The EMPOWER Occupational e-Mental Health Intervention Implementation Checklist to Foster e-Mental Health Interventions in the Workplace: Development Study.

BACKGROUND: Occupational e-mental health (OeMH) interventions significantly reduce the burden of mental health conditions. The successful implementation of OeMH interventions is influenced by many implementation strategies, barriers, and facilitators across contexts, which, however, are not systematically tracked. One of the reasons is that international consensus on documenting and reporting the implementation of OeMH interventions is lacking. There is a need for practical guidance on the key factors influencing the implementation of interventions that organizations should consider. Stakeholder consultations secure a valuable source of information about these key strategies, barriers, and facilitators that are relevant to successful implementation of OeMH interventions. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to develop a brief checklist to guide the implementation of OeMH interventions. METHODS: Based on the results of a recently published systematic review, we drafted a comprehensive checklist with a wide set of strategies, barriers, and facilitators that were identified as relevant for the implementation of OeMH interventions. We then used a 2-stage stakeholder consultation process to refine the draft checklist to a brief and practical checklist comprising key implementation factors. In the first stage, stakeholders evaluated the relevance and feasibility of items on the draft checklist using a web-based survey. The list of items comprised 12 facilitators presented as statements addressing "elements that positively affect implementation" and 17 barriers presented as statements addressing "concerns toward implementation." If a strategy was deemed relevant, respondents were asked to rate it using a 4-point Likert scale ranging from "very difficult to implement" to "very easy to implement." In the second stage, stakeholders were interviewed to elaborate on the most relevant barriers and facilitators shortlisted from the first stage. The interview mostly focused on the relevance and priority of strategies and factors affecting OeMH intervention implementation. In the interview, the stakeholders' responses to the open survey's questions were further explored. The final checklist included strategies ranked as relevant and feasible and the most relevant facilitators and barriers, which were endorsed during either the survey or the interviews. RESULTS: In total, 26 stakeholders completed the web-based survey (response rate=24.8%) and 4 stakeholders participated in individual interviews. The OeMH intervention implementation checklist comprised 28 items, including 9 (32.1%) strategies, 8 (28.6%) barriers, and 11 (39.3%) facilitators. There was widespread agreement between findings from the survey and interviews, the most outstanding exception being the idea of proposing OeMH interventions as benefits for employees. CONCLUSIONS: Through our 2-stage stakeholder consultation, we developed a brief checklist that provides organizations with a guide for the implementation of OeMH interventions. Future research should empirically validate the effectiveness and usefulness of the checklist.

Design and development of a digital intervention for workplace stress and mental health (EMPOWER).

Purpose: We describe the design and development of the European Platform to Promote health and wellbeing in the workplace (EMPOWER) digital intervention that provides an integrative user programme meeting the needs of employees and employers in addressing work stress. Results: A user-centred design process was followed from January 2020 until November 2021. A tailored algorithm was developed to provide support at the individual employee level and the company level. Each element of the digital intervention was developed in English and then translated in Spanish, English, Polish and Finnish. The digital intervention consists of a website and a mobile application (app) that provides algorithm-based personalised content after assessing a user's somatic and psychological symptoms, work functioning, and psychosocial risk factors for work stress. It has a public section and an employer portal that provides recommendations to reduce psychosocial risks in their company based upon clustered input from employees. Usability testing was conducted and showed high ease of use and completion of tasks by participants. Conclusion: The EMPOWER digital intervention is a tailored multimodal intervention addressing wellbeing, work stress, mental and physical health problems, and work productivity. This will be used in a planned RCT in four countries to evaluate its effectiveness.

Study protocol of EMPOWER: A cluster randomized trial of a multimodal eHealth intervention for promoting mental health in the workplace following a stepped wedge trial design.

