Stop (to Work) and Go (to Recover) During Mandatory Work From Home: A Three-Wave Study.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many workers have been forced to work from home. In this situation, the boundaries between work and private life have become particularly blurred, and recovering from work was even more difficult than in traditional times, with negative consequences for workers' health. Among the psychological experiences that might underlie the recovery process, mastery played a crucial role as people sought new stimuli and challenging situations. However, there are few articles that have explored the role of this specific recovery experience, its antecedents, and the health consequences under conditions of work from home. Therefore, in this multiwave study, we aimed to investigate the role of mastery as a mediator between supervisor support and insomnia problems. The study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy and had a three-wave design. A convenience sample of 130 employees (67% women) completed an online questionnaire. Hypotheses were tested using a three-wave autoregressive cross-lagged panel model. According to the results, supervisor support at Time 1 was positively related to mastery at Time 2, which in turn showed a negative association with insomnia at Time 3. The results demonstrated that mastery experiences have played a crucial role during COVID-19 mandatory work from home, which points to some potential implications for workers' health in the adoption of teleworking beyond the emergency situation.

Job Seekers' Burnout and Engagement: A Qualitative Study of Long-Term Unemployment in Italy.

Long-term unemployment has major consequences from an economic, physical and psychosocial perspective. Several authors have pointed out that the search for employment is in itself work, which can generate feelings of exhaustion of psychophysical energies, cynicism and disinvestment, as well as a sense of ineffectiveness to the point of complete disillusion. The construct of burnout can be used to describe this psychological process. This study evaluated the burnout and engagement dimensions in individuals searching for work for a long time, from a qualitative perspective. Fifty-six semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample of long-term unemployed job seekers (Sardinia, Italy), based on Maslach's model of burnout (exhaustion, cynicism, effectiveness in job search). The answers to the semi-structured interviews were processed through T-Lab, a semi-automatic textual analysis software. Four thematic cores emerged: exhaustion vs. engagement, cynicism vs. trust, inefficacy vs. efficacy in job search and disillusion vs. hope. This result is consistent with the four-dimensional theoretical model of burnout, originally proposed by Edelwich and Brodsky, recently taken up by Santinello, and framed as the opposite of engagement, as shown in the JD-R model. This study highlights that burnout can describe the psychosocial experiences of long-term unemployed job seekers.

Leaders' Role in Shaping Followers' Well-Being: Crossover in a Sample of Nurses.

The link between well-being at work and leadership has received considerable attention. Leaders have the power to influence followers not only due to formal position, but also their positive behaviors could reinforce the followers' positive working experience. Following the crossover model (Westman, 2001), this study investigates whether leaders' work-related positive psychological states (i.e., work engagement) cross over to those of the followers (i.e., work engagement and job satisfaction) through the mediation of the latter's perception of transformational leadership. We used MPlus 8 to test two multilevel mediations in a sample of 1505 nurses nested in 143 groups led by as many leaders (87.19% of nurses and 56.50% of head nurses of the entire population). Results show that while there is not a crossover of leader work engagement to nurse work engagement, manager work engagement can cross over to nurse job satisfaction, enhancing their well-being through transformational leadership behaviors. This study adds further insights both on crossover theory and on the importance of leaders in expanding and transferring resources to followers at work. Fostering work engagement at a managerial level in the healthcare sector could be the driver to facilitate the well-being of nurses at work, address negative outcomes, and promote positive ones.

Burnout without a job: An explorative study on a sample of Italian unemployed jobseekers.

