Association of Personal and Workplace Characteristics with Health,Comfort And Odor: A Survey of 3948 Office Workers in Three Buildings

A questionnaire on health symptoms, workplace conditions, and perceived indoor air quality was administered to 3948 employees of the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, DC in the winter of 1989. The main goal was to determine the personal or workplace characteristics associated with health symptoms. A principal components analysis of 32 health symptoms identified 12 health factors. Each factor was generally associated with a particular body system (eyes, nose, throat, chest, central nervous system, etc.). The 12 health factors were regressed linearly on the 50-100 personal, workplace, and spatial characteristics identified from the questionnaire and building blueprints. Significant variables (p < 0.01) were included in a second logistic regression to determine a final model. Eleven variables were associated with multiple health factors. The main workplace variables were dust and glare. Personal characteristics of importance were mold allergies and sensitivity to chemicals. Among women, lack of a college degree was an important factor. Air quality factors of importance included hot stuffy air and dry air: The odor of paint and other chemicals, and the odor of cosmetics were also associated with four or more of the health factors. Two measures of stress – heavy workload and conflicting demands – were also associated with several health factors.     

Smoking withdrawal dynamics: I. Abstinence distress in lapsers and abstainers.

Smoking withdrawal reports from a clinical trial (n=893) were submitted to hierarchical linear modeling as a cross-method replication of a heterogeneity approach to withdrawal measurement and to clarify the influence of postcessation smoking on symptom reports. Five individual difference parameters tapping distinct facets of withdrawal were derived: intercepts (mean severity), linear slope (direction and rate of change), quadratic trend (curvature), volatility (scatter) and, among lapses, a cigarette coefficient (smoking-related deflections of symptoms). All parameters were highly variable across persons. Lapsers had more aversive symptom patterns than abstainers, and symptoms tended to be higher than otherwise predicted on lapse days. These results reinforce the conclusion that withdrawal symptoms are highly variable and argue against discarding withdrawal data from participants who lapse. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Proneness to hypomania/mania symptoms or depression symptoms and asymmetrical frontal cortical responses to an anger-evoking event.

The behavioral approach system (BAS) reflects the propensity to respond to signals of reward, including stimuli associated with safety and goal-oriented attack (e.g., anger). Hypomania/mania has been posited to involve increased BAS activity. In contrast, depression has been posited to involve decreased BAS activity. Building on past research, which suggests that increased left frontal cortical activity is a neurophysiological index of BAS activity, the present research tested the hypotheses that proneness toward hypomania/mania symptoms would be related to increased relative left frontal activity and that proneness toward depression symptoms would be related to decreased relative left frontal activity in response to an anger-evoking event. Results from 67 individuals who had completed a measure of proneness toward these affective symptoms and were exposed to an anger-evoking event supported the hypotheses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Relationship Between Person-Organization Congruence, Perceived Violations of the Psychological Contract, and Occupational Stress Symptoms.

Along with rapid changes in the workplace have been changes in the workforce, including decreased congruence between personal and organizational values (P-OC), an increase in perceived psychological contract violations (PCV), and an increase in work stress. This study examined the relationship between these variables in the context of age, gender, and job tenure. Results indicated that employees reporting higher levels of PCV are more likely to experience low P-OC, be relatively older, and have been in their current jobs for a relatively shorter time. Employees reporting higher stress symptoms are more likely to be male, and to have been in their current jobs and with the company relatively longer. Study findings have implications for consulting and human resource management practices. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of nicotine dose, instructional set, and outcome expectancies on the subjective effects of smoking in the presence of a stressor.

The balanced placebo design (BPD) was used to evaluate the independent effects of nicotine dose and smoking-related expectancies on self-reported anxiety, urge to smoke, and withdrawal symptoms. After anxious mood was induced, participants smoked either a de-nicotinized cigarette or one with standard nicotine content. Nicotine dose was crossed with instructions that the cigarette was either de-nicotinized or standard. Nicotine cigarettes produced greater anxiety reduction than de-nicotinized cigarettes. Nicotine instructions attenuated anxiety only among those who held relevant expectancies. Nicotine dose and instructional set interacted such that either nicotine cigarettes or instructions that the cigarettes contained nicotine were sufficient to reduce urge to smoke. Implications of these findings and methodological issues regarding use of the BPD with cigarettes are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Traumatic brain injury: A hidden consequence for battered women.

