Objective: Demographic changes involving western countries and later retirements due to the recent pension reforms induce a gradual aging of the workforce. This imply an increasing number of workers with health problems and a decreasing of ability to work. In this direction, the present study aims at examining the role of job and personal resources between age and work ability within nurses.Method: The study was cross-sectional and not randomized; data were collected by a self-report questionnaire during a multi-center survey conducted in two Italian hospitals in 2016. In this way, 333 nurses were reached.Results: Multiple linear regression showed that age is significantly and negatively associated to work ability, and that job resources (e.g., decision authority and meaning of work) and personal resources (e.g., hope and resilience) moderate the relationship between age and work ability.Discussion: These results highlight that investing in work and personal resources to support WA is even more relevant for those professions where high physical effort is required.

Work ability is a central concept in studies concerning the health of the aging workforce. The aim of the present study was to understand the role of work ability in the Job Demands-Resources model and, specifically, to establish whether and through which mechanisms it operates as a personal resource in the health-impairment process. Two-hundred and 2 female kindergarten teachers aged 50 and over completed self-reporting questionnaires. Data analyses were performed using structural equation model (SEM) and moderated regression analyses. The findings indicated that work ability plays a mediating role in the relationship between job characteristics (that are job demands and job resources) and exhaustion. Conversely, the results showed that work ability did not moderate the relationship between job demands and exhaustion. Overall, the results suggest that work ability can be appropriately considered a crucial resource, which can affect workers' health and well-being by supporting workers to deal with job demands and optimally use job resources. From a practical point of view, the findings suggest that organizations should implement monitoring actions and intervention programs aimed at fine-tuning job demands and job resources over the entire work life. This can promote the conservation of work ability and, thus, sustain workers' well-being into the latter stages of their careers.

BackgroundDespite the growing presence of menopausal women in workplaces, studies aimed at exploring the link between menopausal symptoms and job well-being are scarce. In the interest of addressing this gap, the present study aimed to explore whether menopausal symptoms might contribute to increased levels of burnout and whether this relationship can be moderated by social or personal resources.MethodThe study design was cross-sectional and non-randomized. Ninety-four menopausal nurses completed a self-report questionnaire including scales aimed at measuring menopausal symptoms, burnout, social (i.e., support from superiors and colleagues) and personal (i.e., self-efficacy, resilience, and optimism) resources. Moderated regression analyses were performed to test study hypotheses.ResultsWhereas menopausal symptoms were associated significantly with emotional exhaustion, no social or personal resources were found to moderate this relationship. Regarding depersonalization, our study indicated that it was affected by menopausal symptoms only among nurses who reported low social support (from superiors and colleagues), optimism, and resilience.ConclusionThe present study highlights the importance of organizations that employ a growing number of menopausal women to seek solutions at the individual and social levels that help these women deal with their menopausal transition while working.

BackgroundBased on the conservation of resource (COR) theory by Hobfoll, the aim of the present study was to test whether the relationships among relational demands, work meaning, and intention to leave vary as a function of the presence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs).MethodThe study was cross-sectional and non-randomized. Analyses were carried out on a dataset consisting of 429 preschool teachers, who filled out a self-report questionnaire. Of them, 238 reported a MSD diagnosis and 191 were free form MSDs.ResultsAs expected, among those who reported MSDs, relational demands were significantly associated to intention to leave, and this relationship was mediated by work meaning; moreover, among those free from MSDs, no significant paths among the three variables were found.ConclusionIn general, results showed that suffering from MSDs impairs workers’ ability to face to relational demands, thus activating a spiral that encompasses diminished work meaning and intention to leave. Practical implications of results will be discussed in the paper.

Universities perform very demanding tasks within a workplace characterized by a critical psychosocial environment. Against this backdrop, the aim of this study is to extend the current literature on the job sustainability of faculty professors, examine the associations of certain job resources (meaningfulness of work, reward) and job demands (work overload, conflict among colleagues) with workaholism, burnout, engagement. A self-report questionnaire was administered within a public higher education institution in Italy to a sample constituted by 291 professors. The results of path analysis show that meaningfulness of work and reward positively correlate with work engagement, work satisfaction, and psychological wellbeing and ward off emotional exhaustion and intention to leave. Work overload correlates positively with workaholism, work-family conflict and intention to leave and negatively with job satisfaction. Finally, workaholism correlates with work engagement and mediates the relationship between work overload and work-family conflict, emotional exhaustion, and psychological discomfort. The study highlights that to support the work of academic workers and build healthy and sustainable universities, it is necessary to promote job resources and control job demands. Moreover, the study highlights that work engagement and workaholism can be respectively considered as the positive and negative sides of heavy work investment.