Background: Search for work is in itself a job and its outcomes are similar to those of job burnout: it can generate feelings of exhaustion, detachment from the commitment to research, and a sense of ineffectiveness. The aim of the present study is to investigate the construct of burnout within the category of long-term unemployed people engaged in job search activity. Design and methods: The study has a cross-sectional, descriptive, and exploratory nature. Two hundred eight Italian unemployed jobseekers compiled an adaptation of the OCS Burnout scale, by Maslach and Leiter. An Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was performed to investigate the psychometric features of the instrument. The relations between the instrument and age and months of job search variables were assessed through Spearman's Rho coefficient of co-graduation. Finally, a MANOVA was carried out. Results: The questionnaire is able to intercept and describe the dimensions of respondents' burnout with respect to four dimensions: Exhaustion, Disengagement, Effectiveness in job search, Disillusion. Correlation analysis shows that the duration of the job search period has a positive relationship with Exhaustion, Disillusion, and Disengagement; a negative relationship with Effectiveness in job search. Finally, MANOVA shows that older unemployed people rate themselves less effective in job searching and more exhausted, compared to younger unemployed people. Conclusions: The psychosocial effects of job search on the unemployed are still little studied, and this research, through the construct of burnout, proposes a comprehensive and articulated key to its understanding.

Development and validation of the Remote Working Benefits & Disadvantages scale.

The changes that are constantly occurring in the labour sector have led organisations and companies to move towards digital transformation. This process was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic and  conducted to a massive recourse to the practice of remote working, which in this study is understood as the term for the way of performing work outside the usual workplace and with the support of ICT. Currently, there are no flexible scales in the literature that allow measuring the benefits and disadvantages of remote working with a single instrument. Thus, the distinction between the positive and negative consequences of working remotely, substantiated by a solid literature, provides a framework for a systematical understanding of the issue. The aim of the present study is to develop and validate a scale on remote working benefits and disadvantages (RW-B&D scale). For this end, a preliminary Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) with 304 participants, a tailored EFA with a sample of 301 workers and a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) with 677 workers were conducted. Participants were all Italian employees who worked remotely during the period of the COVID-19 health emergency. Data were collected between October 2020 and April 2021. The psychometric robustness of the model was assessed through bootstrap validation (5000 resamples), fit indices testing and measurement of factorial invariance. The statistical analyses demonstrated the bifactorial nature of the scale, supporting the research hypothesis. The model showed good fit indices, bootstrap validation reported statistically significant saturations, good reliability indices, and convergent and discriminant validity. Measurement invariance was tested for gender and organisational sector. The results suggested that the novel scale facilitates the quantitative measurement of the benefits and disadvantages associated with remote working in empirical terms. For this reason, it could be a streamlined and psychometrically valid instrument to identify the potential difficulties arising from remote working and, at the same time, the positive aspects that can be implemented to improve organisational well-being.

Animal-Assisted Intervention and Health Care Workers' Psychological Health: A Systematic Review of the Literature.

Healthcare settings have recently increased the use of companion animals in the workplace to provide emotional support to people with disabilities, but there is limited empirical research on the effects of these programs on healthcare workers. However, it is reasonable to speculate that Animal-Assisted Interventions (AAIs) may have positive effects on health care workers (HCWs) by buffering the negative effects of work-related stress and other occupational psychosocial risk factors. The aim of this review was to examine the beneficial effects of AAIs on the psychological well-being of HCWs. A systematic review was conducted in December 2021 to gain insight into the positive effects of pets on HCWs in the workplace. Searches were conducted in the following databases: Scopus, PubMed/Medline, Web of Science, and Google Scholar, including studies between 2001 and December 2021, and 12 articles were included in the review. The results indicate that implementing the AAI program in a busy clinic is feasible and that the program is accepted by medical professionals because of the immense psychological benefits it provides. However, the healthcare professionals disliked the experimental design that forced them to leave their workplaces at a certain time.

Multi-level analysis of individual and work environment factors associated with nurses' perceived emotional exhaustion.

BACKGROUND: Several factors at the individual- and work environment-level were suggested to correlate with emotional exhaustion development in nurses. AIM: To explore nurses' perceived emotional exhaustion and associated factors by employing hierarchical modelling techniques. METHODS: 1539 nurses completed the cross-sectional survey. Generalized Linear Mixed Model was performed to identify predictors of emotional exhaustion. RESULTS: At the individual level, female gender, high workload and emotional job demands increased the risk of emotional exhaustion; instead, higher education, satisfaction with the role of follower, perceiving nursing profession as meaningful, feeling independent at work, and group closeness were protective factors. At the work environment level, hospital ward type did not affect emotional exhaustion. CONCLUSIONS: Emotional exhaustion is largely influenced by ward culture and organizational policies, and to a lower extent by socio-demographic variables. Moreover, it emerges as an intrinsic risk of the nursing profession rather than being associated with the clinical area profile.

