Psychology, population, and reproductive behavior.

This special section on international perspectives in psychology focuses on population issues and reproductive behavior across national and cultural boundaries, emphasizing the responsibility of psychologists and colleagues in related disciplines to generate and communicate culturally mindful findings likely to shape public health policy and improve human well-being. After considering the historical and policy context, it highlights internationally collaborative research projects in the Czech Republic, Egypt, Mexico, and the United States that address reproductive behavior, women's roles and status, responsible parenthood, and abortion legislation in terms of cultural context, gender equity, the needs of adolescents, and public health policy. The articles illustrate the importance of the cultural context within which psychological research is conducted and how psychology can be informed by international perspectives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The path to a healthy workplace: A critical review linking healthy workplace practices, employee well-being, and organizational improvements.

This review synthesizes much of the previous research since 1990 linking healthy workplace practices in organizations to employee well-being and organizational improvements. Based on the review, both a direct and an indirect link between healthy workplace practices and organizational improvements are proposed. Five general categories of healthy workplace practices were identified in the literature: work-life balance, employee growth and development, health and safety, recognition, and employee involvement. Previous research also suggests that the link between these practices and employee and organizational outcomes is contingent on the effectiveness of communication within the organization and the alignment of workplace practices with the organizational context. Finally, a discussion of some limitations of previous research and recommendations for future work in the area of healthy workplace practices are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychosocial impact of illness from a developmental-systems perspective: New directions for health psychology.

Introduces the papers appearing in this special section of the Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science/Revue canadienne des Sciences du comportement (1993[July], Vol 25[3]). Theory, research, and practice in health psychology have established that a variety of psychosocial stressors and adaptive demands are imposed by physical illness. This literature has documented that quality of life and psychosocial well-being can be dramatically affected. However, much of this work has been founded upon a static perspective in which it is assumed that the impact of ill health is universal across conditions, constant over the course of illness, and independent of developmental changes throughout the lifespan. This "uniformity myth" is challenged, however, by recent findings that a variety of psychosocial stressors and adaptive demands impact affected individuals differentially across conditions and stages of illness. The papers that comprise this special section provide a stimulating challenge to the uniformity assumption from diverse perspectives. In so doing, they provide thought-provoking new findings relevant to our theoretical understanding of the psychosocial impact of illness and useful practical suggestions relevant to clinical management. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reducing the adverse consequences of workplace aggression and violence: The buffering effects of organizational support.

This study examined the buffering effects of 2 types of organizational support--instrumental and informational--on the relationships between workplace violence/aggression and both personal and organizational outcomes. Based on data from 225 employees in a health care setting, a series of moderated multiple regression analyses demonstrated that organizational support moderated the effects of physical violence, vicariously experienced violence, and psychological aggression on emotional well-being, somatic health, and job-related affect, but not on fear of future workplace violence and job neglect. These findings have implications for both research and intervention related to workplace violence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Health and development: Section introduction.

The articles in this section point to directions for action regarding children's health and their emotional and developmental well-being. More than this, the authors describe the kinds of problems children face and why they arise. Equally important, all acknowledge the progress already made. The 11 articles in this section are grouped into two major categories: the first pertains to risks to children's mental health and behavior, and the second deals with risk factors and risk-taking behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predictors of work performance among higher education employees: An examination using the ASSET Model of Stress.

This study used university-based statistics of performance and self-rated employee productivity to examine the relationship between stress levels, organizational commitment, health, and performance. The authors conducted a secondary analysis of data from staff in 13 higher education institutions. In common with earlier research, the authors found that stressors had a negative linear relationship with all the performance measures used. However, this relationship was also influenced by physical health, psychological well-being, and organizational commitment, and by the measure of performance used. In addition, the authors found variations in the relationship between performance and stress by category of staff, which suggests the influence of job factors. These findings are discussed in relation to previous research and their implications for English academic institutions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Occupational health psychology: Historical roots and future directions.

Occupational health psychology (OHP) is a term first coined by Jonathan Raymond in 1990, yet OHP has historical, international roots dating at least to the early decades of the twentieth century. It involves research and practice to create healthy workplaces. This article has 4 sections. The 1st section discusses psychology's long history of concern for occupational health in industrial organizations, beginning with Hugo Minsterberg's study of industrial accidents and human safety in the late 1800s. The 2nd section focuses on OHP's movement from the convergence of public health and preventive medicine with health and clinical psychology in an industrial/organizational context. The 3rd section addresses the central issues of organizational and individual health through the framework of preventive management. The article concludes with OHP case examples drawn from the Chaparral Steel Company, the U.S. Air Force, and Johnson & Johnson. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introduction to the Special Section on Dissemination: Dissemination Research and Research Dissemination: How Can We Close the Gap?

