A meta-analysis of work–family conflict and various outcomes with a special emphasis on cross-domain versus matching-domain relations.

A literature review of studies analyzing work–family conflict and its consequences was conducted, and 427 effect sizes were analyzed meta-analytically. Work–family conflict was analyzed bidirectionally in terms of work interference with family (WIF) and family interference with work (FIW). We assessed 3 categories of potential outcomes: work-related outcomes, family-related outcomes, and domain-unspecific outcomes. Results show that WIF and FIW are consistently related to all 3 types of outcomes. Both types of interrole conflict showed stronger relationships to same-domain outcomes than to cross-domain outcomes. Thus, WIF was more strongly associated with work-related than with family-related outcomes, and FIW was more strongly associated with family-related than with work-related outcomes. In moderator analyses, parenthood could not explain variability in effect sizes. However, time spent at work did moderate the relationships between WIF and family-related outcomes, as well as FIW and domain-unspecific outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Noise peaks influence communication in the operating room. An observational study

Noise peaks are powerful distractors. This study focuses on the impact of noise peaks on surgical teams’ communication during 109 long abdominal surgeries. We related measured noise peaks during 5-min intervals to the amount of observed communication during the same interval. Results show that noise peaks are associated with less case-relevant communication; this effect is moderated by the level of surgical experience; case-relevant communications decrease under high noise peak conditions among junior, but not among senior surgeons. However, case-irrelevant communication did not decrease under high noise level conditions, rather there was a trend to more case-irrelevant communication under high noise peaks. The results support the hypothesis that noise peaks impair communication because they draw on attentional resources rather than impairing understanding of communication. As case-relevant communication is important for surgical performance, exposure to high noise peaks in the OR should be minimised especially for less experienced surgeons.

Practitioner Summary: This study investigated whether noise during surgeries influenced the communication within surgical teams. During abdominal surgeries, noise levels were measured and communication was observed. Results showed that high noise peaks reduced the frequency of patient-related communication, but did not reduce patient-irrelevant communication. Noise may negatively affect team coordination in surgeries.     

Irritation at school: Reasons to initiate strain management earlier.

Organizational research provides many tested stressor–strain relationships in the workforce. To a lesser extent, it has been researched whether strain may already be present before the commencement of employment. The final years of school may be experienced as straining, because the need to perform well to obtain further education and, therefore, job opportunities, is often intense. To explore this, a scale measuring irritation, a well-documented concept of psychological strain at work, was adapted to the situation of school adolescents. Samples from 2 Swiss schools (n = 1,310 and n = 301) were obtained to study (a) the reliability of the adapted irritation scale, (b) the relationships between school stressors and irritation, (c) the moderating influences of self-efficacy on the relationship between stressors and irritation, and (d) the mediating effect of irritation in the relationship between stressors and other psychological impairments. These hypotheses were in line with results from organizational stress research. Results indicate the same mechanisms at play as those found in occupational stress research studies and implications with regard to stress interventions at school are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The double meaning of control: Three-way interactions between internal resources, job control, and stressors at work.

The Job Demand-Control model postulates that job control attenuates the effects of job demands on health and well-being. Support for this interactive effect is rather weak. Conceivably, it holds only when there is a match between job control and individual characteristics that relate to exercising control options, such as locus of control, or self-efficacy. This three-way interaction was tested in a sample of 96 service employees, with affective strain and musculoskeletal pain as dependent variables. As hypothesized, job control attenuated the effects of stressors only for people with an internal locus of control. For people with an external locus of control, job control actually predicted poorer well-being and health as stressors increased. For self-efficacy, the corresponding three-way interaction was significant with regard to affective strain. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Working Conditions and Three Types of Well-Being: A Longitudinal Study With Self-Report and Rating Data.

The mean of self-report and observer ratings of working conditions was used to predict 3 types of well-being in 52 young workers: general well-being, job-related well-being, and spillover from work to nonwork domains. Longitudinally, job control predicted spillover. There was no strong evidence for reverse causation. Synchronously, Time 2 job stressors predicted all types of well-being, and job control predicted general well-being. Because dependent variables at Time 1 are controlled for, this indicates short-term effects. Results for stressors are in line with a stress reaction model, indicating a rather quick symptom development but reversibility. The effect of control on spillover, however, suggests a sleeper effect model, with symptoms appearing with delay. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Supportive colleague, unsupportive supervisor: The role of provider-specific constellations of social support at work in the development of low back pain.

In a 5-year longitudinal study, social support was investigated as a predictor of low back pain (LBP) in 46 initially asymptomatic individuals. Distinguishing between colleagues in general and the colleague one feels closest to, the authors analyzed constellations of support from supervisor (which had positive effects) and closest colleague (which had detrimental effects). Configural frequency analysis yielded a type characterized by high support from one's closest colleague and low support from one's supervisor at Time 1 and more LBP and disability at Time 2. Controlling for negative affectivity did not change findings. Results are interpreted in terms of being dependent on that one source of support in an unsupportive environment, which creates feelings of dependence, incompetence, and reciprocity obligations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Work stress and patient safety: observer-rated work stressors as predictors of characteristics of safety-related events reported by young nurses

This study investigates the link between workplace stress and the 'non-singularity' of patient safety-related incidents in the hospital setting. Over a period of 2 working weeks 23 young nurses from 19 hospitals in Switzerland documented 314 daily stressful events using a self-observation method (pocket diaries); 62 events were related to patient safety. Familiarity of safety-related events and probability of recurrence, as indicators of non-singularity, were the dependent variables in multilevel regression analyses. Predictor variables were both situational (self-reported situational control, safety compliance) and chronic variables (job stressors such as time pressure, or concentration demands and job control). Chronic work characteristics were rated by trained observers. The most frequent safety-related stressful events included incomplete or incorrect documentation (40.3%), medication errors (near misses 21%), delays in delivery of patient care (9.7%), and violent patients (9.7%). Familiarity of events and probability of recurrence were significantly predicted by chronic job stressors and low job control in multilevel regression analyses. Job stressors and low job control were shown to be risk factors for patient safety. The results suggest that job redesign to enhance job control and decrease job stressors may be an important intervention to increase patient safety.     

1H broad-line and MAS NMR: application to the study of acid sites of desilicated zeolite ZSM-5

Broad-line¹H NMR study of desilicated zeolite ZSM-5 was carried out as a function of the number of adsorbed water molecules in amounts lower than or equal to that of the Brønsted acid sites. The dissociation coefficient of the acid OH groups, currently associated with the acid strength, was shown not to be affected by the selective removal of Si from the zeolite ZSM-5 framework which resulted in more Brønsted acid sites per unit surface area. On the other hand, by using MAS NMR, bridging Brønsted acid sites hydrogen-bonded to the zeolite framework were identified on the anhydrous surface of the desilicated ZSM-5. Moreover, MAS NMR spectra of the desilicated zeolite partially rehydrated showed the presence of some Lewis acid sites.