"Don't Stop the Music," Please: The Relationship between Music Use at Work, Satisfaction, and Performance.

Although there are several studies in the literature that have examined how different types of music affect performance or other organisational outcomes, knowledge about how music affects individuals in the workplace is still limited, especially in terms of perceived music use. This study aims to examine the effects of three different uses of music-namely, emotional, cognitive, and background music-on individual perceptions of job satisfaction and performance. A sample of 244 workers from different backgrounds was included in the study. We tested a full structural equation model. The results show that (1) emotional use has a positive relationship to performance, both directly and indirectly through mediating job satisfaction; (2) cognitive use has no significant effect on satisfaction and performance (even indirectly); and (3) background use has a negative relationship to job satisfaction and no relationship to performance. This work suggests that listening to music during work activities could be a positive organisational practice. Future studies could further investigate the role of music listening as a resource, taking into account other personal and contextual characteristics.

Technology Acceptance and Leadership 4.0: A Quali-Quantitative Study.

With the rapid advancement of Industry 4.0, new technologies are changing the nature of work and organizations. Nevertheless, technology acceptance is still an open issue and research, and practice interventions should investigate its antecedents and implement actions in order to reduce the risks of resistance and foster acceptance and effective usage of the new tools and systems. This quali-quantitative study was aimed at exploring perceptions about Industry 4.0 and its transformations and investigating job antecedents of technology acceptance. Whilst not many studies in the literature on technology acceptance have considered workers' well-being, in this study, its association with work engagement has also been examined. The qualitative study used focus groups to collect perceptions of 14 key roles in a company that was implementing Industry 4.0. In the same company, the quantitative study involved 263 employees who filled in a questionnaire. The results confirmed that both job resources, namely supervisor support and role clarity, were antecedents of technology acceptance, which, in turn, was associated with work engagement. This study provides useful suggestions for interventions aimed at foster technology acceptance and workers' well-being in companies that are facing Industry 4.0 transformations. Particularly, investments in both leadership 4.0 development and communication programs are essential.

The miR-133a, TPM4 and TAp63γ Role in Myocyte Differentiation Microfilament Remodelling and Colon Cancer Progression.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play an essential role in the regulation of a number of physiological functions. miR-133a and other muscular miRs (myomiRs) play a key role in muscle cell growth and in some type of cancers. Here, we show that miR133a is upregulated in individuals that undertake physical exercise. We used a skeletal muscle differentiation model to dissect miR-133a's role and to identify new targets, identifying Tropomyosin-4 (TPM4). This protein is expressed during muscle differentiation, but importantly it is an essential component of microfilament cytoskeleton and stress fibres formation. The microfilament scaffold remodelling is an essential step in cell transformation and tumour progression. Using the muscle system, we obtained valuable information about the microfilament proteins, and the knowledge on these molecular players can be transferred to the cytoskeleton rearrangement observed in cancer cells. Further investigations showed a role of TPM4 in cancer physiology, specifically, we found that miR-133a downregulation leads to TPM4 upregulation in colon carcinoma (CRC), and this correlates with a lower patient survival. At molecular level, we demonstrated in myocyte differentiation that TPM4 is positively regulated by the TA isoform of the p63 transcription factor. In muscles, miR-133a generates a myogenic stimulus, reducing the differentiation by downregulating TPM4. In this system, miR-133a counteracts the differentiative TAp63 activity. Interestingly, in CRC cell lines and in patient biopsies, miR-133a is able to regulate TPM4 activity, while TAp63 is not active. The downregulation of the miR leads to TPM4 overexpression, this modifies the architecture of the cell cytoskeleton contributing to increase the invasiveness of the tumour and associating with a poor prognosis. These results add data to the interesting question about the link between physical activity, muscle physiology and protection against colorectal cancer. The two phenomena have in common the cytoskeleton remodelling, due to the TPM4 activity, that is involved in stress fibres formation.

