An experimental test of resource recovery from physical and relaxation work break activities.

Actual resource replenishment, a defining part of the stress-recovery process, has hardly been studied. We address this gap in the literature within the context of work breaks to determine which resources are replenished relative to a pre-stressor baseline. Guided by conservation of resources theory and the effort-recovery model, we explored how two different break activities promoted recovery by looking at their effects on recovery experiences (relaxation, psychological detachment), psychological resources (self-regulatory capacity, energy), and an indicator of insufficient recovery (fatigue). In a sample of 160 college students, we experimentally induced a state of resource depletion via mentally demanding tasks and randomly assigned people to a physical (stationary bike) or relaxation (progressive muscle relaxation) recovery break activity. The relaxation activity resulted in higher psychological detachment and relaxation experiences, the physical activity resulted in higher energy levels, and there were no differences between the break activities for self-regulatory capacity or fatigue. Overall, post-break resource levels improved following recovery break activities. Energy levels returned to baseline (replenishment); self-regulatory capacity and fatigue improved beyond baseline (accumulation). These resource replenishment and accumulation findings further the development of recovery theory and help employees select a work break activity that better meets their resource-related needs.

News from the front: A monthly study on stress and social support during a military deployment to a war zone.

Soldiers deployed to combat zones are likely to experience some stressful situations that can result in individual strains or ill health. In addition to the stressors originating in situ, problems at home can also affect soldiers' strains and attitudes about deployment. However, they may also possess resources in the form of social support from both their comrades and family that, based on resources theories of occupational stress, can lessen strains or enhance attitudes. A serious problem in examining this issue is the difficulty of studying their occupational stress, because collecting data in their work situation-a combat zone-is inherently complicated. Most studies rely on past recollection of the deployment situation in post-deployment data collections, with some studies including a pre-deployment measure or one data collection during deployment. The present study was the first to collect data from soldiers periodically (monthly) over the course of their entire deployment to a combat zone, which has the advantage of providing more accurate tracking of stressor and resource effects on both their strains and positive deployment attitudes closer to real time. This monthly diary study found that, consistent with resource theories of occupational stress, the previous month's combat stressors had a detrimental effect on many outcomes, and the resource of social support from work and home during the previous month improved physical health and depression, respectively. Future research should not only replicate this approach to data collection but also extend the measurement periods to examine soldiers' readjustment process after returning home. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Effects of Distress and Eustress on Changes in Fatigue from Waking to Working.

BACKGROUND: As a potential indicator of strain, fatigue is an important outcome in occupational health research. The current study examined the influence of positive (eustress) and negative (distress) work experiences on changes in fatigue from morning to at-work. It was expected that within-person changes in fatigue from waking to working would be moderated by employees' experiences of stress, pain, happiness, and meaningfulness at work. METHODS: Data on 1,195 full-time working adults were collected through the Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2010 American Time Use Study (ATUS) using a day reconstruction method to assess fatigue at two time points (morning and during work) and employees' eustress and distress experiences during work. RESULTS: Multilevel modeling showed that the indicators of distress, stress and pain, predicted higher morning fatigue and stronger increases in fatigue during the workday. The indicators of eustress, happiness and meaningfulness, predicted lower fatigue at both time points but not temporal changes. CONCLUSIONS: These results contribute to understanding changes in employees' fatigue and suggest that the differential effects of distress and eustress experiences at work may be important to consider in fatigue management interventions.