Short-term effects of occupational stressors on daily mood and health complaints.

Related daily changes in 2 job conditions, workload and social interaction with co-workers and supervisors, to daily mood and health complaints. 52 air-traffic controllers (ATCs) completed measures of subjective well-being and perceived job conditions on 3 consecutive days; objective indicators of daily workload (air traffic volume and visibility at the airport) were also obtained. The results indicate that increases in job stressors are associated with a same-day deterioration in physical and psychological well-being. On days in which workload was perceived to be high, ATCs reported more health complaints and moods that were more negative and less positive. On days in which there was greater air traffic volume (objectively measured), ATCs reported moods that were more negative. On days in which interactions with co-workers and supervisors were described as more distressing, ATCs reported moods that were more negative and less positive. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A longitudinal study of children's depressive symptoms, self-perceptions, and cognitive distortions about the self.

This longitudinal study examined how depressive symptoms relate to children's self-perceptions and to estimates of children's cognitive distortions about the self in a nonclinical sample of children who were followed from 4th grade (n=248) through 6th grade (n=227). Report card grades measured children's academic competence, and teachers' ratings of children's level of peer acceptance at school indicated social acceptance. Self-reported depressive symptoms predicted a change in children's negative views of the self. Moreover, the self-perceptions of children who exhibited more symptoms of depression appeared to reflect an underestimation of their actual competence. Children's negative self-perceptions and underestimations about the self were not associated with a subsequent change in depressive symptoms. The implications of the findings for cognitive theories of depression and future research with this population are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of daily stress at work on mothers' interactions with preschoolers.

Thirty mother–preschooler dyads were studied for 5 consecutive weekdays. In addition to daily maternal reports of job stressors and parent–child interaction, a subsample of 13 dyads was videotaped during the parent–child reunion at the end of each workday. Mothers were much more likely to respond to an increase in job stressors by withdrawing than by becoming more irritable. Both mothers and independent observers described mothers as more behaviorally and emotionally withdrawn (e.g., less speaking and fewer expressions of affection) on days when the mothers reported greater workloads or interpersonal stress at work. Job stressors may have their strongest impact on the daily parenting behavior of mothers who generally experience higher levels of emotional distress (depressed or anxious mood) and, in particular, mothers who report more Type A behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Employment and women's health: Effects of paid employment on women's mental and physical health.

This article reviews empirical evidence concerning the effects of paid employment on women's mental and physical health, with special attention to variations in the effects of employment depending on the characteristics of women and their jobs. We highlight methodological issues and focus primarily on studies with longitudinal data for representative samples of women. We conclude that women's employment does not have a negative effect on their health, on the average. Indeed, employment appears to improve the health of unmarried women and married women who have positive attitudes toward employment. Possible mediators linking employment to health outcomes are discussed. Current evidence suggests that increased social support from co-workers and supervisors may be one important mediator of the beneficial health effects of employment. Given the paucity of available longitudinal studies, we encourage additional prospective research examining the mental and physical health consequences of employment according to job characteristics, personal characteristics, and disease outcome. We also recommend research on several promising mediators of employment–health relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluation of the influence of arsenical livestock drinking waters on total arsenic levels in cow’s raw milk from Argentinean dairy farms

The concentrations of total arsenic in cow’s raw milk and in the livestock drinking water were determined and compared, in order to establish the influence of natural arsenic levels in groundwaters on the final presence of arsenic in milk production of the most important dairy region in Argentina. A dry ashing procedure was used for the mineralisation of the milk samples. The total arsenic concentrations were determined by flow injection hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry (FI-HGAAS). The mineralised milk samples and well water samples were pre-reduced with concentrated HCl and KI–C₆H₈O₆ solutions. A volume of 500 μl of each solution of pre-treated sample was transported by a HCl 1.2 mol l⁻¹ carrier solution at a flow rate of 11 ml min⁻¹ and merged with a reducing NaBH₄ 0.2% (m/v) solution which flowed at 5.5 ml min⁻¹. The hydride generated in a reaction coil was transported to the detector with a N₂ flow of 100 ml min⁻¹. The recovery values of added concentrations at levels of 2.5 μg l⁻¹ and 5.0 μg l⁻¹ of arsenic in milk were 103 ± 8% and 102 ± 6% for n = 3, respectively. The accuracy of the method for the determination of total arsenic in water was checked by analysis of a certified sample NIST 1643d. Detection limits were 0.7 μg l⁻¹ and 0.6 μg l⁻¹ for milk and well water, respectively. The results showed a low biological transference level of arsenic to the cow milk from the drinking water ingestion.     

Opportunity for interaction? A naturalistic observation study of dual-earner families after work and school.

