There is a lack of clarity in the current literature in how potential etiological factors interact and result in disordered eating. The purpose of this study was to examine an expanded model of Personality, Social Support, Appraisal/Coping Processes, Abuse History, Internalization of Sociocultural Standards, Psychological Disturbances, and Body Disparagement in the development of disordered eating. The current model was evaluated using 276 women in their transition to college, a time period highly associated with symptoms believed to increase a woman's risk for the development of disordered eating including perceived difficulty coping, weight gain, and negative affect. Structural equation modeling was used to allow simultaneous examination of the causal relationships between the factors. Structural analyses confirmed that college women with previous stressful experiences appraised the adjustment to college as more stressful and reported feeling less able to cope with the transition. Those women who identified the transition as overwhelming were also aware of increased negative mood and psychological states since beginning the school semester. Further, women with previous traumatic sexual experiences appeared to be at additional risk for increased negative affective symptoms. The resulting model confirmed that those women who experience negative mood states and those that endorse strong internalization of cultural values regarding attractiveness encountered increased dissatisfaction and disapproval of their bodies. Finally, women with higher levels of body concern engaged in more eating behaviors associated with disordered eating. The roles of personality functioning and perceived social support could not be identified in the developmental model. The predictive links between constructs in the resulting model provide meaningful information regarding the transition to college and associated risks for development of disordered eating. Validation of the model in an independent sample would provide confirmation of these relationships and longitudinal research examining females' attitudes across crucial developmental periods might provide important information regarding which individuals are most at risk for development of disordered eating.

This thesis reports on the combined effects of toxicants and physicochemical factors on micro-organisms. The main objective of the project was to use multi-sensing systems such as mediated and non-mediated sensor systems, growth tests and physicochemical sensors to investigate novel stressor-toxicant-assay combinations. Screen-printed, disposable, developmental-phase, physicochemical sensor constructs (conductivity and dissolved oxygen) were validated under conditions compatible with microbial bioassays, to ascertain their potential role in toxicity testing. The conductivity sensor construct could be used to indirectly inform on the osmolality of the test samples, but the dissolved oxygen sensor construct was not found to give reproducible results. The results were thought to be compromised by in-house screen-printing using a complex carbon ink formulation for the working electrode. Escherichia coli and a consortium with ammonia oxidation capacity (CAOC) were used as the test species for the bioassays. The combined effects of four inorganic salts (NaCl, NaN03, KCl and KN03) and two toxicants (3,5-DCP and HgCh) on E. coli were investigated using the CellSense™ biosensor system, Clark oxygen electrode and microtitre plate growth assays. A variety of trends were observed with each salt-toxicantbioassay combination, emphasising a need for better understanding of the assay media and factors such as bioavailability, to interpret the toxicity data. The results also suggested the importance of using multiple bioassays with varied end points, for toxicity testing. The CAOC, which was isolated from the activated sludge, was tested for physicochemical stressor and toxicant effects using the mediated biosensors. The results were very different from those obtained with E. coli, indicating that each species reacts to toxicants and changes in physicochemical factors differently. Although the full potential of disposable, physicochemical sensors, at the point of toxicity testing was not achieved, the study did investigate previously uncharacterised, combined effects of salts and toxicants on microbial cells. It highlighted the need for development of hybrid systems and also offered a route towards integration of physicochemical and biological sensing systems for simultaneous monitoring of both environmental and biological elements.

This study tested a model that uses job stressors, equity sensitivity, perceived organizational justice, and job satisfaction to explain turnover intention and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). An online survey was distributed to emergency communication specialists from 14 emergency communication centers in Florida. The supervisors in these emergency communication centers were asked to rate their employees on OCB. Responses to the survey and the OCB ratings were analyzed using structural equation modeling to evaluate the fit of a theoretical model to those data. Results showed that the model fit the data reasonably well and nearly all the hypotheses were supported. Specifically, job satisfaction completely mediated the relationships between job stressors, equity sensitivity, perceived organizational justice, and turnover intention. Job satisfaction partially mediated the relationships between job stressors, equity sensitivity, perceived organizational justice, and OCB, and equity sensitivity also had a unique, direct impact on OCB. Turnover intention alone did not reduce OCB. The implications of these finding are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to examine how academic stress affects Chinese high achieving secondary students’ mental health. Potential moderating effects of perceived social support and gender on the relationship between academic stress and depression were also examined. Current literature suggests Chinese high school students report greater academic stress and depression than their counterparts overseas (Sun, Dunne, Hou, & Xu, 2013), but it is unclear about the status of high achieving Chinese students as well as how social support works as a protective factor on this particular population. In order to fill this gap, the current study recruited a diverse sample of 133 Key school students and 99 IB students from eight classrooms of two schools during Fall 2017, and administered questionnaires on participants’ academic stress, depression level, perceived social support, and demographic information. Result indicated IB students experience more academic stress and depression compared to Key school students, and female IB students experience more depression than male IB students. Although perceived social support was negatively related to academic stress and depression for both Key and IB students, it was not an effective moderator for either group. Female Key school students were more likely to report higher level of depression compared to male students when they were experiencing similar level of academic stress. This study highlighted the importance of mental health services to high achieving students, discussed appropriate intervention programs for this group of students, and suggested directions for the future research.

