<p>The sick building syndrome (SBS) comprises eye, nose, skin, and throat symptoms, headache and fatigue. Gender, personality aspects, and psychosocial factors at work have lately been at focus in health research. The main aim of this thesis was to investigate the relationships between SBS and personal factors, personality traits, and psychosocial work stress. Two different populations were studied: a cohort of 195 subjects working in suspected “sick buildings” followed 1988-1999, and a random sample of 695 subjects from the Swedish population, 20-65 y. Two personality scales were used; the Karolinska Scales of Personality (KSP) and the Sense of Coherence (SOC). Two stress questionnaires were used: the 3-dimensional demands-control-support model (DCS) and the Assessment of Perceived Psychosocial Work Environment (PPWE). SBS and personal factors were assessed by a postal symptoms questionnaire and a symptom score (SC) was calculated. Personality was assessed by means of two verbal personality scales, the KSP and the SOC. Females in problem buildings had more SBS than men, and females had a lower SOC and more anxiety and aggressivity in the KSP. Females and males in the general working population reported differences in psychosocial work environment. Moreover, the associations between personality traits and SBS, and between DCS and SBS, differed between males and females. Over all, the investigated occupants of suspected sick-buildings were within the normal range for both KSP and SOC norms. However, those with symptoms showed prominent personality vulnerability, especially in anxiety, aggressivity, and lower SOC, compared to those that were not reporting symptoms. Female gender, low age, asthma, and a history of atopy were related to SBS in the general working population. A combination of low social support and either passive, strained, or active work situation, as well as a combination of high social support and active work situation, were associated with SBS. In conclusion, measurements of personality and psychosocial work environment could be of value in future studies on environmental syndromes. Moreover, the demans-control-support model can predict SBS, but in a more complex way than indicated by earlier research. </p>

Arbetskraven på kvinnor och män är idag högre än tidigare och gränsen mellan arbete och privatliv har mer eller mindre suddats ut, vilket kan påverka hälsan negativt. Tack vare dagens teknik kan anställda vara tillgängliga i en större grad, och arbetet går att utföra på fler ställen än på själva arbetsplatsen. Syftet med den här studien är att undersöka hur individer med aktiva arbeten hanterar balansen mellan arbete och privatliv, och om de med aktiva arbeten kan drabbas av ohälsa på grund av arbetet. Aktiva arbeten innebär de arbeten med hög kontroll och höga krav som enligt Karaseks krav/kontrollmodell är de arbeten som sägs vara de "bästa" arbetena, för att prestera högt utan att drabbas av ohälsa. I den här studien har en kvalitativ undersökning genomförts, i form av intervjuer med sju respondenter som går inom de aktiva arbetena. Resultatet visar på att individer hanterar balansen mellan arbete och privatliv olika, och huruvida de drabbas av ohälsa är också väldigt individuellt. Det framkommer även att de med aktiva arbeten kan drabbas av ohälsa på grund av för hög arbetsbelastning, men att det går att lära sig hantera det, genom att hitta rätt strategier som är passande för sin livssituation. / The workload of women and men are now higher than before and the boundary between work and personal life has more or less been erased, which may have adverse health effects. With today's technology, employees can be accessible to a greater degree, and the work can be performed in more places than the workplace. The purpose of this study is to explore how individuals with active jobs manage the balance between work and private life, and if those with active jobs may suffer ill health because of work. Active work means the jobs with high control and high demands according to Karasek´s demand/control- model, which is said to be the "best" works, to perform high without suffering ill health. In this study, a qualitative study has been made by interviews with seven respondents working in active works. The findings shows that individuals manage the balance between work and private life differently and whether they suffer of ill health is also very individual. It also appears that those with active jobs may suffer ill health due to heavy workload, but it is possible to learn how to handle it, by finding the right strategies that are appropriate for their situation.

The sick building syndrome (SBS) comprises eye, nose, skin, and throat symptoms, headache and fatigue. Gender, personality aspects, and psychosocial factors at work have lately been at focus in health research. The main aim of this thesis was to investigate the relationships between SBS and personal factors, personality traits, and psychosocial work stress. Two different populations were studied: a cohort of 195 subjects working in suspected “sick buildings” followed 1988-1999, and a random sample of 695 subjects from the Swedish population, 20-65 y. Two personality scales were used; the Karolinska Scales of Personality (KSP) and the Sense of Coherence (SOC). Two stress questionnaires were used: the 3-dimensional demands-control-support model (DCS) and the Assessment of Perceived Psychosocial Work Environment (PPWE). SBS and personal factors were assessed by a postal symptoms questionnaire and a symptom score (SC) was calculated. Personality was assessed by means of two verbal personality scales, the KSP and the SOC. Females in problem buildings had more SBS than men, and females had a lower SOC and more anxiety and aggressivity in the KSP. Females and males in the general working population reported differences in psychosocial work environment. Moreover, the associations between personality traits and SBS, and between DCS and SBS, differed between males and females. Over all, the investigated occupants of suspected sick-buildings were within the normal range for both KSP and SOC norms. However, those with symptoms showed prominent personality vulnerability, especially in anxiety, aggressivity, and lower SOC, compared to those that were not reporting symptoms. Female gender, low age, asthma, and a history of atopy were related to SBS in the general working population. A combination of low social support and either passive, strained, or active work situation, as well as a combination of high social support and active work situation, were associated with SBS. In conclusion, measurements of personality and psychosocial work environment could be of value in future studies on environmental syndromes. Moreover, the demans-control-support model can predict SBS, but in a more complex way than indicated by earlier research.