One of the greatest challenges facing health promotion and disease prevention is translating research findings into evidence-based public health and clinical practices that are actively disseminated and widely adopted. Despite the tremendous strides made in developing effective disease prevention and control programs, there has been little study of effective dissemination of evidence-based programs to and adoption by community, public health, and clinical practice settings. This special section provides a venue in which to highlight exemplary dissemination research efforts while also identifying limitations in research to date and framing important future research questions. This issue establishes a resource for investigators interested in dissemination research, with relevance to health psychology. In this sense, it can serve as a benchmark by which to examine subsequent progress. The 6 articles reflect the state of the science in dissemination research for the promotion and adoption of health behavior change interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Religion, self-regulation, and self-control: Associations, explanations, and implications.

Many of the links of religiousness with health, well-being, and social behavior may be due to religion's influences on self-control or self-regulation. Using Carver and Scheier's (1998) theory of self-regulation as a framework for organizing the empirical research, the authors review evidence relevant to 6 propositions: (a) that religion can promote self-control; (b) that religion influences how goals are selected, pursued, and organized; (c) that religion facilitates self-monitoring; (d) that religion fosters the development of self-regulatory strength; (e) that religion prescribes and fosters proficiency in a suite of self-regulatory behaviors; and (f) that some of religion's influences on health, well-being, and social behavior may result from religion's influences on self-control and self-regulation. The authors conclude with suggestions for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Occupational role stress in the Canadian forces: Its association with individual and organizational well-being.

Studies on workplace stress have been conducted in various occupational environments. However, published reports exploring occupational stress in the military are rare. This study examines occupational stress in the Canadian Forces within the framework of social role theory and its relation to employee health, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. Ss were 1,068 Regular Forces military members who completed a survey questionnaire. Of interest were the psychological resources (e.g., individual coping skills, workplace leadership, and perceived organizational support) that have the potential to alter the perception of work stress and/or alleviate its association with individual and organizational outcomes. Regression analyses indicated a negative association between occupational role stress and both individual (strain) and organizational (job satisfaction and organizational commitment) well-being. No moderating effects were found for coping strategies, workplace leadership, or perceived organizational support, although these factors had direct relationships with both individual and organizational well-being The results are discussed in terms of the potential of organizational resources and role stress to cascade across organizational levels. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of work in psychological health and well-being: A conceptual, historical, and public policy perspective.

The primary theme of this article, which serves as the introductory contribution of a special section of the American Psychologist, is that work plays a central role in the development, expression, and maintenance of psychological health. The argument underlying this assumption is articulated at the outset of the article in conjunction with a historical review of vocational psychology and industrial/organizational psychology. The article follows with an overview of contemporary vocational psychology and a presentation of the psychology-of-working perspective, which has emerged from critiques of vocational psychology and from multicultural, feminist, and expanded epistemological analyses of psychological explorations of working. Three illustrative lines of inquiry in which research has affected the potential for informing public policy are presented. These three lines of scholarship (role of work in recovery from mental illness; occupational health psychology; and working, racism, and psychological health) are reviewed briefly to furnish exemplars of how the psychological study of working can inform public policy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recovery, Health, and Job Performance: Effects of Weekend Experiences.

This study extended research on respites by examining the extent to which experiences during the weekend contribute to health and job performance after the weekend. Longitudinal data including 3 measurement occasions from 87 emergency service workers indicated that nonwork hassles, absence of positive work reflection, and low social activity during the weekend predicted burnout and poor general well-being after the weekend. Weekend experiences also predicted different aspects of job performance after the weekend. The results reveal practical implications for individual and organizational optimization of recovery processes. Suggestions for future research on specific recovery processes and their effects on individual health and performance are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Promoting organizational health: The evolving practice of occupational health psychology.

Occupational health psychology (OHP) is a rapidly expanding interdisciplinary field. This article attempts to describe a framework of organizing principles and core competencies associated with OHP practice. These concepts are illustrated in a case study of an organizational health center (OHC) implemented within a large industrial complex. The OHC was designed to optimize both organizational health and individual well-being by applying behavioral science principles to a workplace setting producing both quantitative and qualitative benefits for the organization. The OHC program components, enveloped in a preventive stress management context, provide examples of the variety of opportunities in OHP with hopes of stimulating ideas for practice. Continuing to build and refine both the guiding theory and applications of OHP practice will yield benefits for organizational clients, practitioners, and the profession. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Building Healthy Workplaces: Where We Need to Be.

Many organizations are struggling to define a "healthy" workplace, to assess both the "healthy" and "unhealthy" aspects of their own environment, and to implement initiatives to improve the quality of their work and workplace. There is a huge body of literature documenting the direct and indirect costs of work stress. Research conducted primarily since the 1960s has identified the principal characteristics of jobs that affect well-being. There is a clear parallel between the literature addressing job design as a means of increasing motivation and organizational effectiveness and job design as a means of improving individual well-being. These observations and the supporting literature suggest three principal foundation blocks for a national strategy to address issues of work and mental health. We advocate a focus on the assessment of leading indicators of mental and physical health in the workplace. On the issue of job stress, the organizational research suggests a dual focus, not only on these types of stress management intervention, but also on changing the job stressors through activities such as job design and leadership training. Third, implementation of these first two points requires education and training at two levels: in the workplace and among mental-health professionals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

La constitution d’un milieu de travail sain: Où nous devons être.

