment within the individual. Employee empowerment will be effective only if the employees actually experience the empowerment. Even if the organizations have the empowerment practices like providing power and open communication it is not necessary that the employee is empowered. Empowerment describes only the condition of work environment. It does not describe employees’ response to these conditions. These responses form the basis for psychological empowerment

Job demands, job resources and individual innovation at work : Going beyond Karasek's model?

Resumen tomado de la publicaci??n. Resumen tambi??n en ingl??s

Prevalencia de los factores de riesgo psicosocial presentes en la población trabajadora de una entidad de salud de segundo nivel en el año 2013

Introducción: Los factores de riesgo psicosocial surgen a partir de una interacción dinámica de las cualidades humanas con el medio ambiente de trabajo, es decir, todas aquellas habilidades, necesidades, expectativas y costumbres de los trabajadores. En efecto, estas interacciones entre las condiciones del medio ambiente laboral y los factores humanos del trabajador, cuando son manejadas de manera negativa, conducen a alteraciones emocionales, problemas de comportamiento y cambios bioquímicos y neurohormonales, que a su vez pueden producir riesgos adicionales de enfermedades mentales y físicas. Objetivo: Determinar las prevalencias de los factores de riesgo psicosocial presentes en la población trabajadora de una entidad de salud de segundo nivel en el año 2013. Metodología: Se llevó a cabo un estudio de corte transversal, utilizando fuentes de datos secundarios de una Empresa de Salud del Estado de nivel II, donde se aplicó el instrumento de la batería de riesgo psicosocial, diseñada por el Ministerio de la Protección Social en asocio con la Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. Durante este período el hospital contaba con la gestión de 155 empleados, de los cuales 54 desempeñaban labores administrativas y 101 prestaban servicios asistenciales. La participación por género se distribuyó así: 104 mujeres y 51 hombres. La prevalencia de los factores de riesgo psicosocial se estimó por medio de los baremos establecidos por el Ministerio de la Protección Social para identificar el nivel de riesgo, los resultados fueron analizados desde estadísticas descriptivas y la aplicación de pruebas estadísticas en la comparación de los puntajes transformados de los dominios y dimensiones de los cuestionarios intra y extralaboral, según las características sociodemográficas y ocupacionales. Resultados: Se identificó una mayor proporción de personas con riesgo psicosocial intralaboral (45,8% riesgo muy alto), mientras que en la evaluación de los factores de riesgo extralaboral el comportamiento fue totalmente opuesto (78.1% sin riesgo), se pudo establecer que una mayor proporción de mujeres ejerce la profesión de la enfermería (71,3% asistencial) y la modalidad de contratación prevalente reportada fue a través de una cooperativa de trabajo asociado (82,2% asistenciales). Se determinó que existen diferencias en la percepción de los factores psicosociales tanto intra como extralaborales en los grupos con diferentes características sociodemográficas y ocupacionales. Conclusión: La investigación evidenció el impacto negativo de los factores de riesgo intralaboral sobre los trabajadores de la E.S.E, condición que afectó la percepción de la vida laboral, la productividad y el nivel de satisfacción de los trabajadores, por lo que se destaca la pertinencia de implementar actividades de intervención y prevención a corto plazo en el marco de un programa de vigilancia epidemiológica.

Interaction of psychosocial risk factors explain increased neck problems among female office workers

This study investigated the relationship between psychosocial risk factors and (1) neck symptoms and (2) neck pain and disability as measured by the neck disability index (NDI). Female office workers employed in local private and public organizations were invited to participate, with 333 completing a questionnaire. Data were collected on various risk factors including age, negative affectivity, history of previous neck trauma, physical work environment, and task demands. Sixty-one percent of the sample reported neck symptoms lasting greater than 8 days in the last 12 months. The mean NDI of the sample was 15.5 out of 100, indicating mild neck pain and disability. In a hierarchical multivariate logistic regression, low supervisor support was the only psychosocial risk factor identified with the presence of neck symptoms. Similarly, low supervisor support was the only factor associated with the score on the NDI. These associations remained after adjustment for potential confounders of age, negative affectivity, and physical risk factors. The interaction of job demands, decision authority, and supervisor support was significantly associated with the NDI in the final model and this association increased when those with previous trauma were excluded. Interestingly, and somewhat contrary to initial expectations, as job demands increased, high decision authority had an increasing effect on the NDI when supervisor support was low. Crown copyright (c) 2006 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The effects of prior moves on job relocation stress

This study examines the relationship between the number of prior moves, time living in an area and psychological reactions of employees undergoing job relocation. Relocating employees from a single organization completed questionnaires on average six weeks before and 10 weeks after their move. Results show that the greater the number of prior moves the lower was the reported stress following the move. However, the relationship between number of prior moves and well-being also followed a quadratic trend such that those with few and those with many prior moves reported the greatest stress. Furthermore, the longer the relocator had lived in the area prior to moving, the greater was the general stress and the job-related anxiety and depression following the move.