Objective: This article describes the EMPOWER study, a controlled trial aiming to determine the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of an eHealth intervention to prevent common health problems and reduce presenteeism and absenteeism in the workplace. Intervention: The EMPOWER intervention spans universal, secondary and tertiary prevention and consists of an eHealth platform delivered via a website and a smartphone app designed to guide employees throughout different modules according to their specific profiles. Design: A stepped-wedge cluster randomized trial will be implemented in four countries (Finland, Poland, Spain and UK) with employees from small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and public agencies. Companies will be randomly allocated in one of three groups with different times at which the intervention is implemented. The intervention will last 7 weeks. Employees will answer several questionnaires at baseline, pre- and post-intervention and follow-up. Outcome measures: The main outcome is presenteeism. Secondary outcomes include depression, anxiety, insomnia, stress levels, wellbeing and absenteeism. Analyses will be conducted at the individual level using the intention-to-treat approach and mixed models. Additional analyses will evaluate the intervention effects according to gender, country or type of company. Cost-effectiveness and cost-utility analyses [based on the use of quality-adjusted life-years (QALYS)] will consider a societal, employers' and employees' perspective.

Strategies for Implementing Occupational eMental Health Interventions: Scoping Review.

BACKGROUND: The implementation of eMental health interventions, especially in the workplace, is a complex process. Therefore, learning from existing implementation strategies is imperative to ensure improvements in the adoption, development, and scalability of occupational eMental health (OeMH) interventions. However, the implementation strategies used for these interventions are often undocumented or inadequately reported and have not been systematically gathered across implementations in a way that can serve as a much-needed guide for researchers. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this scoping review was to identify implementation strategies relevant to the uptake of OeMH interventions that target employees and detail the associated barriers and facilitation measures. METHODS: A scoping review was conducted. The descriptive synthesis was guided by the RE-AIM (reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance) framework and the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research. RESULTS: A total of 31 of 32,916 (0.09%) publications reporting the use of the web-, smartphone-, telephone-, and email-based OeMH interventions were included. In all, 98 implementation strategies, 114 barriers, and 131 facilitators were identified. The synthesis of barriers and facilitators produced 19 facilitation measures that provide initial recommendations for improving the implementation of OeMH interventions. CONCLUSIONS: This scoping review represents one of the first steps in a research agenda aimed at improving the implementation of OeMH interventions by systematically selecting, shaping, evaluating, and reporting implementation strategies. There is a dire need for improved reporting of implementation strategies and combining common implementation frameworks with more technology-centric implementation frameworks to fully capture the complexities of eHealth implementation. Future research should investigate a wider range of common implementation outcomes for OeMH interventions that also focus on a wider set of common mental health problems in the workplace. This scoping review's findings can be critically leveraged by discerning decision-makers to improve the reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance of OeMH interventions.

Effectiveness of tailored digital health interventions for mental health at the workplace: A systematic review of randomised controlled trials.

Mental health problems in the workplace are common and have a considerable impact on employee wellbeing and productivity. Mental ill-health costs employers between £33 billion and £42 billion a year. According to a 2020 HSE report, roughly 2,440 per 100,000 workers in the UK were affected by work-related stress, depression, or anxiety, resulting in an estimated 17.9 million working days lost. We performed a systematic review of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) to assess the effect of tailored digital health interventions provided in the workplace aiming to improve mental health, presenteeism and absenteeism of employees. We searched several databases for RCTs published from 2000 onwards. Data were extracted into a standardised data extraction form. The quality of the included studies was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool. Due to the heterogeneity of outcome measures, narrative synthesis was used to summarise the findings. Seven RCTs (eight publications) were included that evaluated tailored digital interventions versus waiting list control or usual care to improve physical and mental health outcomes and work productivity. The results are promising to the advantage of tailored digital interventions regarding presenteeism, sleep, stress levels, and physical symptoms related to somatisation; but less for addressing depression, anxiety, and absenteeism. Even though tailored digital interventions did not reduce anxiety and depression in the general working population, they significantly reduced depression and anxiety in employees with higher levels of psychological distress. Tailored digital interventions seem more effective in employees with higher levels of distress, presenteeism or absenteeism than in the general working population. There was high heterogeneity in outcome measures, especially for work productivity; this should be a focus of attention in future studies.

