South African organisations face the challenge of creating organisations that will engage employees in ways that allow for the optimisation of their strengths. This can be achieved by following a strength-based approach (SBA). An SBA aims to achieve optimisation of human functioning, where talents and strengths are the focus and weaknesses are understood and managed. Although previous research suggests that an SBA has positive influences on individual and organisational outcomes, no instrument exists within the South African context that measures employees’ perception of the extent to which they believe their organisation makes use of their strengths and talents. Recently, a new scale was developed to address this need. However, no studies have been done to see how well the items of this scale function. The objectives of this research were to 1) conceptualise an SBA according to literature, 2) determine whether the items in the SBA scale are unidimensional, 3) to determine the internal validity and reliability of the new SBA scale, and 4) make recommendations for future research. A cross-sectional quantitative research design was used whereby online and hardcopy versions of the questionnaire were distributed to participants. A sample of 699 participants was collected from the Gauteng and North-West provinces. Rasch analysis was used to determine the reliability and validity of the items. Acceptable item reliability was found. Both the item and person separation indices were acceptable. Mean infit and outfit indices for both person and item were acceptable. The seven-point frequency-based Likert scale worked satisfactorily overall, although categories 0, 1, and 2 were under-utilised. Finally, the infit and outfit statistics for all eight items functioned satisfactorily, except for one item. Recommendations are made for practice as well as for future research. / Thesis (MA (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

South African organisations face the challenge of creating organisations that will engage employees in ways that allow for the optimisation of their strengths. This can be achieved by following a strength-based approach (SBA). An SBA aims to achieve optimisation of human functioning, where talents and strengths are the focus and weaknesses are understood and managed. Although previous research suggests that an SBA has positive influences on individual and organisational outcomes, no instrument exists within the South African context that measures employees’ perception of the extent to which they believe their organisation makes use of their strengths and talents. Recently, a new scale was developed to address this need. However, no studies have been done to see how well the items of this scale function. The objectives of this research were to 1) conceptualise an SBA according to literature, 2) determine whether the items in the SBA scale are unidimensional, 3) to determine the internal validity and reliability of the new SBA scale, and 4) make recommendations for future research. A cross-sectional quantitative research design was used whereby online and hardcopy versions of the questionnaire were distributed to participants. A sample of 699 participants was collected from the Gauteng and North-West provinces. Rasch analysis was used to determine the reliability and validity of the items. Acceptable item reliability was found. Both the item and person separation indices were acceptable. Mean infit and outfit indices for both person and item were acceptable. The seven-point frequency-based Likert scale worked satisfactorily overall, although categories 0, 1, and 2 were under-utilised. Finally, the infit and outfit statistics for all eight items functioned satisfactorily, except for one item. Recommendations are made for practice as well as for future research. / Thesis (MA (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

Background The psychosocial work environment affects our health (e.g., sick leave and mortality rates). Research on psychosocial work factors and burnout has focused on specific workplaces or occupations and rarely evaluated in the general population or used longitudinal designs. In Sweden, the diagnosis of exhaustion disorder (closely related to burnout) is a common cause for sick leave. The effects of psychosocial work environments on the process of returning to work has not been studied in this specific patient group. The overall aims of this thesis were to (1) assess the level of burnout in a working general population and investigate the importance of psychosocial work factors and sex on burnout, and (2) study reduction of sick leave and experiences of returning to work in burnout patients, with special attention towards psychosocial work factors. Methods An occupationally active subset (n=1000) of the 2004 Northern Sweden MONICA survey was used in a cross-sectional study. A five-year follow-up of this population was also performed (n=626). Level of burnout was measured using the Shirom Melamed Burnout Questionnaire (SMBQ). Burnout patients were studied for the second thesis aim. A cohort of 117 patients from the REST project was investigated using a baseline questionnaire and sick leave data at two-year follow-up. Grounded Theory was used for an in-depth interview and analysis of 12 employed patients. Results Cross-sectional results from the working general population showed that women have higher levels of burnout than men. In both sexes, work demands, work control, and job insecurity were associated with burnout levels. Among women, education, socioeconomic position, work object, and working hours were also important. Work factors in combination with situational life factors explained about half the difference in burnout level between women and men. Longitudinal results show that burnout levels decrease with age in both sexes, although the changes occur at an earlier age for men. A constant job strain, increased job insecurity, and a worsened economic situation are related to an increase in burnout level. When studying risk factor accumulation, each additional risk factor exposure increases the burnout level. In burnout patients, low work control and use of covert coping towards supervisors and workmates predicts unchanged sick leave levels after a twoyear period. Borderline significance was found between work overcommitment and reduced sick leave. Both personal resources and external support are described as important factors when regaining the ability to work. Perceived validation, insights into the situation and adaptive coping skills increase the chance of regaining the ability to work. External support, particularly from the workplace, is also important. Conclusion There are links between psychosocial work factors and burnout levels in a working general population and sick leave levels in burnout patients. Socioeconomic position and working conditions are important for the level of burnout among working women. In the working population, age differences occur between the sexes; women reduce their burnout levels later in life than men. In the burnout patient population, coping patterns and control at work predict sick leave levels after two years. Both internal resources and external support are important when burnout patients describe the process of regaining the ability to work. The workplace and the work environment are important in preventing working people from becoming burned out and in easeing return to work after sick leave. A person’s coping pattern is also important in reduction of sick leave.

