Original article can be found at: http://hum.sagepub.com/ Copyright The Tavistock Institute. DOI: 10.1177/001872679304600705 [Full text of this article is not available in the UHRA]The associations between work demands, supports, and levels of psychological and physical health have been clearly established by research. There is growing evidence that occupational stressors are transmitted to spouses, with a possible subsequent effect on disease risks and life expectancy of both marital partners. The present study investigates the extent and direction of occupational stress transmission and the possible psychological mechanisms in a survey of 60 working couples. It analyzes the relationships between partners' psychological strain levels, investigates the accuracy of couples perceptions of each other's work stressors, and analyzes the complex interrelationships between an individual's work and the mental well-being of their spouse. Results show that work-related discussion is frequent among marital partners and that individuals have accurate perceptions of their partners' jobs. The study found evidence of transmission of stress from men to women, particularly where men have high strain jobs (high in demand and low in support), but no corresponding transmission from women to men. Some tentative explanations and proposals for further research are offered
Ms number: JHI-D-05-00521Discrepancy between self-reported and observed hand hygiene behaviour in health care professionals. Self reported and observed hand hygiene 3Professor Ben (C) Fletcher, November 2005. SummaryHand hygiene behaviour in 71 healthcare professionals was observed on hospital wards for a total of 132 hours and 1,284 hand hygiene opportunities. Questionnaires completed by the participants were used to compare actual behaviours with self-reports of behaviour, as well as intentions and attitudes towards hand hygiene. Observed practice showed very poor rates of adherence to guidelines and indicated that staff failed to take account of risk, even with patients colonised with MRSA. Observed practice was unrelated to carers" intentions and self-reports of behaviour. The results suggest that hand-hygiene interventions that target changes in attitudes, intentions or self-reported practice are likely to fail in terms of changing behaviour and consideration is given to how this could be remedied. (118 words) IntroductionThe U.K. Health Department guidelines state that hands should be washed "before and after contact with each patient" 1 . This study examines practitioners" adherence to this guideline, particularly taking note of practice when working with patients colonised with methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) patients. It also examines whether observed hand hygiene behaviour on wards is consistent with health professionals" self-reports of their actions.Research suggests that healthcare professionals clean their hands much less often than they say they do 2 . Understanding the link between self-reported and observed behaviours is of major importance in hand hygiene, but previous research has not concentrated on this. If there is no association, then interventions designed to improve intentions or self-reported MethodObservations were made on wards over a total period of 132 hours during which 1,284 opportunities for hand hygiene occurred. An opportunity for hand hygiene was defined as any occasion when a participant performed any activity which required hand hygiene, including contact with the patient, equipment, medication, food or prior to carers going on their break. Observations were made by two experienced observers: an infection control professional and a psychologist. Inter-rater reliability was established through both observers making the same observations for two days on four wards (kappa = 0.9, range 0.75-1.00).Seventy-one health care professionals (doctors, qualified nurses including "permanent" agency/bank nurses, therapists and healthcare assistants) were observed. In order to minimise effects of observational error, 51 of the health care professionals (72%) were observed on at least four occasions. Sampling of care activities and participants was Trust. All participants gave written consent prior to participating. ResultsThe percentage of opportunities when hands were washed both before and after contact with the patient, washing only before, or only after contact for di...
Karasek's (1979) demand–discretion model of occupational stress has been highly influential but has been criticized as confounding social class variables (Payne and Fletcher, 1983), ignoring the curvilinearity of relationships (Warr, 1991), and because it has inconsistently predicted heart disease (Ganster and Fusilier, 1989). The present study examines the ability of the model to predict raised blood pressure (a risk factor in the development of CHD), anxiety, depression, job and life satisfaction, in a large heterogeneous sample of over 3000 people. It examines the predictability of the model for men and women, taking occupational classification (manual and non‐manual workers) into account, to allow some control over social class confounding. It also examines nonlinear relationships in the data. The study showed that demands and discretion do separately predict psychological strain, job and life satisfaction, though they account for a very small percentage of the variance. There was no evidence of interactive effects which are central to the model. Where the model was able to predict blood pressure, relationships were consistently in the opposite direction to that hypothesized. There was also little evidence of curvilinear relationships. Interpersonal support was found to add significantly to the predictability of the dependent variables. The findings cast doubt on Karasek's model and suggest that emphasis should be shifted to those models which are more encompassing of support factors.
Occupational stress studies have been criticized for their excessive focus on a narrow range of stressors, and for over-use of cross-sectional survey designs. This study used daily questionnaires to investigate day-to-day influences of fluctuations in the individual's perceptions of work in a sample of full-time working couples studied over a threeweek period. It focused on the effects of work stressors on the individual and the impact on their marital partner. Questionnaires measured daily mood, work and home stressors, and marital interactions. The study included both quantitative measures and qualitative accounts of stressful incidents during the day. This allowed a detailed investigation of the complex interrelationships between work stresson and psychological strains for both partners, taking into account home stressors and marital communication about work.Results confirmed some of the findings of previous diary studies and provide evidence of spillover effects from home to work. It failed to demonstrate unambiguous evidence of transmission of work stress.Most available information about occupational stress has been based on retrospective cross-sectional studies despite the fact there is a range of associated methodological problems (Briner & Reynolds, 1993;Kasl, 1978). Nevertheless, such studies have highlighted relationships between potential stressors (such as lack of control, role conflict and ambiguity) and self-reported strain. Research is commonly based on a number of existing models of occupational stress (e.g. Karasek, 1979) which contain a relatively limited range of stressors. Jex & Beehr (1991) point out that in studies where individuals are interviewed about stressful incidents, different stressors emerge as important. For example, Keenan & Newton (1985) and Parkes (1986) both emphasize the importance of interpersonal conflicts at work. Jex & Beehr (1991) have suggested that there is a need for a broader scope in occupational stress research.There has been a long tradition of research investigating ways in which work spills over into the home (e.g. Staines, 1980). Studies based on mortality statistics have indicated that work may affect the physical health, life expectancy and cause of death of marital *Requests for reprints.
In the experiment reported here the primary hypothesis proposed, which was supported by the data, was that subjects performing a two-choice self-paced serial RT task would learn to change their strategy of perceptual analysis of signals presented to them as they became progressively more practised. Early in practice each signal is identified as a particular state of the display and an appropriate response is then made. Well practised subjects, however, select their responses by reference to the change or constancy between successive displays. This strategy implies that the assumptions made by the generally accepted simple S-R connectionist model of two-choice serial RT may be quite misleading, since the choice of any particular response must be determined not only by the display state but also by what the previous response had been.
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