[Aggravating factors in teachers' work and fatigue]. / Czynniki obciazajace w pracy nauczycieli a zmeczenie.

BACKGROUND: Teachers are a occupational group in which, due to the type and specificity of work, it can be expected that the feeling of fatigue will be very intense. However, there has been little research into this problem. The aim of the research was to assess the level of fatigue after work and chronic fatigue in teachers, and to determine whether and to what extent it depends on occupational and non-occupational loads. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The stratified sampling model was used to select the sample, where the layers were the type of school and its location (size of a town/city). All teachers from selected schools were invited to participate. Overall, 650 questionnaires were distributed and 403 teachers returned completed questionnaires. Fatigue after work was assessed on the basis of answers to the following question: "Do you feel tired after work?" and chronic fatigue using the Fatigue Assessment Scale. A special questionnaire was developed to assess other factors that might affect the level of fatigue. The Subjective Stress Assessment at Work Questionnaire, Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale, a part of the Questionnaire of Professional Loads of the Teacher and a list of additional factors disturbing the work were used. RESULTS: The study involved 70 men aged 35-63 years and 333 women (24-64 years). The groups did not differ significantly in terms of mean age. The level of fatigue, regardless of gender, was mostly influenced by time pressure, rush, mismanagement of the pace of work to individual abilities, increasing workload, an excess of responsible tasks, a lack of support from superiors, a low prestige of the profession, a lack of pedagogical successes, a sense of the lack of meaning in work, and the negative impact of work on family life, as well as non-occupational loads and insufficient rest. CONCLUSIONS: The conducted study allowed for determining the profile and frequency of occupational and non-occupational factors affecting the level of fatigue in teachers. Med Pr. 2021;72(3):283-303.

Predictors of illness acceptance in women with endometriosis.

BACKGROUND: The study aimed to identify significant predictors of illness acceptance in women with endometriosis. As potential predictive factors, variables related to the disease (pain frequency, co-morbid infertility, diagnostic delay, years of living with the diagnosis), demographic variables (age, place of residence, education, income, the fact of having children) and psychological variables (pain coping strategies) were taken into account. PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE: The study participants - 247 women with endometriosis - were recruited in Poland in medical facilities from 6 large voivodship cities and through a patients' association. The participants filled in the following questionnaires: the Acceptance of Illness Scale (AIS), Endometriosis Health Profile-30 (EHP-30), and the Coping Strategies Questionnaire (CSQ). The data were analysed with the method of stepwise hierarchical regression. RESULTS: The final significant model explained 24% of the variance of the AIS score. The model consisted of the following variables: pain frequency, reinterpreting pain sensations, pain catastrophizing and praying/hoping. Only two variables were significant predictors in this model: pain frequency and pain catastrophizing. Years with diagnosis, age, diagnostic delay, place of residence, education, income, and the fact of having children were not significant. CONCLUSIONS: The interventions addressed to patients should support their acceptance of chronic pain and help them to develop adaptive pain coping strategies. Due to the co-morbidity of endometriosis-related pain and depression the inclusion of antidepressant pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy based on cognitive techniques is recommended.

Shame, guilt, time perspective, time of imprisonment and PTSD symptoms in sentenced motor vehicle accidents perpetrators - a preliminary report. / Wstyd, poczucie winy, perspektywa czasowa, czas odbywania kary pozbawienia wolnosci i objawy PTSD u skazanych sprawców wypadków drogowych ­ doniesienie wstepne.