Job demands and perceived distance in leader-follower relationships: A study on emotional exhaustion among nurses.

BACKGROUND: Emotional exhaustion is the most important component of burnout syndrome, which is a threat to nurses' psychological well-being. OBJECTIVES: The study investigated the impact of job demands - workload, cognitive demands, emotional demands, role conflict - and perceived leader-follower interaction frequency on emotional exhaustion among nurses. METHODS: This study was conducted at three hospitals in northern Italy through an anonymous self-report questionnaire administered to 560 nurses. Multiple hierarchical regression was performed. RESULTS: Workload and role conflict were positively related to emotional exhaustion, whereas cognitive demands and perceived leader-follower interaction frequency were negatively related. Emotional demands displayed a non-significant relationship with emotional exhaustion. Further analyses were performed to comment on the unexpected outcome of cognitive demands. A critical role of the perception of "distance" in leader-follower relationships on burnout was found. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides novel insights into the relationship between job demands and burnout, and much needed empirical evidence on leader-follower relationships among nurses, pointing to the important role played by leader distance in nurses' well-being at work. Findings highlight the importance of training head nurses in managing their working relationship distance from their followers in order to help them soothing emotional exhaustion.

Does the End Justify the Means? The Role of Organizational Communication among Work-from-Home Employees during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

During the first months of 2020, the world, and Italy at an early stage, went through the COVID-19 emergency that had a great impact on individual and collective health, but also on working processes. The mandatory remote working and the constant use of technology for employees raised different implications related to technostress and psycho-physical disorders. This study aimed to detect, in such a period of crisis and changes, the role of organizational communication considering the mediating role of both technostress and self-efficacy, with psycho-physical disorders as outcome. The research involved 530 workers working from home. A Structural Equations Model was estimated, revealing that organizational communication is positively associated with self-efficacy and negatively with technostress and psycho-physical disorders. As mediators, technostress is positively associated with psycho-physical disorders, whereas self-efficacy is negatively associated. As regards mediated effects, results showed negative associations between organizational communication and psycho-physical disorders through both technostress and self-efficacy. This study highlighted the potential protective role of organizational communication that could buffer the effect of technostress and enhance a personal resource, self-efficacy, which is functional to the reduction of psycho-physical disorders. This study contributed to literature underlying the role of communication in the current crisis and consequent reorganization of the working processes.

Burnout and Engagement Dimensions in the Reception System of Illegal Immigration in the Mediterranean Sea. A Qualitative Study on a Sample of Italian Practitioners.

The present study describes the semantic nature of burnout and engagement in the operators involved in the management of illegal immigration. Semi-structured interviews were conducted on a sample of Italian practitioners (n = 62) of the two levels of the reception system considered: (1) rescue and first aid and (2) reception and integration. Within the framework of the job demands-resources model (JD-R), the interviews deepened the analysis of the positive and negative dimensions of burnout and engagement: exhaustion versus energy, relational deterioration versus relational involvement, professional inefficacy versus professional efficacy and disillusion versus trust. The interviews were analysed using the T-Lab software, through a cluster analysis (bisecting K-means algorithm), which emphasised noteworthy themes. The results show that, in the vast majority of the dimensions considered (for both levels of reception), the same dimensions of engagement of the operators (energy, relational involvement, professional efficacy and trust) are able to lead them into a condition of burnout, with experiences, conversely, of exhaustion, relational deterioration, professional inefficacy and disillusion. These findings expand the knowledge on burnout and engagement in practitioners of illegal immigration, a context characterised by the value of help and welcome.

Workload, Techno Overload, and Behavioral Stress During COVID-19 Emergency: The Role of Job Crafting in Remote Workers.

