1,721,107 research outputs found
Approccio interdisciplinare alla gestione del rischio stress lavoro-correlato: una prospettiva psicofisiologica
No full textNel loro articolo bersaglio, Balducci e Fraccaroli forniscono una trattazione esaustiva – per quanto necessariamente vincolata alle prospettive della Psicologia del Lavoro – della complessità del fenomeno
rappresentato dallo stress lavoro-correlato. Gli autori mettono in evidenza come tale fenomeno sia cambiato negli ultimi anni e quali miglioramenti debbano essere considerati relativamente ai metodi di
valutazione e prevenzione del rischio ad esso associato. Concordando con gli autori nell’enfatizzare il contributo centrale fornito dalla Psicologia, il commento che segue vuole integrare la trattazione offerta
con la prospettiva della Psicofisiologia (ad es. Stegagno, 1986), di particolare rilevanza per cogliere la complessità di un fenomeno «psicofisiologico» per definizione, quale è lo stress. L’articolo sarà quindi
commentato alla luce di alcune delle evidenze e dei modelli più consolidati o più recenti nell’ambito della Psicofisiologia dello stress, evidenziando gli aspetti di maggiore coerenza, le possibilità di integrazione
e le eventuali incongruenze
The importance of contextualized psychosocial risk indicators in workplace stress assessment: Evidence from the healthcare sector
Full text linkThe routine assessment of workplace stress is mostly based on standardized self-report tools, including generic psychosocial risk indicators (G-PRIs) designed to fit very heterogeneous occupational sectors. However, the use “by default” of such indicators might be inadequate when they fail to characterize the specificity of the work environment; hence, the inclusion of more contextualized indicators (C-PRIs) has been recommended. We aimed at evaluating the additional contribution of three C-PRIs (Work–Family Conflict, Emotional Demands, and Excessive Demands from Patients) in predicting individual outcomes (Emotional Exhaustion, Turnover Intentions) compared to commonly used G-PRIs (e.g., Demand, Control, Support), in a sample of 787 healthcare workers involved in a routine workplace stress assessment. Multilevel hierarchical regression supported the additional contributions of C-PRIs in predicting both outcomes over G-PRIs, sex, age and shift work. More robust and consistent evidence emerged for Emotional Exhaustion, which was significantly predicted by all C-PRIs, whereas Turnover Intentions was only predicted by the C-PRI Emotional Demands. Importantly, not all G-PRIs showed a relationship with the two outcomes. Taken together, our results support the importance of including C-PRIs in workplace stress assessment carried out by organizations, which should be selected based on literature search and discussion with the stakeholders
Manipulation of Intensive Longitudinal Data: A Tutorial in R With Applications on the Job Demand-Control Model
No full textIntensive longitudinal designs (ILD) are increasingly used in applied psychology to investigate research questions and deliver interventions at both within- and between-individual levels. However, while relatively complex analyses such as cross-level interaction models are trending in the field, little guidance has been provided on ILD data manipulation, including all procedures to be applied to the raw data points for getting the final dataset to be analysed. Here, we provide an introductory step-by-step tutorial and open-source R code on required and recommended data pre-processing (e.g., data reading, merging and cleaning), psychometric (e.g., level-specific reliability), and other ILD data manipulation procedures (e.g., data centering, lagging and leading). We built our tutorial on an illustrative example aimed at testing the job demand-control model at the within-individual level based on data from 211 back-office workers who received up to 18 surveys over three workdays, supporting both the strain and (partially) the buffer hypotheses. Being the common starting point of many types of analyses, data manipulation is crucial to determine the quality and validity of the resulting study outcomes. Hence, this tutorial and the attached code aim to contribute to removing methodological barriers among applied psychology researchers and practitioners in the handling of ILD data
Is it Time to Include Wearable Sleep Trackers in the Applied Psychologists' Toolbox?