OBJECTIVES: The study aimed at exploration of a relationship between PTSD symptoms, traumarelated guilt (TRG), time perspective (TP), and guilt/shame proneness among perpetrators of motor vehicle accidents (MVA). We also analyzed relationships between length of imprisonment, PTSD and trauma-related guilt. METHODS: The sample consisted of 37 incarcerated perpetrators of MVA. They were asked to fill in the set of questionnaires: Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory, Guilt and Shame Proneness Inventory, Trauma-Related Guilt Inventory). RESULTS: The results showed that 50% of the perpetrators met the DSM-5 PTSD criteria. The proneness to guilt and shame positively correlated with the trauma-related guilt. Shame susceptibility as a consequence of negative self-esteem was associated with a greater traumarelated shame. There was no correlation between guilt/shame or trauma-related guilt and PTSD. The time perspective was associated with PTSD - the stronger the tendency of the respondents to focus on the present/past, the greater the symptoms of PTSD. Focusing on the hedonistic present positively correlated with guilt related to trauma. CONCLUSIONS: In the studied population, every second perpetrator of the accident was affected by PTSD, which was associated with the past and present time perspective. Negative assessment of self and behavior intensified the guilt associated with trauma and reduced the search for justification for one's own actions in external circumstances. Time spent in prison had no effect on moral attitudes or on the moral evaluation of one's own behavior that caused harm to others. However, it was associated with experiencing stress and focusing on one's own suffering.

Work-related Internet use as a threat to work-life balance - a comparison between the emerging on-line professions and traditional office work.

OBJECTIVES: In the present study, the authors focused on the comparison of work characteristics related to the possibility of striking the right work- nonwork balance, as well as satisfaction with the actual work-life balance (WLB), negative work-to-home conflict and the quality of life related to social relationships, between a new group of on-line workers (social media or e-marketing specialists, search engine optimization or search engine marketing specialists, e-public relations experts etc.) and traditional office workers. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The authors conducted a questionnaire study covering 189 on-line workers (whose work required permanent presence on-line) and 200 office workers (using the Internet mainly to communicate with other departments and to search for information). RESULTS: The results showed that the on-line workers reported a significantly lower satisfaction with WLB and a higher negative work-home interaction. The authors found no differences as regards the social quality of life between the studied groups. CONCLUSIONS: These findings confirm that technology advancement opens a new chapter in organizational psychology and occupational health, especially in the context of the emerging on-line occupations. Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2020;33(1):21-33.

Endometriosis - The challenge for occupational life of diagnosed women: A review of quantitative studies.

The aim of the article was to summarize the results offered in the research on occupational functioning of women with endometriosis. We followed PRISMA guidelines. Database search was done in November 2017 using EBSCO. In the review were included the articles clearly referring to the relationships between endometriosis and work or any aspect of work (e.g., work productivity, work ability, absenteeism). Eight papers were included in the final review. Seven studies were cross-sectional, 1 retrospective. The majority of researchers used standardized research measures, such as Work Ability Index, Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire or Health Related Productivity Questionnaire. Only in 2 studies the reference group was considered, one of them consisted of healthy women. The results clearly indicate that endometriosis is a disease that causes major disturbance in occupational functioning of the suffering women. In the future the researchers should search for individual and organizational correlates of the improvement of occupational functioning in this group of patients. The methodology of the existing studies has been evaluated and the methodological cues for future research has been given. Med Pr 2018;69(6):663-671.

[Late effects of mass acute phosphine poisoning - Case report]. / Pózne nastepstwa zbiorowego ostrego zatrucia fosfanem ­ opis przypadku.

This paper reports the case of collective acute phosphide (PH3) intoxication among the crew aboard a merchant ship. All the intoxicated individuals were hospitalized 3 months after the accident. The aim of examinations was to identify late health effects of the accident. Laboratory tests and consultations were performed during their stay in the hospital. There were 5 cases of toxic liver damage. other 5 patients were diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder and adjustment disorders. The results of the study suggest that in cases of acute phosphide intoxication, the assessment of patients' psychological functioning should be an indispensable part of diagnostic procedure. Med Pr 2018;69(3):337-344.

Maternal Stress During Pregnancy and Allergic Diseases in Children During the First Year of Life.