The radical changes deriving from the COVID-19 emergency have heavily upset some of the most familiar routines of daily work life. Abruptly, many workers have been forced to face the difficulties that come with switching to remote working. Basing on the theoretical framework proposed by the Job Demands-Resources model, the purpose of this paper was to explore the effect of work overload (workload and techno overload), on behavioral stress, meant as an outcome linked to the health impairment process. Furthermore, the aim of the study was to explore the mediating role of job crafting, considered as a second-order construct consisting of two dimensions (increasing structural resources and increasing challenging demands) in the abovementioned relation. Participants were 530 workers experiencing remote working or work-from-home during the first COVID-19 lockdown in Italy (March-May 2020). Hypotheses were explored by using three different latent variables, measured reflexively through indicators on a 5-point scale, extracted from validated questionnaires. Data analysis was performed through Structural Equation Modeling; to test the mediation, bootstrap validation was computed (n = 2,000). Results showed that the mediation of job crafting was partial. More specifically, the direct effect between work overload and behavioral stress was positive; moreover, the indirect, negative effect through the mediation of job crafting was also significant. Therefore, results showed that job crafting can play a crucial role as a protective factor supporting the activation and adjustment of suitable resources; these resources can be useful to deal with the negative effects of work overload, particularly under the condition of heavy remote working and use of technologies, on individual outcomes. Starting from the current global scenario of the pandemic that has not yet ceased its effects, the study suggested decisive theoretical and practical implications. Accordingly, findings extended the current trends in occupational health psychology research, with special reference to the mainstream topic "work and COVID-19" in the Italian context. Finally, results can give suggestions to companies engaged in managing change, recommending that they build a collaborative workplace at the individual and collective level to implement job crafting interventions and enrich the personal and organizational resources of workers, which is useful cope with the current demands.

Job crafting and well-being at work: an exploratory analysis during health emergency period.

INTRODUCTION: During the health emergency in 2020, in order not to interrupt production processes and at the same time to protect the health of citizens and workers, alternative working methods were adopted different from the traditional ones, to which workers were directed without any previous notice or specific training. AIMS: The purpose of the research is to explore the relationships between meaning of work, job crafting and emotional exhaustion during the first month of lockdown in the Italian territory. The study therefore aims to identify possible strengthening factors related to working well-being. METHODS: The different constructs were detected through an online questionnaire from 11 March to 2 April 2020, involving 405 subjects. After verifying the reliability of the constructs, a mediation model was performed using nonparametric structural equations (PLS-SEM). RESULTS: Model's constructs show adequate reliabilities. The study highlights the total mediation of job crafting in the relationship between the meaning of work and emotional exhaustion. In particular, the regression relationship between meaning of work and emotional exhaustion is equal to c'=-0.04, p=0.480. On the contrary, the relationship between the meaning of work and job crafting is a=0.44 (p<0.001), and the one between job crafting and emotional exhaustion is b=-0.14, p=0.014. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that job crafting can be considered a factor able to buffer workers' emotional exhaustion and can guide new lines of intervention, in particular in relation to post-emergency reactivation.

The Buffering Effect of Humanity of Care in the Relationship between Patient Satisfaction and Waiting Time: A Cross-sectional Study in an Emergency Department.

This study aims to examine whether humanity of care and environmental comfort played a role in moderating the relationship between waiting time and patient satisfaction in an emergency department (ED). The study used a cross-sectional and non-randomized design. A total of 260 ED patients in two hospitals in Italy completed a self-report questionnaire. Moderated regression showed that after adjusting for control variables, waiting time was significantly and inversely associated with patient satisfaction. Humanity of care and environmental comfort showed a positive and significant association with patient satisfaction. Finally, the interaction term between waiting time and humanity of care was found to be significant, whereas the interaction effect between waiting time and environmental comfort was not significant. The conditional effect showed that when humanity of care was low, waiting time was negatively and significantly related to patient satisfaction. By contrast, when humanity of care was medium and high, the relationship between waiting time and patient satisfaction was not significant. These findings shed light on the key role of humanity of care in moderating the relationship between waiting time and patient satisfaction. The complex interrelations emerged should be carefully considered when interventions to foster patient satisfaction in an ED context are planned.

The Promotion of Technology Acceptance and Work Engagement in Industry 4.0: From Personal Resources to Information and Training.