Many organizations are struggling to define a "healthy" workplace, to assess both the "healthy" and "unhealthy" aspects of their own environment, and to implement initiatives to improve the quality of their work and workplace. There is a huge body of literature documenting the direct and indirect costs of work stress. Research conducted primarily since the 1960s has identified the principal characteristics of jobs that affect well-being. There is a clear parallel between the literature addressing job design as a means of increasing motivation and organizational effectiveness and job design as a means of improving individual well-being. These observations and the supporting literature suggest three principal foundation blocks for a national strategy to address issues of work and mental health. We advocate a focus on the assessment of leading indicators of mental and physical health in the workplace. On the issue of job stress, the organizational research suggests a dual focus, not only on these types of stress management intervention, but also on changing the job stressors through activities such as job design and leadership training. Third, implementation of these first two points requires education and training at two levels: in the workplace and among mental-health professionals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychosocial stressors and well-being in health care workers. The impact of an intervention program

There have been few prospective studies of the impact of workplace interventions on employee and organizational well-being within health care settings. This study was conducted at a large regional hospital in Sweden in 1994 with a follow-up in 1995. Effects of a structured organizational and staff intervention program on perceived psychosocial work quality, supporting resources and self-reported health and well-being were evaluated. Based on department-specific results from the baseline assessment in 1994, each department formulated their own improvement goals. They also made their own decisions on relevant improvement activities. Since there was no formal reference group in this study, departments with high and low rating levels, respectively, with regard to intervention activities were compared. Despite an overall worsening in most of the measures most likely due to a notice of 20% staff reduction prior to the follow-up assessment, the intervention appeared to have attenuated negative changes in the high as compared with the low activity group. Manager-rated impact of the program as well as positive staff attitudes and staff involvement in the enhancement process were identified as important determinants for more favourable changes. The study points out the relevance of structured workplace interventions for organizational and employee well-being especially in times of cut-backs and organizational turmoil. Department-specific factors will determine the impact of such programs. The study indicates that the psychosocial impact of personnel cut-backs in health care may be attenuated through management initiatives.     

Psychological well-being and job satisfaction as predictors of job performance.

The happy–productive worker hypothesis has most often been examined in organizational research by correlating job satisfaction to performance. Recent research has expanded this to include measures of psychological well-being. However, to date, no field research has provided a comparative test of the relative contribution of job satisfaction and psychological well-being as predictors of employee performance. The authors report 2 field studies that, taken together, provide an opportunity to simultaneously examine the relative contribution of psychological well-being and job satisfaction to job performance. In Study 1, psychological well-being, but not job satisfaction, was predictive of job performance for 47 human services workers. These findings were replicated in Study 2 for 37 juvenile probation officers. These findings are discussed in terms of research on the happy–productive worker hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introduction to the special section on seeking new methods in mental health services research.

Mental health services research aims ultimately to improve the quality, impact, and cost-effectiveness of services. Experience during the past decade suggests that the goals and study conditions of mental health services research require special methods. A special section is described that presents 7 articles that give a flavor of the issues addressed and some of the methods that characterize this emerging research area. Although the series cannot explicate the full breadth or all the nuances of these methods, the authors' goal is to entice colleagues to join them in developing methods for addressing services research questions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Measuring psychosocial work quality and health: Development of health care measures of measurement.

Demands on workload and work efficiency have increased because of ongoing global changes in health care organizations. Assessing and evaluating effects of changes on organizational and individual well-being require valid and reliable methods. Questionnaires from 3 large health care studies were used to develop instruments for work quality and health. Study 1 included 2,935 participants from all occupational groups. Study 2 sampled 3,545 nurses and midwives. Participants in Study 3 consisted of 3,506 employees at a large hospital. Variable fields of work quality, health and well-being, and modifying factors were factor analyzed with replicated structures in new samples, including 6 factors of work quality, 5 health factors, and 2 modifying factors. All except 2 factors had high internal consistency (Cronbach's α?=?.69–84) and low factor intercorrelations within areas. Social climate (but not individual resources) had, according to our model, a modifying effect on the work-health interaction (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introduction to the Special Section on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health: Implications for Rehabilitation Psychology.

This introduction to the special section of Rehabilitation Psychology on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) previews how implications for rehabilitation psychology are explored through 4 articles, each designed to build on the presentation and discussion of the prior piece: an overview of the ICF classification system; a review of contemporary applications of the ICF to clinical, government, and research uses; an update on clinical implementation efforts and related conceptual issues; and a specific application of the ICF to assistive technology service provision. The special section presents the ICF as a compelling development in the classification of functioning and health in health care service provision and, in particular, rehabilitation psychology practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)