While support is generally a helpful resource for employees, support can also serve as a job stressor. Unhelpful workplace social support (UWSS) is any action taken by a supervisor and/or colleague that is intended to benefit another worker but is perceived as unhelpful or harmful by the recipient. A series of three studies identified types of UWSS, developed a measure of UWSS, and established a nomological network of variables related to UWSS. In Study 1, critical incidents were collected from 116 employees, and a content analysis revealed 11 distinct categories of UWSS. A measure of UWSS was developed in Study 2, and a nomological network of variables related to the construct was examined using responses from 176 employees. Results demonstrate that UWSS is associated with higher negative affect, lower competence-based self-esteem, lower coworker satisfaction, higher work-related burnout, higher organizational frustration, and higher physical symptoms (e.g., headache, nausea, and fatigue) among recipients. Study 3 replicated the findings using data from 496 registered nurses to mitigate the chances of reporting Type 1 errors. Together, the studies demonstrate that unhelpful workplace social support is a meaningful job stressor worthy of further investigation.

Im Rahmen einer prospektiven Längsschnittuntersuchung wurde der Berufseinstieg von ÄrztInnen (N = 185) als normatives kritisches Lebensereignis untersucht. Dazu wurden sie insgesamt drei Mal im Abstand von jeweils sechs Monaten im ersten Jahr nach ihrem Studiumsabschluss befragt (T1: in den ersten zwei Wochen nach dem Staatsexamen, T2: kurzzeitig nach dem Berufseinstieg, T3: im Schnitt 9.5 Monate nach dem Berufseinstieg). Die Ergebnisse zeigten zunächst, dass unlängst examinierte Jung-ÄrztInnen, die sich vergleichsweise schlechter auf den Beruf durch das Studium vorbereitet fühlten, ihren bevorstehenden Berufseinstieg negativer bewerteten und schon vor diesem beanspruchter waren. Die Bewertung des Berufseinstiegs vermittelte dabei den Zusammenhang zwischen einer schlechten Vorbereitung und der Beanspruchung. Arbeitsspezifische Copingfunktionalität wiederum pufferte den Zusammenhang zwischen einer schlechten Vorbereitung und der Bewertung des Berufseinstiegs. Das Problem einer als schlecht empfundenen Vorbereitung verdeutlichte sich in der Längsschnittanalyse – sie sagte eine höhere Beanspruchung zum zweiten Messzeitpunkt, d.h. nach dem Berufseinstieg, vorher. In der Untersuchung der Beanspruchungsentwicklung über die drei Messzeitpunkte hinweg fanden sich nur wenige Veränderungen. Es ließ sich zwar eine deutliche Zunahme der mittleren Depressivitäts-Ausprägungen über den Berufseinstieg hinweg herausstellen (T1-T2); auf anderen Beanspruchungsindikatoren zeigte sich jedoch kein direkter Effekt des Arbeitsbeginns bzw. fand sich auch keine Adaptation der Jung-ÄrztInnen an ihre neue Situation im Sinne einer sich verringernden Beanspruchung im weiteren Verlauf (T2-T3). In der Erklärung interindividueller Unterschiede in der Beanspruchung im Untersuchungszeitraum zeigte sich, dass die sich mit dem Berufseinstieg einstellende Arbeitsbelastung zum zweiten und dritten Messzeitpunkt erwartungsgemäß positiv mit Beanspruchung assoziiert war. Die Arbeitsbelastungs-Beanspruchungs-Beziehung bestand jedoch nur im Querschnitt; in der Längsschnittanalyse fand sich kein Effekt der T2-Arbeitsbelastung auf die T3-Beanspruchung. Ausgangsunterschiede in psychischen Ressourcen wirkten einerseits direkt auf die Beanspruchung zu T2, zum Teil moderierten sie aber auch den Zusammenhang zwischen der Arbeitsbelastung und Beanspruchung: Eine höhere Resilienz und die Wahrnehmung sozialer Unterstützung sagten eine geringere Beanspruchung nach dem Berufseinstieg vorher. Jung-ÄrztInnen, die sich durch eine stärkere Arbeitsbelastung auszeichneten, aber über ein funktionaleres Bewältigungsverhalten im Arbeitskontext verfügten, waren kurzzeitig nach dem Berufseinstieg weniger beansprucht als stark arbeitsbelastete Jung-ÄrztInnen mit weniger funktionalem Coping. Verringerungen in den psychischen Ressourcen über den Berufseinstieg hinweg