The aim of this study is to qualitatively examine the individual's perspective of work-related stress. The research has been delimited to one of Postnord's offices. The study is based on Antonovsky (1979) Theory Sense of Coherence (SOC) to investigate the individual's experience of stress. With the help of Sense of Coherence (SOC), the study investigated how postmen express their experience of work-related stress with the key components of comprehension, manageability and meaningfulness. In response to the goal of the study, semistructured interviews were conducted on eight participants from Postnord. The results of the study showed that high work demands were one of the reasons behind the stress they felt. The lack of support from colleagues due to the structure of the work was another reason that affected the individual's experience of stress. Finally, the results also revealed that the participants perceived that they were unable to decide on their own work, which affected the experience of a lack of opinion in the workplace.

The purpose of the study was to examine social workers 'experience of work-related stress atthe investigation unit for children, young people and families. Five semi-structuredinterviews were done. Results were analyzed using previous research, the requirementscontrol-support model and ’’sense of coherence’’ (SOC) as theoretical starting points. Theresults of the study show that the social workers who participated had a similar experience ofwork-related stress. The stress occurred because of the workload. An informant's experienceof stress differed from other informants as that informant's work-related stress wasknowledge-based. The results analysis shows that four out of five informants were in a tensejob based on requirements-control-support model due to the demands placed and the controlcarried out by the social workers being out of balance. An informant was at an active job andhad a higher SOC than the rest. All informants mention some type of support given to helpdeal with the work-related stress, how much this support helps the social workers havedifferent opinions about. The informants gave different suggestions for changes for the workrelated stress to reduce, but all suggestions lead to the factor that there is a shortage of staffand high staff turnover. / Syftet med studien var att undersöka socialsekreterares upplevelse av arbetsrelaterad stresspå utredningsenhet barn, ungdom och familj. Genom målstyrt bekvämlighetsurvalgenomfördes fem enskilda semistrukturerade intervjuer för att insamla empiri. Dessatranskriberades och tematiserades. Resultatet analyserades med hjälp av tidigare forskning,krav-kontroll-stödmodellen och ‘’känsla av sammanhang’’(KASAM) som teoretiskautgångspunkter. Under arbetets gång framträdde tre teman. Studiens resultat visar att fyraav fem socialsekreterare upplevde att stressen beror på den arbetsbelastning arbetsplatsenpräglas av. En informants upplevelse av stress skiljde sig från andra informanter dåinformantens arbetsrelaterade stress var kunskapsbaserad. Resultatanalysen visar på att fyraav fem informanter befann sig på ett spänt arbete enligt krav-kontroll och stöd modellen ochhade lägre KASAM jämfört med och en informant befann sig på aktivt arbete och hade högreKASAM. Alla informanter nämner någon typ av stöd som ges för att hjälpa till med atthantera den arbetsrelaterade stressen som uppstår, hur mycket detta stöd hjälper är det olikaåsikter om. De förslagen till förändring som uppgavs för att minska den arbetsrelateradestressen var olika, samtliga förslagen leder dock slutligen till det faktorn att det är brist påbemanning och hög personalomsättning.

Objectives: Specific work processes and management structures that contribute to high rates of occupational illness and injury in agricultural industries are not well described in academic literature. This qualitative study of work organization in the U.S. fresh tomato industry investigates how work processes and management structures impact tomato workers’ occupational health. Methods: After conducting literature review and key informant interviews, semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted with 36 individuals with experience working in the U.S. fresh tomato industry. Interviews and focus groups were audio-recorded, transcribed, coded, and analyzed using a modified grounded theory approach. Results: These data indicate that participants endured income insecurity and hazardous supervisory practices, including wage theft, retaliation, intimidation, and humiliation, that put them at risk of preventable illness and injury. Support from workers’ organizations and health-conscious supervisory practices helped mitigate some of these occupational hazards. Conclusion: Participants’ adverse work experiences may be considered sequelae of workers’ lack of job control and positions of socioeconomic structural vulnerability. Other aspects of tomato work organization, including health-conscious supervisory practices and the involvement of workers’ organizations, indicate that modifying work organization to better safeguard health is possible. Such modifications present compelling opportunities for employers, employees, organizations, community and government leaders, and health care professionals to help create healthier occupational environments for tomato workers.

