Massage therapy in the workplace: reducing employee strain and blood pressure.

AIM: Assess the effects of workplace-based massage therapy on physiological and psychological outcomes. METHODS: We used afield experiment in which 28 participants were randomly assigned into either an experimental (n = 14) or control (n = 14) group. The experimental group received weekly massage treatments at work for a four week period while the control group did not. RESULTS: Both strain and blood pressure were significantly reduced during treatment for the experimental group but not for the control group. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides initial support for the effectiveness of workplace-based massage therapy as part of a comprehensive workplace health strategy.

Behind closed doors: in-home workers' experience of sexual harassment and workplace violence.

The authors developed and tested a structural model predicting personal and organizational consequences of workplace violence and sexual harassment for health care professionals who work inside their client's home. The model suggests that workplace violence and sexual harassment predict fear of their recurrence in the workplace, which in turn predicts negative mood (anxiety and anger) and perceptions of injustice. In turn, fear, negative mood, and perceived injustice predict lower affective commitment and enhanced withdrawal intentions, poor interpersonal job performance, greater neglect, and cognitive difficulties. The results supported the model and showed that the associations of workplace violence and sexual harassment with organizational and personal outcomes are indirect, mediated by fear and negative mood. Conceptual implications for understanding sexual harassment and workplace violence, and future research directions, are suggested.

Effects of perceived control on the outcomes of workplace aggression and violence.

This study examined the role of perceived control in ameliorating the negative outcomes associated with the experience of violence at work, using 2 large samples of hospital staff (N = 187) and group home staff (N = 195). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of the measure of perceived control converged in suggesting a 3-factor structure consisting of Understanding, Prediction, and Influence. Results of a series of moderated regression analyses suggested that perceived control did not moderate the relationships between violence and fear or between fear and emotional well-being, somatic health, or neglect. However, perceived control was directly associated with emotional well-being and indirectly associated with somatic health and neglect. In addition, training that targets workplace violence was found to be related to enhanced perceptions of control.

Using the Job-Related Affective Well-Being Scale (JAWS) to investigate affective responses to work stressors.

Prior research linking job stressors to psychological strains has been limited to a small number of emotional reactions. This article describes research linking job stressors to a wide range of affective states at work. In Study 1, a multidimensional scaling procedure was used on a matrix of similarity judgments by 51 employees of 56 job-related affective statements to support a 2-dimensional view of affective well-being. In Study 2, ratings of the affect statements by 100 employees further supported the contention that the dimensions were pleasure-displeasure and degree of arousal. In Study 3, 114 full-time university employees responded to the Job-Related Affective Well-Being Scale, which was found to be related to measures of job stressors as well as job satisfaction and physical symptoms.

The source, nature, and direction of work and family conflict: a longitudinal investigation.

The authors examine the source, nature, and direction of work and family conflict. Confirmatory factor analysis of a 22-item scale suggested the appropriateness of distinguishing between strain-based and time-based conflict and between family interfering with work (FIW) and work interfering with family (WIF). Six-month longitudinal survey data (N = 236) suggested that strain-based FIW is a precursor to both stress and turnover intentions. Strain-based WIF emerged as an outcome of stress.

The effect of alternative work arrangements on women's well-being: a demand-control model.

The growth of women's participation in the labor force and evidence of the conflict they experience between job and family demands have spurred many employers to introduce alternative work arrangements such as flextime, job sharing, and telecommuting. Drawing on data gained from a sample of women (N = 998) in two large Canadian organizations, this study evaluates two mediational models of the impact of alternative work arrangements on women's stress and family role competence. Specifically, it tests and finds support for the hypotheses that (a) work arrangements involving scheduling flexibility (telecommuting and flextime) promote these aspects of women's well-being by increasing their perceived control over their time, and (b) arrangements involving reduced hours of employment (part-time employment and job sharing) promote well-being by reducing perceived job overload. Discussion of these findings centers on their implications for employed women, their employers, and future research.

Violence at work: personal and organizational outcomes.

To date, little empirical research has examined the personal and organizational outcomes associated with exposure to workplace violence. On the basis of data from 194 bank tellers, the authors evaluated, and supported, a model suggesting that fear of future violence mediates the relationships between exposure to workplace violence and negative outcomes. Specifically, exposure to workplace violence predicted fear of future violence that, in turn, predicted psychological well-being, somatic symptoms, and intent to leave the organization. These effects emerged after controlling for self-report bias. The mediating role of fear was supported, and implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Responses to occupational hazards: exit and participation.

The authors developed and tested a model linking subjective risk perceptions to both turnover intentions and employees' willingness to participate in health and safety programs. On the basis of data from 130 employees of a manufacturing firm, the model was supported. Risk perceptions were predicted by employees' accident history and perceptions of others' commitment to health and safety. In turn, risk perceptions predicted both turnover intentions and willingness to participate. These effects emerged after controlling for monomethod bias.

Predictors of work-family conflict, stress, and job satisfaction among nurses.

Using multiple regression analysis, this study examined the contribution of demographic, job-related, social-support, and caregiving variables to the prediction of work-family conflict, stress, and job satisfaction among a sample of 101 hospital-based nurses who had responsibility for the care of a child and/or an elderly relative. The results revealed that family support, perceived organizational support for family life, perceived workload size, and involvement in child care were mainly responsible for the outcomes studied. In addition, the study underscores the importance of separately measuring both the source and the direction of work-family conflict.

Predicting retirement anxiety: the roles of parental socialization and personal planning.

It was proposed that anxiety about retirement begins long before retirement, and that perceptions on one's parents' socialization into retirement and one's own planning for retirement are associated with retirement anxiety. Data from 213 Canadian respondents (mean age = 44 years) were analyzed. Path analysis indicated that both parental socialization and own planfulness affect retirement anxiety.

Aspects of eldercare that place employees at risk.

Through multiple regression analyses, this study examined the contribution of seven different aspects of eldercare to the prediction of several work and personal outcome among employees of eight organizations. The analyses were restricted to the 1,302 (25.4%) employees over the age of 35 who provided assistance to an elderly relative by helping them with either at least one Activity of Daily Living (ADL) or with at least two Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL). The results revealed that assistance with ADLs, eldercare management activities, and the number of eldercare crises to which the employee responded, each placed respondents at risk of more family interference with work, more stress, and more personal and job costs.

Predictors and outcomes of elder-care-based interrole conflict.

The authors propose and test a model of the predictors and outcomes of the role conflicts experienced by individuals simultaneously holding full-time employment and providing care for elderly parents. It is proposed that interrole conflict is predicted by physical and psychological involvement in elder care and predicts both partial absenteeism from work and psychological strain. In turn, psychological strain predicts marital interactions. Data from 141 full-time employees from 2 universities provided strong support for the proposed mediational model using LISREL VII. In contrast, 2 alternative models were not supported by the data.

Linking retirement experiences and marital satisfaction: a mediational model.

The authors propose and test a mediational model linking the experience of retirement with marital satisfaction. The experience of retirement (financial strain, time structure, a sense of purposefulness, and interpersonal contacts) is held to predict marital satisfaction indirectly through its sequential effects on context-specific well-being (retirement-specific satisfaction with health, activities, and peers) and context-free well-being (depressive symptoms). Both this model and a revised model in which retirement satisfaction also exerted a direct effect on marital satisfaction were supported using structural equation modeling on data from 164 retirees (mean age = 69 years). An alternative model in which depressive symptoms assume a predictive rather than mediational role was not supported; cross-lagged regression analyses excluded the possibility that marital dissatisfaction resulted in depressive symptoms. The conceptual and practical implications of these findings are discussed.