conference on work, family, health, and well-being washington, d.c. june 16 – 18, 2003. the...
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Conference onWork, Family, Health, and Well-being
Washington, D.C. June 16 – 18, 2003.
The psychosocial work environment and
the associations with work-family conflict.
Tage S. Kristensen, Denmark.Lars Smith-Hansen, Denmark.
Nicole Jansen, The Netherlands.
Program:
1. A tool for the assessment and improvement of the psychosocial work environment: The Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ)
2. The associations between psychosocial factors at work and work-family conflict (WFC).
3. Conclusions
The 3-level concept
Work environment professionals
Researchers
The workplaces
COPSOQThe three levels
Research questionnaire:
Questionnaire for work environment professionals:
Questionnaire for workplaces:
141 questions30 dimensions
95 questions26 dimensions
44 questions8 dimensions
Special features of the COPSOQ
Three levels of different length and complexity
National normative values
Five different kinds of job demands
Purposes of the 3-level concept
To develop valid instruments for use at different levels
To improve communication between researchers, work environment professionals, and the workplaces
To make national and international comparisons possible
To improve surveys of the work environment andevaluations of interventions
To make it easier to operationalize complicated theories and concepts
The philosophy of the three level concept
Empowerment of employees and workplaces
Improved quality of the work of work
environment professionals
Theory based interventions and assessments
Copenhagen Psychosocial
Questionnaire
Scale Number of questions: Research Middle Short questionnaire questionnaire questionnaire
Quantitative demands 7 4 3 Cognitive demands 8 4 Emotional demands 3 3 2 6 Demands for hiding emotions 2 2 1 Sensorial demands 5 4 Influence at work 10 4 3 Possibilities for development 7 4 2 Degrees of freedom at work 4 4 1 10 Meaning of work 3 3 2 Commitment to the workplace 4 4 2 Predictability 2 2 2 Role-clarity 4 4 Role-conflicts 4 4 Quality of leadership 8 4 2 10 Social support 4 4 2 Feedback at work 2 2 2 Social relations 2 2 Sense of community 3 3 2 Insecurity at work 4 4 4 Job satisfaction 7 4 4 General health 5 5 1 Mental health 5 5 5 Vitality 4 4 4 Behavioural stress 8 4 Somatic stress 7 4 Cognitive stress 4 4 Sense of coherence 9 Problem focused coping 2 Selective coping 2 Resigning coping 2 Number of questions 141 95 44 Number of scales 30 26 8 S
cale
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The three types of psychosocial work environment dimensions
1. Demands
– Quantitative (working hours, work pace)
– Emotional demands
– Demands for hiding emotions
– Cognitive demands
– Sensory demands
The three types of psychosocial work environment dimensions
2. Organization and content of work
– Influence at work
– Possibilities for development
– Degrees of freedom
– Meaning of work
– Commitment to the workplace
The three types of psychosocial work environment dimensions
3. Interpersonal relations and leadership
– Social support– Feedback– Social relations– Role clarity– Role conflicts– Predictability– Quality of leadership– Sense of community
p<0.05; p<0.01; p<0.001
Multivariate associations:
Associations between psychosocial factors at work and WFC
in the COPSOQ database
General conflict
Energy conflict
Time conflict
Quantitative demands
Cognitive demands
Emotional demands
Demands for hiding emotions
Influence at work
Possibilities for development
Degrees of freedom at work
Meaning of work
Commitment to the workplace
Role-clarity
Quality of leadership
Sense of community
Familiysituation
Workingconditons
Work-familyconflict
Health &well-being
-fatigue-mental health
1
2
4
5
3
Basic model for work-family conflict
Family situation and WFC in the SARA Study
Family situation:Energy conflict
General conflict
Single 32% 9%
Couple without children 39% 14%
Couple with children, age 7+ 46% 21%
Couple with children, age 0-6 53% 32%
Single with children 52% 27%
Total 43% 19%
WFC
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Small Below average Above average Large
24%
37%
49%
65%
11%16%
22%
30%
Energy conflict
General conflict
%
Quantitative demands(quartiles)
Quantitative demands and WFC in the SARA Study
Family situation and psychological well-being in the SARA Study
40
50
60
70
80
0 0 7+years 0-6 years 1+
77.5 78.8 79.3 78.2
72.6
62.764.7 65.2
63.0
58.4
Points
1 2 2 2 1ChildrenAdult(s)
Mental health
Vitality
Family situation
40
50
60
70
80
Small Below average Above average Large
Points
81.4 79.577.4
73.7
68.665.4
62.0
57.8
Mental health
Vitality
Quantitativedemands
Quantitative demands and psychological well-being in the SARA Study
WFC and psychological well-being inthe SARA Study
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Never Rarely Occasionally Often
8480
7771
8376
61 59
7167 71
6868
61
5449
Mental health
Vitality
Men
Men
Women
Women
Points on scale from 0 to 100
General work-familyconflict
Men Women
Psychological job demands
Physical demands
Emotional demands
Shift work
Overtime
Influence at work
Ability to take a day off
Social support
Conflicts at work
Work roster known in advance
Prospective results on WFC from the Maastricht Cohort Study on ”Fatigue at Work”.
Significant predictors of WFC over one year of follow-up(N=12,095)
Feedback loop inthe Maastricht Cohort Study
Long working hours Work-Family Conflict
Work-Family Conflict Reduced working hours
(In particular among women)
Implications for gender differences and for study design.
Conclusions
In two Danish and one Dutch study of WFC all three types of psychosocial factors were strongly related to WFC.
Demands: In Particular quantitative and emotional demands.
Work structure & content: In particular influence at work.
Interpersonal relations and leadership.
Intervention studies aiming at reducing WFC should be guided by a comprehensive model of the psychosocial work environment.
Modern work: ”Work without limits”
Modern professional work tends to be ”work without limits”:
– No limits with regard to time– No limits with regard to space
In the balance between family and ”work without limits”, the family will lose. Work will invade the family sphere of life.
Only conscious and deliberate efforts related to psychosocial factors at work can prevent a drastic increase in Work-Family Conflict.
This presentation is available on www.ami.dk/presentations/
The
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