The discretionary role of the line manager in inspiring work engagement and innovative behaviour:a study of social exchange and job resources in the public sector

This thesis is about the discretionary role of the line manager in inspiring the work engagement of staff and their resulting innovative behaviour examined through the lens of Social Exchange Theory (Blau, 1964) and the Job Demands-Resources theory (Bakker, Demerouti, Nachreiner & Schaufeli, 2001). The study is focused on a large British Public Sector organisation undergoing a major organisational shift in the way in which they operate as part of the public sector. It is often claimed that people do not leave organisations; they leave line managers (Kozlowski & Doherty, 1989). Regardless of the knowledge in the literature concerning the importance of the line manager in organisations (Purcell, 2003), the engagement literature in particular is lacking in the consideration of such a fundamental figure in organisational life. Further, the understanding of the black box of managerial discretion and its relationship to employee and organisation related outcomes would benefit from greater exploration (Purcell, 2003; Gerhart, 2005; Scott, et al, 2009). The purpose of this research is to address these gaps with relation to the innovative behaviour of employees in the public sector – an area that is not typically associated with the public sector (Bhatta, 2003; McGuire, Stoner & Mylona, 2008; Hughes, Moore & Kataria, 2011). The study is a CASE Award PhD thesis, requiring academic and practical elements to the research. The study is of one case organisation, focusing on one service characterised by a high level of adoption of Strategic Human Resource Management activities and operating in a rather unique manner for the public sector, having private sector competition for work. The study involved a mixed methods approach to data collection. Preliminary focus groups with 45 participants were conducted, followed by an ethnographic period of five months embedded into the service conducting interviews and observations. This culminated in a quantitative survey delivered within the wider directorate to approximately 500 staff members. The study used aspects of the Grounded Theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) approach to analyse the data and developed results that highlight the importance of the line manager in an area characterised by SHRM and organisational change for engaging employees and encouraging innovative behaviour. This survey was completed on behalf of the organisation and the findings of this are presented in appendix 1, in order to keep the focus of the PhD on theory development. Implications for theory and practice are discussed alongside the core finding. Line managers’ discretion surrounding the provision of job resources (in particular trust, autonomy and implementation and interpretation of combined bundles of SHRM policies and procedures) influenced the exchange process by which employees responded with work engagement and innovative behaviour. Limitations to the research are the limitations commonly attributed to cross-sectional data collection methods and those surrounding generalisability of the qualitative findings outside of the contextual factors characterising the service area. Suggestions for future research involve addressing these limitations and further exploration of the discretionary role with regards to extending our understanding of line manager discretion.

Stress at work among electric utility workers

In the last decades there was an increase in stress at work and its effects on workers' health. These issues are still little studied in the electric utility sector. This study aims to evaluate factors associated with stress at work and to verify its associations with health status among workers of an electric company in São Paulo State, Brazil. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 474 subjects (87.5% of the eligible workers). Data were collected using self-reported questionnaires. A descriptive analysis, a multiple linear hierarchical regression analysis and a correlation analysis were performed. The majority of participants were males (91.1%) and the mean age was 37.5 yr. The mean score of stress level was 2.3 points (scale ranging from 1.0 to 5.0). Hierarchical multiple analyses showed that: regular practice of physical activities (p=0.025) and individual monthly income (p=0.002) were inversely associated with stress level; BMI was marginally associated with the stress level (p=0.074). The demographic characteristics were not associated with stress. Stress at work was significantly associated with physical and mental health status (p<0.001). To improve health of electric utility workers, actions are suggested to decrease stress by remuneration and an appropriate practice of physical activity aiming reduction of BMI

Stress at Work among Electric Utility Workers

In the last decades there was an increase in stress at work and its effects on workers' health. These issues are still little studied in the electric utility sector. This study aims to evaluate factors associated with stress at work and to verify its associations with health status among workers of an electric company in Sao Paulo State, Brazil. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 474 subjects (87.5% of the eligible workers). Data were collected using self-reported questionnaires. A descriptive analysis, a multiple linear hierarchical regression analysis and a correlation analysis were performed. The majority of participants were males (91.1%) and the mean age was 37.5 yr. The mean score of stress level was 2.3 points (scale ranging from 1.0 to 5.0). Hierarchical multiple analyses showed that: regular practice of physical activities (p=0.025) and individual monthly income (p=0.002) were inversely associated with stress level; BMI was marginally associated with the stress level (p=0.074). The demographic characteristics were not associated with stress. Stress at work was significantly associated with physical and mental health status (p<0.001). To improve health of electric utility workers, actions are suggested to decrease stress by remuneration and an appropriate practice of physical activity aiming reduction of BMI.