Les facteurs psychosociaux au travail sont devenus un enjeu de santé publique et de santé au travail et font l’objet d’une attention particulière des politiques de prévention. Cependant, le rôle étiologique de ces facteurs sur la santé mentale reste à approfondir, notamment via des études intégrant un outil diagnostique, rarement utilisé dans ce contexte. De plus, le rôle de ces facteurs dans l’explication des inégalités sociales de santé mentale reste mal connu. Les objectifs de la thèse sont donc l’étude du rôle étiologique des facteurs psychosociaux au travail sur les troubles de la santé mentale mesurés par un instrument diagnostique et l’évaluation de leur contribution dans les inégalités sociales de santé mentale.Deux jeux de données ont été exploités : Samotrace (enquête régionale sur 6056 salariés) et SIP -Santé et Itinéraire Professionnel- (enquête nationale sur 7709 travailleurs). Samotrace se caractérise par la présence de questionnaires validés pour la mesure des facteurs psychosociaux au travail, et SIP par la présence d’un outil diagnostique pour la mesure de la dépression et de l’anxiété. Des méthodes statistiques multivariées ont été employées, notamment la régression logistique. Des tests d’interactions et la méthode du bootstrap ont également été utilisés. Toutes les analyses ont été réalisées séparément pour les hommes et les femmes.La faible latitude décisionnelle, le surinvestissement et les exigences émotionnelles étaient des facteurs de risque de dépression et d’anxiété, pour les deux genres. D’autres facteurs de risque spécifiques ont été observés selon la pathologie et le genre (insécurité de l’emploi, forte demande psychologique, conflit éthique, faibles récompenses). Peu d’inégalités sociales de santé mentale ont été mises en évidence hormis pour la santé perçue, au détriment des salariés les moins qualifiés. Les facteurs professionnels contribuaient à réduire les inégalités sociales de santé perçue de 76% et plus, selon le genre et la profession. Parmi eux, les facteurs psychosociaux au travail jouaient un rôle substantiel notamment la faible latitude décisionnelle, et dans une moindre mesure (selon la profession et le genre) : le faible soutien social, les faibles récompenses, le travail de nuit, les difficultés de conciliation vie professionnelle-vie familiale, les violences et menaces/humiliations.Des actions de prévention ciblées sur les facteurs de risque identifiés, y compris sur des facteurs psychosociaux au travail émergents, pourraient être envisagées et une meilleure prise en compte de ces facteurs en milieu de travail serait nécessaire. Développer les connaissances sous l’angle des inégalités sociales de santé mentale permettrait de dégager des pistes d’actions correctives adaptées aux groupes sociaux ou professionnels les plus concernés. Les études étant transversales, les résultats observés devront être confirmés par d’autres travaux. / Psychosocial work factors are a public health and occupational health issue and are the object of special prevention policies. However, the etiological role of these factors on mental health need to be developed, particularly studies using diagnostic interviews, rarely used in this context. Moreover, the role of these factors in the explanation of social inequalities in mental health is still unknown. The objectives of this PhD thesis are to study the etiological role of psychosocial work factors on mental disorders, measured using a diagnostic interview, and to evaluate the contribution of these factors to social inequalities in mental health.The data from two surveys were used: Samotrace (regional survey based on 6056 employees) and SIP (national survey based on 7709 workers). The main feature for Samotrace was the use of validated questionnaires to measure psychosocial work factors, and for SIP it was the use of a diagnostic instrument to measure depressive and anxiety disorders. Multivariate analyses were conducted, including logistic regression analysis. Interaction tests and