This master’s thesis investigates the contributing factors to Norwegian professional musicians’ psychological distress. Several researchers have pointed out that musicians seem to be a risk group in regards to mental health and work environment. In contrast, research regarding the explanatory variables of their mental health is scarce. Recently, a study indicated a high prevalence of psychological distress in Norwegian musicians. A qualitative study on Norwegian musicians reported a combination of family, social, and personal factors to be of particular importance regarding their mental health. The present study adds to the accumulated research base by conceptualizing contributing factors of musicians’ health in a job demands–resources framework, in which the total model as well as individual predictors are tested with a survey on 1,365 Norwegian professional musicians. Five out of ten hypotheses were supported using a hierarchical multiple regression procedure. Job demands and job control were positively related to psychological distress, whereas job-related social support, emotional stability and sense of mastery were negatively related to psychological distress. Work–nonwork interference, effort–reward imbalance and conscientiousness were not significantly related to the outcome. Unexpectedly, job control was positively related to psychological distress, which may have been influenced by the subjects’ levels of personal resources. Overall, the main findings was that a combination of contextual and personal variables were most influential, but that the work environment concepts investigated were only weakly or non-significantly related to musicians’mental health. The highest single contributors were emotional stability, sense of mastery and general social support, indicating that personal dispositions of emotionality, a strong sense of control over one’s life, and perceived social support from family and friends are of high significance for Norwegian professional musicians’ experience of anxiety and depression-like symptoms.

This study investigated how Work-Family Conflict was related to Role Salience and Job level (investigated in terms of the amount of job demand and job control associated with different job levels) among women from a Collectivistic culture. A sample of 65 teachers was used. Although the results of the study showed no correlations between Work-Family Conflict and both role salience and job level, this was attributed to the high data skewness, thereby reducing the chances of detecting correlations. The high positive data skewness was possibly caused by the floor effect, which was the situation that the sample consisted of only female teachers from a Collectivistic culture. The high negative data skewness was possibly caused by the ceiling effect, which is the situation that the women in this sample have a Collectivistic cultural orientation, and are therefore highly likely to consider their home role as more salient. Moreover, correlations between Work Family Conflict and Job demand have been found to be higher in Individualistic cultures compared to Collectivistic cultures. There also seems to be no differences in job control among teachers occupying different job levels, and hence, no correlations were detected. Further analyses depicted that the teachers within this sample considered their home role as more salient. Moreover, despite their commitment to both their home role and occupational role, the data indicated that the sample experienced low levels of Work Family conflict.

This study investigated how Work-Family Conflict was related to Role Salience and Job level (investigated in terms of the amount of job demand and job control associated with different job levels) among women from a Collectivistic culture. A sample of 65 teachers was used. Although the results of the study showed no correlations between Work-Family Conflict and both role salience and job level, this was attributed to the high data skewness, thereby reducing the chances of detecting correlations. The high positive data skewness was possibly caused by the floor effect, which was the situation that the sample consisted of only female teachers from a Collectivistic culture. The high negative data skewness was possibly caused by the ceiling effect, which is the situation that the women in this sample have a Collectivistic cultural orientation, and are therefore highly likely to consider their home role as more salient. Moreover, correlations between Work Family Conflict and Job demand have been found to be higher in Individualistic cultures compared to Collectivistic cultures. There also seems to be no differences in job control among teachers occupying different job levels, and hence, no correlations were detected. Further analyses depicted that the teachers within this sample considered their home role as more salient. Moreover, despite their commitment to both their home role and occupational role, the data indicated that the sample experienced low levels of Work Family conflict.

Magister Artium (Psychology) - MA(Psych) / This study investigated how Work-Family Conflict was related to Role Salience and Job level (investigated in terms of the amount of job demand and job control associated with different job levels) among women from a Collectivistic culture. A sample of 65 teachers was used. Although the results of the study showed no correlations between Work-Family Conflict and both role salience and job level, this was attributed to the high data skewness, thereby reducing the chances of detecting correlations. The high positive data skewness was possibly caused by the floor effect, which was the situation that the sample consisted of only female teachers from a Collectivistic culture. The high negative data skewness was possibly caused by the ceiling effect, which is the situation that the women in this sample have a Collectivistic cultural orientation, and are therefore highly likely to consider their home role as more salient. Moreover, correlations between Work Family Conflict and Job demand have been found to be higher in Individualistic cultures compared to Collectivistic cultures. There also seems to be no differences in job control among teachers occupying different job levels, and hence, no correlations were detected. Further analyses depicted that the teachers within this sample considered their home role as more salient. Moreover, despite their commitment to both their home role and occupational role, the data indicated that the sample experienced low levels of Work Family conflict. / South Africa