BACKGROUND: Many recent studies indicate that prenatal maternal distress increases the risk of allergic diseases in children. The mechanisms that favor it are still unclear. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to assess the association between exposure to different kinds of prenatal stress and the occurrence of atopic dermatitis, food allergy, wheezing, and recurrent respiratory tract infections in children. METHODS: The study population consisted of 370 mother-child pairs from a Polish Mother and Child Cohort (REPRO_PL). The analysis was restricted to the women who worked at least one month during the pregnancy period. Maternal psychological stress during pregnancy was assessed based on the Subjective Work Characteristics Questionnaire, the Perceived Stress Scale, and the Social Readjustment Rating Scale. The presence of atopic dermatitis, food allergy, wheezing, and recurrent respiratory tract infections in children was evaluated by doctors at 12 months of age. RESULTS: In a univariate model, we showed significant association between maternal life stress (according to the Perceived Stress Scale) and stressful life events (according to the Social Readjustment Rating Scale) and infant wheezing (at least 1 episode of wheezing during the first year of life). A multivariate model of logistic regression analysis revealed that maternal stress during pregnancy, described by the Social Readjustment Rating Scale, increased the risk of wheezing in children (OR 1.09, 95% CI 1.01-1.02) independently from other predictors of wheezing previously determined in this cohort, such as the number of infections and maternal smoking. We observed also significant positive association between maternal life stress during pregnancy measured by the Perceived Stress Scale and the risk of recurrent respiratory tract infections in the first year of life, however it was not significant after adjustment for confounding variables. CONCLUSIONS: Maternal stress during pregnancy increases the risk of childhood wheezing. The effects of stress during pregnancy on the onset of allergic diseases in children should be developed and translated into early prevention strategies.

Environmental Tobacco Smoke Exposure during Pregnancy and Child Neurodevelopment.

The developing fetus is especially vulnerable to environmental toxicants, including tobacco constituents. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure during pregnancy on child neurodevelopment within the first two years of life. The study population consisted of 461 non-smoking pregnant women (saliva cotinine level <10 ng/mL). Maternal passive smoking was assessed based on the cotinine level in saliva analyzed by the use of high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI + MS/MS) and by questionnaire data. The cotinine cut-off value for passive smoking was established at 1.5 ng/mL (sensitivity 63%, specificity 71%). Psychomotor development was assessed in children at the age of one- and two-years using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development. Approximately 30% of the women were exposed to ETS during pregnancy. The multivariate linear regression model indicated that ETS exposure in the 1st and the 2nd trimesters of pregnancy were associated with decreasing child language functions at the age of one (ß = -3.0, p = 0.03, and ß = -4.1, p = 0.008, respectively), and two years (ß = -3.8, p = 0.05, and ß = -6.3, p = 0.005, respectively). A negative association was found for cotinine level ≥1.5 ng/mL in the 2nd trimester of pregnancy and child cognition at the age of 2 (ß = -4.6, p = 0.05), as well as cotinine levels ≥1.5 ng/mL in all trimesters of pregnancy and child motor abilities at two years of age (ß = -3.9, p = 0.06, ß = -5.3, p = 0.02, and ß = -4.2, p = 0.05, for the 1st, the 2nd, and the 3rd trimester of pregnancy, respectively; for the 1st trimester the effect was of borderline statistical significance). This study confirmed that ETS exposure during pregnancy can have a negative impact on child psychomotor development within the first two years of life and underscore the importance of public health interventions aiming at reducing this exposure.

Use of work-life balance benefits guaranteed by law in Poland - Do size of the enterprise and gender matter?

