Informal care-giving and the intention to give up employment: the role of perceived supervisor behaviour in a cohort of German employees

Current social policies in the European Union addressing employment, retirement and long-term care are expected to result in increasing employment rates among informal carers. The present investigation contributes to previous research by focusing on how specific work-related factors, in this case supervisor behaviour, may facilitate the fulfilment of the demands arising from paid work and care and ultimately influence the desire to give up employment. To this end, population data from the German Cohort Study on Work, Age, Health and Work Participation conducted in 2011 and 2014 are analysed (n = 3916). Three research hypotheses investigating the associations between care-giving, supervisor behaviour, the intention to give up employment and work-private-life conflict are tested by means of cumulative link models. The results suggest that the intention to give up employment is stronger among employed carers. In addition, the perception that one’s supervisor is considerate towards subordinates and is effective in planning, coordinating work and solving conflicts is found to be negatively related to the desire to give up employment, especially among carers. The statistical analyses reveal that supervisor behaviour mediates the association between the level of work-private-life conflict and the intention to give up employment. It is concluded that the working conditions may exert a substantial influence on the levels of psychosocial load carers experience by facilitating or hindering the extent to which carers are allowed to accommodate their work schedules and job assignments to the conflicting demands of their dual role as workers and carers.

Psychosocial load and burnout syndrome in healthcare professionals in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic / Carga psicossocial e síndrome de burnout em profissionais de saúde no combate a pandemia de COVID-19

Objetivo: fornecer informações sobre os riscos potenciais da síndrome de Burnout e da exposição de profissionais de saúde na pandemia COVID-19. Método: trata-se de um estudo de revisão integrativa da literatura que seguiu a estratégia PICO. A busca dos artigos foi realizada em três bases de dados eletrônicas: Pubmed/Medline, BVS e SciELO. Foram utilizados os descritores “mental health”, "burnout", "coronavírus" e "health personnel” com textos completos, publicados no período de 2016 a 2021, no idioma inglês, português e espanhol e foi usado o operador boleano AND. Resultados: foram encontrados 168 artigos. Trinta e cinco artigos foram selecionados para serem lidos na íntegra e 10 atenderam aos critérios desta revisão. Conclusão: as evidências mostram que os profissionais de saúde da linha de frente de enfrentamento ao COVID-19 apresentam maior vulnerabilidade de desenvolver transtornos mentais, exaustão e ideação suicida.

The Impact of a Change in Employment on Three Work-Related Diseases: A Retrospective Longitudinal Study of 10,530 Belgian Employees

Background: The literature that has investigated to what extent a change in employment contributes to good health is contradictory or shows inconsistent results. The aim of this study was to investigate whether an association exists between a change in employment and cardiovascular, musculoskeletal and neuropsychological diseases in a sample of 10,530 Belgian workers in a seven-year follow-up study period. Methods: The following factors were analysed: Demographic variables, a change in employment and the work-related risks. Individuals being on medication for cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, and neuropsychological diseases were used as proxies for the three health issues. Logistic regression models for autocorrelated data with repeated measures were used to examine each medication type. Results: A change in employment and psychosocial load can have an important effect on the health of cardiovascular employees. Demographic variables, such as BMI and age, are risk factors for all three medications. Repetitive, manual tasks, handling static, exposure to noise levels of 87 dB, mechanical and/or manual handling with loads, and shift work were found to be positively associated with medications taken for musculoskeletal diseases. Exposure to noise 80 dB(A), managing physical loads and night work were found to be associated with being on medication for neuropsychological diseases. Physical activity and skill levels were considered to be protective factors for being on medication for neuropsychological diseases. Conclusions: Change in employment and psychosocial load were found as two important risk factors for being on medication for cardiovascular (CVD). Dealing with loads, doing shift work and being daily exposed to the noise of 87 dB correlated with being on medication for musculoskeletal (MSD). Dealing with physical loads, doing night work and being exposed to the noise of 80 dB were risk factors for being on medication for neuropsychological (NPD). While doing physical activity and reporting higher skill levels were found to be protective factors for NPD.

On Future Occupational Safety and Health Challenges

Occupational safety and health (OSH) have constantly changed and evolved throughout the industrial revolutions and in recent years. The aim of this systematic literature review was to give an overview of future OSH challenges in industrialized countries. A search within the Scopus database returned 31 peer-reviewed journal articles published since 2014 on new and emerging OSH risks and challenges in the future. A review of articles identified future overall OSH challenges, OSH challenges caused by climate change, and OSH challenges related to sustainable development and responsibility. In addition, branch-specific challenges in industries and health care were determined. Individual employees can experience a wide range of OSH challenges from heat stress to poison absorption, musculoskeletal disorders, increased psychosocial load, ergonomic issues, and unexpected accidents and injuries. OSH management is discussed and future studies proposed.

La capacidad de carga psicosocial del turista: instrumento de medición para el desarrollo sostenible en la turistificación de los cenotes

La capacidad de carga psicosocial ha demostrado ser un instrumento efectivo para establecer números máximos de personas que un turista está dispuesto a ver simultáneamente en espacios naturales. Aunque, ha sido muy aplicado en parques nacionales de EEUU, este indicador no ha sido utilizado en espacios naturales confinados como son los cenotes de la península de Yucatán. Esta investigación aplica este indicador generando resultados que pueden utilizarse para una gestión sostenible de estos espacios. The psychosocial load capacity has proven to be an effective instrument to establish maximum numbers of people that a tourist is willing to see simultaneously in natural spaces. Although, it has been widely applied in national parks in the USA, this indicator has not been used in confined natural spaces such as the cenotes of the Yucatan Peninsula. This research applies this indicator generating results that can be used for sustainable management of these spaces.

Factors Related to Self-reporting of the Pre-menstrual Syndrome

Menstrual health questionnaires were completed by a self-selected sample of the readership of a woman's magazine (n = 5457). Sixty-one per cent of subjects described themselves as suffering from pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS) and this was largely corroborated by ratings of symptoms pre-menstrually, menstrually and post-menstrually for the most recent cycle. Mood symptoms were more strongly implicated than physical ones. Self-report of PMS was found to be modestly associated with aspects of parity and oral contraceptive use, but strongly and positively related to the duration of ‘natural’ menstrual cycles (i.e. uninterrupted by pregnancy or steroidal contraception) and to psychosocial stress. There were interactions among psychosocial factors and between psychosocial load and duration of natural cycles.

Gender, coping and psychosomatic symptoms

SYNOPSISIn this study gender differences in coping were explored, using the Ways of Coping Checklist (WCC; Folkman & Lazarus, 1980). In addition, the focus was on sex differences in the predictive value of coping strategies in relation to psychosomatic symptoms. Males preferred problem-focused coping strategies, planned and rational actions, positive thinking, personal growth and humour, day-dreaming and fantasies. Women preferred emotion-focused coping solutions, self-blame, expression of emotions/seeking of social support, and wishful thinking/emotionality. In spite of the gender differences the results of multiple regression analyses indicated congruous relationships between coping and complaints for both sexes. Stressors and coping factors contributed in much the same way to the explained variance of symptoms and the results were generally similar for males and females. The present data also emphasize the bidirectionality of the coping–symptoms link. This holds especially for self-blame, day-dreaming and fantasizing, and wishful thinking/emotionality. In contrast, distancing was found to be associated with self-reported psychosocial load. Future prospective studies should explicitly pay attention to this bidirectional relationship.