Everyday patterns of interaction can strengthen or undermine bonds between family members. This naturalistic observation study focused on an understudied facet of family life: opportunities for interaction among dual-earner family members after work and family members’ responses to these opportunities. Thirty dual-earner couples and their children were observed and video-recorded in their homes throughout two weekday afternoons and evenings. Two interaction opportunities were analyzed: (1) the behavior of family members toward a parent returning home from work and (2) the physical proximity of family members throughout the evening. Three main findings emerged. Women, who tended to return home before men, were greeted with positive behavior and reports of the day’s information from family members. Men, in contrast, returned home later in the day and received positive behavior or no acknowledgment from family members distracted by other activities. Throughout the evening, mothers spent more time with children whereas fathers spent more time alone. Couples were seldom together without their children. The implications of observed interaction patterns and the contribution of naturalistic observation methods to the study of family relationships are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Time spent in housework and leisure: Links with parents' physiological recovery from work.

Spouses' balancing of housework and leisure activities at home may affect their recovery from work. This paper reports on a study of everyday family life in which 30 dual-earner couples were tracked around their homes by researchers who recorded their locations and activities every 10 min. For women, the most frequently pursued activities at home were housework, communication, and leisure; husbands spent the most time in leisure activities, followed by communication and housework. Spouses differed in their total time at home and their proportion of time devoted to leisure and housework activities, with wives observed more often in housework and husbands observed more often in leisure activities. Both wives and husbands who devoted more time to housework had higher levels of evening cortisol and weaker afternoon-to-evening recovery. For wives, husbands' increased housework time also predicted stronger evening cortisol recovery. When both spouses' activities were entered in the same model, leisure predicted husbands' evening cortisol, such that husbands who apportioned more time to leisure, and whose wives apportioned less time to leisure, showed stronger after-work recovery. These results suggest that the division of labor within couples may have implications for physical health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual and common components of the social environment at work and psychological well-being.

Interpretations of correlational research on the social origins of psychological well-being are limited by the possibility of reciprocal influences between persons and their social situations and by respondent bias. These issues are addressed in a study of the relation between the social environment at work and mental health. Two components of a social environment were measured: a common social environment, the social climate shared by employees in the same work setting, and an individual social environment, the social space surrounding one individual in the setting. The study related (a) averaged co-workers' ratings and individuals' own ratings of the social environment to (b) individuals' self-reported psychological well-being. A group of 37 bank branches represented work environments, and nonmanagerial personnel in the branches served as participants. Results indicated that the quality of the social environment at work is related to the mental health of employees. More important, the relation was confirmed with an independent measure of the social environment. Aggregate co-worker ratings of the common social environment were significantly correlated with individual depression and anxiety. However, an individual's perceptions appeared to mediate the social environment's impact. As hypothesized, well-being was more closely tied to the proximal individual social environment than to the more distal common social environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

For better or worse? Coregulation of couples’ cortisol levels and mood states.

Although a majority of adults live with a close relationship partner, little is known about whether and how partners’ momentary affect and physiology covary, or “coregulate.” This study used a dyadic multilevel modeling approach to explore the coregulation of spouses’ mood states and cortisol levels in 30 married couples who sampled saliva and reported on mood states 4 times per day for 3 days. For both husbands and wives, own cortisol level was positively associated with partner’s cortisol level, even after sampling time was controlled. For wives, marital satisfaction weakened the strength of this effect. Partner’s negative mood was positively associated with own negative mood for both husbands and wives. Marital satisfaction fully moderated this effect, reducing the strength of the association between one’s own and one’s partner’s negative mood states. Spouses’ positive moods were not correlated. As expected, within-couple coregulation coefficients were stronger when mood and cortisol were sampled in the early morning and evening, when spouses were together at home, than during the workday. The results suggest that spouses’ fluctuations in negative mood and cortisol levels are linked over several days and that marital satisfaction may buffer spouses from their partners’ negative mood or stress state. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neuroendocrine, immunohistochemical, and ultrastructural study of pineal region tumors

A new bacteriocin, produced by Streptococcus thermophilus 81 has been isolated, purified and characterized. By its heat sensitivity and broad inhibitory spectrum it does not resemble any other S. thermophilus bacteriocin. The mode of action is bacteriostatic. This peptide of 32 amino acids is efficient against several Bacillus species, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella typhimurium, Escherichia coli, Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and Yersinia enterocolitica. This bacteriocin is heat labile but its activity was not altered by pH variation from 3 to 10. Six months of storage at 40 degrees C did not influence the activity. The inactivation by detergents and the inability to resolve the protein in SDS-PAGE supposes a more complex structure or a possible stabilizing effect of other molecules. The low sensitivity of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus to the isolated bacteriocin suggests that S. thermophilus 81 may be used in yoghurt starters.