Thanks to the rapid advances of technology, we are currently experiencing the fourth industrial revolution, which is introducing several changes in how organizations operate and how people learn and do their work. Many questions arise within this framework about how these transformations may affect workers' wellbeing, and the Work and Organizational Psychology is called upon to address these open issues. This study aims to investigate personal and organizational antecedents (resilience, goal orientation and opportunities for information and training) and one consequence (work engagement) of technology acceptance within factories, comparing white- and blue-collar workers. The study involved a sample of 598 workers (white-collar = 220, blue-collar = 378) employed at an Italian company who filled in a self-report questionnaire. In both samples, the multi-group structural equation model showed a positive relationship between resilience, opportunities for information and training, and technology acceptance, which in turn showed a positive association with work engagement. All indirect effects were significant. This study investigated the motivational dynamics related to the introduction of new technologies within factories involving the little-studied population of blue-collar workers. Results highlighted the importance of providing information and opportunities for training to all employees, in order to support Industry 4.0 transformations without impacting on workers' motivation.

Motivation to Donate, Job Crafting, and Organizational Citizenship Behavior in Blood Collection Volunteers in Non-Profit Organizations.

This study assesses the levels of and relationships between the Motivation to donate, Job crafting propensity, and the Organizational citizenship behavior of blood collection volunteers in a non-profit association. An Italian sample of AVIS (the Italian Association of Voluntary Blood donors) blood donors (N = 1215) actively involved in organizing blood collection, were asked to complete the Italian version of the Volunteer Function Index, the Job crafting scale, and the Organizational citizenship behavior scale. The tools were verified by Confirmatory factor analysis and their relationships were explored using Structural equation modeling for hidden variables. The three constructs have overall high scores. Motivation to donate and Job crafting show a clear correlation, with the latter influencing volunteer Organizational citizenship behavior. The study highlights the need to take into consideration the Motivation to donate, Job crafting and Organizational citizenship behavior of volunteers, particularly in countries such as Italy, where blood collection is almost exclusively carried out thanks to spontaneous, altruistic, and disinterested commitment.

Emotional Labour and Work-Family Conflict in Voice-to-Voice and Face-to-Face Customer Relations: A Multi-Group Study in Service Workers.

Professions that involve interaction with customers entail great emotional effort: workers are required to show emotions different from their true feeling and they experienced emotional dissonance and verbal aggression from customers. These job demands can generate discomfort and the effects of emotional labour can "expand" in other life domains. The study investigated the relationship among emotional dissonance, customer verbal aggression, affective discomfort at work and work-family conflict, considering differences between two groups of service workers: call centre agents (CA; N = 507, voice-to-voice relation with customers) and supermarket cashiers (SC; N = 444, face-to-face relation with customers). Results showed that emotional dissonance and customer verbal aggression had a positive relationship with work-family conflict, the mediational role of affective discomfort emerged in both groups; different effects of job demands in subsamples appeared. Suggestions for organisations and work processes emerged in order to identify practical implications useful to support employees in coping with emotional labour and to promote well-being and work-family balance.

Hepatic Steatosis Index Is Associated with Type 1 Diabetes Complications.

INTRODUCTION: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is associated with an increased risk of complications in type 1 diabetes (T1DM) patients. To date, several biochemical indexes of NAFLD have been developed. Among these, hepatic steatosis index (HSI) strongly relates with the results of magnetic resonance. AIM: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the possible association between HSI and complications in T1DM. METHODS: Medical records of patients with T1DM were evaluated. Macro- and micro-vascular complications were evaluated by a combination of instrumental (ECG, carotid artery echo-Doppler, fundus examination, vibration threshold at biothesiometry) and laboratory examination. HSI was calculated based on gender, body mass index and transaminases level. RESULTS: Of the 124 patients evaluated, 71 were free of complications and 53 had at least one complication. The prevalence of diabetes complications was: 27% for retinopathy, 15% for carotid atherosclerosis, 16% for neuropathy. HSI was directly correlated with age, disease duration, triglycerides, total daily insulin and inversely with HDL and eGFR. In logistic regression analysis, HSI was independently associated with diabetic complications. CONCLUSION: These findings show that HSI is independently associated with the presence of complications in subjects with T1DM. This can be of clinical utility, allowing a better diagnostic classification of the patient and possibly guiding the therapeutic choice.