The inability of substantial numbers of battered women to terminate or extricate themselves from violent relationships is of grave concern to clinical practitioners. Despite professional intervention, many victims of domestic violence return to the batterer and to repetitive battering, demonstrating that, for these women, traditional psychosocial interventions are ineffective. In a sample of 53 battered women, 92% reported having received blows to the head in the course of their battering; 40% reported loss of consciousness. Correlations between frequency of being hit in the head and severity of cognitive symptoms were significant, strongly suggesting that battered women should be routinely screened for traumatic brain injury and postconcussive syndrome. Development of treatment strategies to address the potentially damaging sequelae of head trauma in this population is essential. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship between reported and observed dominance and conflict among parents of schizophrenics.

The results of well-controlled studies indicate no significant differences among the mothers of schizophrenics and those of controls in the amount of reported dominance. However, several equally well-controlled studies demonstrate that the parents of schizophrenics behave in a more conflictual manner toward each other than is true of the parents of controls. The subjects for this study were 35 sets of Caucasian parents: 11 were parents of hospitalized poor premorbid schizophrenics, 12 were parents of hospitalized good premorbid schizophrenics, and 12 were parents of hospitalized tubercular patients (controls). The parents were asked individually whether they agreed or disagreed with the dominance and conflict items from the Parental Attitude Research Instrument. They were then asked to resolve, individually then jointly, 12 hypothetical child-rearing problems. The parental dialogues were all tape-recorded and later scored for dominance and conflict. The results suggest that parents in general are not reliable judges of dominant behavior, but appear to be better estimators of conflictual behavior. The latter finding is especially marked for the parents of controls. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stress situations, birth order, and psychological symptoms.

Recent conflicting findings raise the issue of whether observed differences in levels of psychological distress of 1st and later borns are a function of their contemporary social situation, or of basic personality defect in 1 or the other group. Hypotheses which might explain conflicting findings are derived from Schachter's work: among Ss exposed to stressors, 1st borns will show more symptoms when social isolation is enforced, and later borns when social interaction is enforced. These hypotheses are tested in a socially isolating sensory deprivation study, and in a community sample including crowded slum dwellers. Both hypotheses are supported. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Workers' education

Health education is one of the most popular weapons against low back pain and other work-related musculoskeletal disorders.

It is used for both primary and secondary prevention to teach healthy life and work habits and to improve body mechanics in order to promote and maintain health. It is assumed that with a few hours of teaching, people adopt new working postures and movements, make ergonomic changes in their environment, and start exercising.

The most common teaching method is lecturing, with visual aids. The practical session is often short.

In evaluations shortly after the sessions, participants have been satisfied, their knowledge has increased, and in some cases the number of injuries or sick leaves has decreased. Follow-ups have shown that the health situation has returned to its former state within two years. In health education, aimed at preventing musculoskeletal injuries, the principle should be ‘learning by doing’. Instead of lecturing, the programmes should have a comprehensive approach, which includes the improvement of the live situation and environment, and involves the entire community.

Three programmes (the prevention of data entry operators' neck and upper limb disorders, early rehabilitation courses for forest workers, and workers guidelines to self-help) are presented and the teaching methods and contents analysed with special interests in the didactic methods and in participation of workers.     

Investigation of musculoskeletal symptoms and ergonomic risk factors among female sewing machine operators in Turkey

This cross-sectional study aimed to identify the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms and ergonomic risks in female sewing machine operators at a textile company. The study sample comprised all female sewing machine operators in the company. The sample included 283 sewing machine operators. Data were collected through the use of the adapted Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire and by direct observations via the rapid upper limb assessment (RULA) to determine ergonomic risks. RULA is a validated tool for assessment of ergonomic risks. The mean age of the women was 30.2 (SD: 8.4) and the mean number of years of employment was 13.4 (SD: 5.5). The highest prevalence rates for the women’s musculoskeletal symptoms were in the trunk (62.5%), neck (50.5%), and shoulder (50.2%). Of the women, 65% had experienced musculoskeletal pain or discomfort over the last 6 months. Pain intensity of these symptoms was assessed with a visual analogue scale. The average pain intensity of the women was found to be 3.5 (SD: 2.8). Results of the RULA scores were found to be quite high. There were no employees who received RULA scores of 1–2, which indicates acceptable postures (all scores >5). The final RULA scores of 6.9 indicate that the participants’ postures at their work stations need to be investigated immediately.

Relevance to industry

This study based on the RULA method allowed to perform a rapid and quite correct evaluation tolls for SMOs. For this research population, the research findings provided fundamental data on the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms and ergonomic risks among Turkish female SMOs.