BACKGROUND: The paper is aimed at indicating the similarities and differences in use of benefits supporting work-life balance (WLB) between women and men working in Polish small/medium and large enterprises. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The sample included 556 workers (311 women, 245 men), aged 20-68 years old employed on the basis of employment contracts for at least a year in Polish enterprises. The respondents completed a questionnaire on the use of benefits guaranteed by the Polish Labour Code, referring to their current workplaces. RESULTS: Women took maternity leaves and returned to the same work position after using childcare leaves more often than men. Men took leaves on demand more often than women. Our results also showed that in comparison to women working in smaller enterprises, those working in large enterprises were more likely to use almost all the analyzed WLB benefits - paid days off to take care of others, educational leaves, leaves on demand, maternity leaves and return to the same work position after childcare leave, reduction of business trips when pregnant or having young children and breastfeeding breaks. The size of enterprise, however, did not differentiate the take-up of benefits among the studied men. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis brought unexpected results on the lack of common availability of the WLB benefits guaranteed by the law in the case of employees who worked on the basis of employment contracts. We also found that women used most of child rearing benefits guaranteed by the law more often than men, which might reflect still a traditional division of child care responsibilities in Poland. Med Pr 2017;68(5):575-581.

Effort-reward balance as a mediator of the relationship between supplementary person-organization fit and perceived stress among middle-level managers.

OBJECTIVES: The study has aimed to identify the relations between the supplementary person-organization fit (P-O fit) and the perceived stress among managerial staff, with special regard to the mediating role of the effort-reward balance. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study sample consisted of 715 middle-level managers, aged 25-64 years old, employed in large companies. To measure the selected variables, the authors used the Questionnaire of Effort-Reward Imbalance (ERI), Perceived Stress Scale - 10 (PSS-10), and Person-Organization Fit Questionnaire. RESULTS: The regression analysis revealed that the perceived effort-reward imbalance partially mediated the negative relationship between the supplementary person-organization fit and stress. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that even when the characteristics of the manager and organization are highly congruent, the managers will experience stress if their work involves heavy effort or when this effort is not compensated properly. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2017;30(2):305-312.

Socio-demographic predictors of person-organization fit.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between socio-demographic characteristics and the level of complementary and supplementary person-organization fit (P-O fit). MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study sample was a group of 600 Polish workers, urban residents aged 19-65. Level of P-O fit was measured using the Subjective Person-Organization Fit Questionnaire by Czarnota-Bojarska. The binomial multivariate logistic regression was applied. The analyzes were performed separately for the men and women. RESULTS: Socio-demographic variables explained small percentage of the outcome variability. Gender differences were found. In the case of men shift work decreased complementary and supplementary fit, while long working hours decreased complementary fit. In the women, age was a stimulant of a complementary fit, involuntary job losses predicted both complementary and supplementary misfit. Additionally, relational responsibilities increased probability of supplementary P-O fit in the men. CONCLUSIONS: Going beyond personality and competences as the factors affecting P-O fit will allow development of a more accurate prediction of P-O fit. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2017;30(1):133-139.

Maternal stress during pregnancy and neurodevelopmental outcomes of children during the first 2 years of life.

AIM: A growing body of literature documents associations between maternal stress in pregnancy and child development, but findings across studies are often inconsistent. The aim of this study was to estimate the association between exposure to different kinds of prenatal stress and child psychomotor development. METHODS: The study population consisted of 372 mother-child pairs from Polish Mother and Child Cohort. The analysis was restricted to the women who worked at least 1 month during pregnancy period. Maternal psychological stress during pregnancy was assessed based on: the Subjective Work Characteristics Questionnaire, Perceived Stress Scale and Social Readjustment Rating Scale. The level of satisfaction with family functioning and support was evaluated by APGAR Family Scale. Child psychomotor development was assessed at the 12th and 24th months of age by Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development. RESULTS: Negative impact on child cognitive development at the age of two was observed for the Perceived Stress Scale (ß = -0.8; P = 0.01) and the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (ß = -0.4; P = 0.03) after adjusting for the variety of confounders. Occupational stress, as well as satisfaction with family functioning, was not significantly associated with child psychomotor development (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The study supports the findings that prenatal exposure to maternal stress is significantly associated with decreased child cognitive functions. In order to further understand and quantify the effects of prenatal stress on child neurodevelopment further studies are needed. This will be important for developing interventions that provide more assistance to pregnant women, including emotional support or help to manage psychological stress.

Trauma treatment across Europe: where do we stand now from a perspective of seven countries.