the bootstrap method were also used. All analyses were carried out separately for men and women.Low decision latitude, overcommitment and emotional demands were found to be risk factors for depressive and anxiety disorders, for both genders. Other risk factors were observed according to gender or mental health outcome studied (job insecurity, high psychological demands, ethical conflict, low reward). Few social inequalities in mental health were observed except for self-reported health; manual workers being more likely to report poor health. Occupational factors reduced social inequalities in health by 76% and more, according to gender and occupation studied. Among occupational factors, psychosocial work factors played a substantial role, particularly low decision latitude, and to a lesser extent (according to occupation and gender): low social support, low reward, night work, work-life imbalance, physical violence and bullying.Prevention actions focussing on identified risk factors, including emergent psychosocial work factors, should be considered and a better implementation at workplace would be necessary. Improving knowledge on social inequalities of mental health may lead to adequate preventive actions targeting the most exposed social or occupational groups. As our studies were cross-sectional, our results should be confirmed by forthcoming prospective studies.

城市化意味着城市的經濟結構、社會結構和空間結構變遷。隨着中國大陸城市化的推進，城市人口遷移、建成區面積增長，城市發展質量逐步提高，而同期內城市商品住宅價格亦呈現普遍而明顯的上漲趨勢。 過去雖有許多國內外文獻對全國城市商品住宅價格的影響因素進行了探討，但少有文獻從城市化的層面着眼進行研究；在部分集中討論城市化效應的文獻中，亦存在以省域代替城市作爲研究對象，以及採用橫截面數據進行實證研究，未能體現不同城市化和社會經濟發展階段之變動趨勢的缺憾。 有鑑於此，本文使用中國大陸2003年至2011年不同規模城市的相關追蹤資料，以“人口城市化”“土地城市化”和城市發展質量優化作爲城市化的主要體現，用從業人口、建設用地面積、房地產開發投資額等一系列指標作爲自變數構建追蹤資料固定效應模型，分析城市化對不同規模城市商品住宅價格的影響，探究中國大陸社會經濟重要發展來源的城市化能否繼續維持城市商品住宅市場的穩定。實證結果顯示，城市化發展對城市商品住宅價格上漲的貢獻明顯，而人口城市化的作用較之土地城市化更爲顯著；大城市和中小城市在城市化發展過程中商品住宅價格影響因素亦有所不同，城市發展中由政府主導的城市土地開發利用與基礎設施建設應集約化發展，土地城市化必須與人口城市化以及城市發展質量提升相互協調。 / Urbanization means changes of cities ‘economic structure, social structure and spatial structure. With the development of Chinese urbanization, the urban population and construction land area is growing, the urban development quality is improving gradually, in the same period city residential housing prices also presents common and obvious rising trend. In the past, although there were many domestic and external literature focusing on the influence factors of the national urban residential housing prices, but there were few literature based the study on the impact of urbanization; many of literatures in which the urbanization effect discussed, also taken provincial data as the research object instead of city , using cross-sectional data for empirical research, so failed to reflect changes in different stages of urbanization and social and economic development trend. In light of this, this article refer to mainland China from 2003 to 2011, 213 level panel data, related to "land urbanization" and "population urbanization" quality optimization as the main embodiment of urbanization, taking urban working population, construction land area, real estate investment and a series of indicators as independent variables to construct panel fixed effects model, in order to analyze the effect of urbanization on the urban residential property prices. We expect to explore whether if mainland China's urbanization, which is a source of important social and economic development of the nation, will continue to maintain the stability of the urban residential market. Empirical results indicates that the influence of urbanization on city residential housing price is evident, besides population urbanization plays a more important role than land urbanization. In the process of urbanization, the influential factors of residential housing price varying in metropolis and small cities, therefore development of urban land dominated by local government ought to realize intensification, and land urbanization should be coordinated with population urbanization and city development quality.