No full textWearable sleep trackers are increasingly used in applied psychology. Particularly, the recent boom in the fitness tracking industry has resulted in a number of relatively inexpensive consumer-oriented devices that further enlarge the potential applications of ambulatory sleep monitoring. While being largely positioned as wellness tools, wearable sleep trackers could be considered useful health devices supported by a growing number of independent peer-reviewed studies evaluating their accuracy. The inclusion of sensors that monitor cardiorespiratory physiology, diurnal activity data, and other environmental signals allows for a comprehensive and multidimensional approach to sleep health and its impact on psychological well-being. Moreover, the increasingly common combination of wearable trackers and experience sampling methods has the potential to uncover within-individual processes linking sleep to daily experiences, behaviors, and other psychosocial factors. Here, we provide a concise overview of the state-of-the-art, challenges, and opportunities of using wearable sleep-tracking technology in applied psychology. Specifically, we review key device profiles, capabilities, and limitations. By providing representative examples, we highlight how scholars and practitioners can fully exploit the potential of wearable sleep trackers while being aware of the most critical pitfalls characterizing these devices. Overall, consumer wearable sleep trackers are increasingly recognized as a valuable method to investigate, assess, and improve sleep health. Incorporating such devices in research and professional practice might significantly improve the quantity and quality of the collected information while opening the possibility of involving large samples over representative time periods. However, a rigorous and informed approach to their use is necessary
The daily costs of workaholism: A within-individual investigation on blood pressure, emotional exhaustion, and sleep disturbances
Full text linkWorkaholism literature has been so far focused on individual differences in workaholic tendencies, considering the construct as a stable individual trait, and highlighting its health and well-being consequences. Only recently, research has started inspecting the daily dynamics and potential consequences of state workaholism. In this preregistered study, we aimed at systematically investigating the within-individual fluctuations in workaholism levels and their potential short-term and delayed psychophysiological responses as captured by ambulatory assessment integrating subjective and objective data. Using an intensive longitudinal design over 10 workdays with 114 workers from various occupations (2,534 measurement occasions), we found higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure, emotional exhaustion, and sleep disturbances in workdays characterized by higher-than-usual workaholism symptoms. Moreover, the reactivity to state workaholism, as indexed by afternoon blood pressure, was found as a mediator of the subsequent prolonged activation indexed by bedtime blood pressure. Finally, we found evidence of a buffering effect of evening psychological detachment on the relationship between state workaholism and sleep disturbances. Overall, our results support the conceptualization of workaholism as a multilevel phenomenon that acts as an internal job-related demand by showing the typical strain reactions triggered by well characterized external demands. This study contributes to the literature by highlighting that transient workaholism symptoms can result in significant short-term stress responses at different levels, providing new, robust, and multi-source evidence that underlies the importance of effectively preventing and managing dysfunctional work investment since its early manifestation
Obbligo di lavoro e libertà di lavoro: quando lavorare è un dovere "sociale"
Full text linkIl saggio analizza il tema del lavoro come espressione di un dovere pubblico in collegamento con l'emersione di politiche di work-fare che condizionano l'erogazione di forme di sostegno ai non occupati in ragione della partecipazione a programmi di formazione o all'accettazione di proposte di impiego. Con l'ausilio di fonti riconducibili al diritto internazionale, l'Autore cerca di tratteggiare limiti all'attuazione di tali pratich
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of Spartium junceum L. flower extracts: a preliminary study
No full textOur objective was to study the anti-inflammatory and analgesic activity of extract of Spartium junceum L. flowers. Samples of flowers were collected from wild plants, dried, powdered, and extracted with hexane and methanol. The extracts were evaporated to dryness and then suspended in suitable solvent. They were then tested for anti-inflammatory activity in the carrageenin rat paw edema test and for analgesic activity in the Randall and Selitto mechanical pressure test and in the tail-flick test. Twenty-four hours after treatment, the gastric mucosa of each rat was observed macroscopically. Based on these results the hexane extract was fractioned by column chromatography, and the fractions obtained were tested in the same way. The results showed good anti-inflammatory activity only for a single fraction of the hexane extract, while all the extracts and all the other hexane fractions showed both peripheral and central analgesic activity. In rats treated with the tested compounds hyperemia and ulcers were absent. The data from this preliminary study reveal interesting pharmacological properties
of S. junceum L. flowers extract related to the marked analgesic activity and the absence of gastric ulcerogenic activity
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