Affective temperament, job stress and professional burnout in nurses and civil servants.

INTRODUCTION: The risk of professional burnout is constituted by job-related as well as individual factors. The latter involve affective temperament, which influences the perception of job-related stress. The aim of the present study was to assess the affective temperament, the level of job stress and professional burnout, as well as the relationships between these variables, in public servants and nurses. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 100 civil servants and 100 nurses were enrolled in the study. Affective temperament and burnout were assessed by means of TEMPS-A and MBI questionnaires, respectively. To measure the level of job-related stress, we have designed a 6-item self-reported questionnaire, which considered stressors common for both professions. RESULTS: Compared to the civil servants, nurses showed higher rate of anxious temperament and experienced greater intensity of job-related stress. The groups did not differ in the intensity of burnout symptoms. The rates of cyclothymic and anxious temperaments correlated with the intensity of stress, and burnout symptoms in the group of nurses. Within the civil servants group, the level of stress correlated with intensity of burnout, however no correlations with affective temperament were observed. The regression analysis performed in both groups revealed the significant effect of stress and cyclothymic temperament on burnout, while the effect of anxious temperament was not significant. CONCLUSIONS: Cyclothymic and anxious temperaments are related to the level of experienced job stress and the risk of burnout. In professions like nursing, where employees show elevated rates of these temperaments, burnout prevention and stress management education is of particular importance.

Socioeconomic Characteristics, Health Risk Factors and Alcohol Consumption among the Homeless in North-Eastern Part of Poland.

BACKGROUND: Homelessness is a form of social pathology, which is for various reasons undesirable and as far as possible limited by efforts such as programmes that assist in transitioning out of homelessness. Because, as time passes, the homeless population undergoes both quantitative and qualitative changes, the process of developing these programmes requires up-to-date information on the extent and profile of this phenomenon that takes into account the characteristics of a given country. METHODS: A 12-month study of homeless individuals (ETHOS categories 1.1, 2.1 and 3.1) was conducted between December 2013 and November 2014 in Olsztyn, Poland. Demographic, sociological, psychological, and medical data were collected. RESULTS: The study population comprised 98 homeless individuals. The average homeless individual in our study population was a single (93.88%), most commonly divorced (59.18%), alcohol-dependent (78.57%), smoking (84.69%), middle-aged (54.33 years, SD 9.70) male (92.86%) with a low level of education (10.19 years of completed education, SD 3.09). The individual was most commonly an unemployed person suffering profound privation, living off various types of benefits, and spending a significant proportion of his income on alcohol and cigarettes. The person often resigned from social welfare due to his alcohol dependence. Almost a third of the study population (32.65%) declared that they occasionally went hungry. The principal source of food were meals provided by welfare services (89.80%). CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that the design of the social welfare system for homeless people should always take into account issues related to alcohol dependence, and each homeless person should be evaluated for possible alcohol dependence. Institutionalised material support provided to homeless individuals should be organised in such a way as to minimise the risk of promoting alcohol and nicotine dependence.