There is a lack of knowledge about the state of affairs of the trauma treatments in Europe. To start to fill in this gap, key persons from seven European countries-Georgia, Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland, and Turkey-accepted the invitation to give their expert opinion on the state of affairs in their country at an invited panel discussion at the XIV 2015 ESTSS Conference in Vilnius, Lithuania. Brief reports from the seven countries reveal significant diversities among different European countries in terms of awareness of health problems related to trauma, the availability of trauma treatments, and treatment approaches. Political and economic differences across the European countries contribute to the diversities in the developments of trauma treatments. European national psychotrauma societies are active in establishing training curricula and dissemination of trauma-focused treatments. Despite the growing acknowledgment of trauma and dissemination of trauma-focused treatments, there is a lack of Europe-wide policies to ensure availability of trauma treatment in Europe for trauma survivors. The need for more detailed analysis of trauma treatment in all European countries and development of European-level trauma-informed health care policies is outlined.

Relationships between occupational functioning and stress among radio journalists--Assessment by means of the Psychosocial Risk Scale.

OBJECTIVES: Job characteristics and the consequences of everyday stress among radio journalists who are not exposed to traumatic events have not been studied sufficiently before. We aimed at determining the most common job characteristics and their stressfulness; relationships between stress exposure, health and occupational functioning; differences between radio journalists and other journalists, and also the psychosocial risk for health and functioning in this group. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The studied group involved 208 journalists, 134 of whom worked in radio stations. The respondents filled in the Psychosocial Risks Scale (PRS) developed by the Department of Health and Work Psychology of the Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine, Lódz, Poland. RESULTS: Requirement of mental effort and readiness to response quickly for most of the time as well as limited possibilities for promotion were the most frequent journalists' complaints. We confirmed that higher levels of stress resulted in worse functioning--the radio journalists who experienced lower stress assessed their health status and ability to work better, were more satisfied with particular aspects of their work, and were more involved in their work. They also presented a significantly lower turnover intention. Moreover, the radio journalists were more involved in their work than other journalists, but experienced lower satisfaction, took more sick leaves and had more days of absence. CONCLUSIONS: Well-known relationships between stress level, satisfaction and occupational functioning were confirmed. The most important conclusion refers to the fact that psychosocial risks and stress analysis should be based on the understanding of specificity of each occupation or even position. It is so, because the same job characteristic may pose a challenge for one person, while for another--it can result in extreme discomfort and anxiety--such an attitude broadens understanding of the phenomenon. We also confirmed that the PRS is a well-designed method, appropriate to investigate an individual perception of job environment and its stressfulness. Future research on causal relationships between the variables is recommended.

Why do employees follow their superiors' instructions? Identification of the reasons to comply with superiors' will in a group of Polish employees.

BACKGROUND: Managers influence the way organization works as well as the functioning of subordinates - in the context of their work life but non-professional functioning as well e.g., attitude towards work-life balance or taking care of health. We focused on the superior-subordinate relation, referring to social power bases theory by Raven. We identified the reasons why subordinates decide to follow their superiors' orders and determined specific styles of compliance with superiors' will. Understanding why employees listen to their superiors may be valuable in the context of supporting healthy organizational climate and atmosphere of co-operation or communicating values - for example, as regards taking care of own health. We discussed the results referring to the issue of influencing employees in the context of their health behavior. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The research involved 100 Polish employees, aged 28 years old on average, who filled in the Interpersonal Power Inventory by Raven et al. for subordinates in a Polish adaptation by Zaleski. The questionnaire includes 11 subscales referring to power bases. RESULTS: Based on the cluster analysis results, we recognized people who complied because of: all kinds of power bases (typical for 46% of the respondents); the respect for superiors' professionalism (34%); and formal/objective reasons (20%). CONCLUSIONS: Employees differ in terms of their styles of compliance. Their motives to comply with superiors' instructions constitute compilations of power bases. The superiors' awareness of the reasons why their employees decide to follow orders is necessary for successful management. It may motivate employees to work but also to take care of their own health.