Increasing the Clinical Utility of the Stroop Color-Word Test through Process Analysis

Abstract

Studies and surveys undertaken by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work indicate an "increasing number of workers exposed to psychosocial risks at work and affected by work-related stress" affecting mental health. Any innovative methods for psychosocial risk assessment at work are thus welcome. On the basis of the Square of Perceived Action model elaborated regarding competencies in action for work activities integrated in a psychodynamic approach, a protocol was developed and applied in a French company for psychosocial risk assessment regarding 35 professions and focusing on difficulties related to skill discretion. Four illustrating cases, the insight of the in-depth analysis for one profession and a macro-approach taking all the professions into account were considered. Beyond the characterization of the psychosocial risks and the orientation regarding remedial measures implemented, the method enabled analysts to objectify and quantify the risks and helped them to center the remedial measures on the right target or to better assess the degree of emergency for remedial measures. These results also showed that the method is exhaustive for psychosocial risk assessment provided that it is combined with other tools. Benefits and limits of this innovative method are discussed. things or to develop special abilities or to be creative, and the repetitive nature of tasks. This was based on the early work of Karasek [9] who designated these criteria under the concept of "skill discretion". It was then widely applied as an indicator of the quality of mental health. For example, Sheldon and Elliot [3] showed that "the accumulation of activity-based experiences of competence, autonomy, and relatedness over a period of time predicts enhanced well-being" and that they were "the psychological nutriments necessary for enhanced wellbeing and psychological development", matching previous works of Ryan [10]. Joensuu et al. [13] obtained quantified results showing that "skill discretion had a significant protective effect" (p.121) and "high skill discretion [were] associated with a reduced risk of depressive disorders and other mental disorders" (not including alcohol-related mental disorders) whereas "low skill discretion as well as high decision authority were associated with increased risk". More recently, Bentley et al. [15] showed that when people's level of decision authority and skill discretion increased, so did their mental health. These considerations highlighted the direct and indirect contribution of perceived competencies to the subjective well-being at work and thus to the mental health. Consequently, any method permitting to identify what could make the subjects' perception of competencies positive or negative might contribute to improve mental