wirkten sich direkt, d.h. per se ungünstig auf die Beanspruchung zum dritten Messzeitpunkt aus. Zudem interagierten sie mit der zu diesem Zeitpunkt bestehenden Arbeitsbelastung in Vorhersage der Beanspruchung. Stärker arbeitsbelastete Jung-ÄrztInnen, deren Copingfunktionalität und Wahrnehmung sozialer Unterstützung vom ersten zum dritten Messzeitpunkt abgenommen hatte, waren am Ende des Untersuchungszeitraums am stärksten beansprucht. Hinsichtlich der Auswirkungen des Berufseinstiegs auf die Persönlichkeit der Jung-ÄrztInnen fanden sich ungünstige Veränderungen: Sowohl die Ausprägungen psychischer Ressourcen (Widerstandsfähigkeit, Wahrnehmung sozialer Unterstützung hinsichtlich der Arbeitstätigkeit) als auch die der Big Five-Faktoren nahmen im Mittel ab. Interindividuelle Unterschiede in den Veränderungen ließen sich auf die Beanspruchung kurzzeitig nach dem Berufseinstieg (T2) bzw. auf deren Entwicklung in den Folgemonaten (T2-T3) zurückführen: Jene Jung-ÄrztInnen, die vergleichsweise stark beansprucht auf den Berufseinstieg reagiert hatten bzw. deren Beanspruchung im weiteren Verlauf zunahm, zeigten entsprechend ungünstige Veränderungen. Die Ergebnisse zusammengefasst verdeutlicht sich folgende Problematik: Jung-ÄrztInnen, die weniger gut, d.h. persönlichkeitsbasiert geschützt den Berufseinstieg absolvieren, reagieren stärker beansprucht und sind dann auch diejenigen, deren Persönlichkeit sich in den ersten Arbeitsmonaten ungünstig verändert. Jung-ÄrztInnen mit geringen psychischen Ressourcen sind folglich nicht nur besonders vulnerabel für die Entwicklung von Beanspruchung angesichts belastender Arbeitsbedingungen, sondern ihre vergleichsweise hohe Beanspruchung bedingt eine weitere Verringerung des Schutz- und Pufferpotenzials ihrer Persönlichkeit. Es kommt zu einer ungünstigen Akzentuierung der ohnehin schon vergleichsweise ressourcenschwachen Persönlichkeit, welche die Vulnerabilität für zukünftige Beanspruchung erhöht. Aus den Ergebnissen lässt sich ein Unterstützungsbedarf junger ÄrztInnen in der sensiblen und wegweisenden Berufseinstiegsphase ableiten. Neben einer Verbesserung ihrer Arbeitsbedingungen stellen eine rechtzeitige Sensibilisierung junger ÄrztInnen für den Arbeitsbelastungs-Beanspruchungs-Zusammenhang, ihre regelmäßige Supervision sowie vor allem aber auch kompetenzorientiertes und ressourcenstärkendes Feedback von den Mentoren und Vorgesetzten die Grundlage dafür dar, dass die Jung-MedizinerInnen selbst gesund bleiben und sie die ärztliche Tätigkeit trotz ihres wohl stets hohen Belastungspotenzials als erfüllend und zufriedenstellend erleben. / The career entry of physicians (N = 185) as a normative critical life event was examined in a longitudinal study. They were surveyed three times within the first year after their final exams (T1: 1-2 weeks after the final exam, T2: six months later and post career entry, T3: on average 9.5 months after career entry). The results showed that young physicians who felt insufficiently prepared for work by their medical studies anticipated the career entry less positive and reported more strain at T1 already. The anticipation of the career entry mediated the relationship between poor preparation and strain. Work-related coping buffered the relationship between poor preparation and anticipation of the career entry. A poor preparation furthermore predicted higher levels of strain at T2. Analyzing the development of strain indicators over time (T1-T2-T3) and on average, little change was found. Only depression-levels increased; a decrease in strain from T2 to T3, indicating adaptation to the new circumstances, was not detected. With regard to individual differences in strain, work-related stressors were positively associated with strain at T2 and T3. However, the stressor-strain-relationship was observed only cross-sectionally but not over time (T2-T3). T1-personality resources had a direct impact on T2-strain but furthermore moderated the T2-stressor-strain-relationship: Resilience and perceived social support were associated with lower levels of strain. Young physicians with poor working conditions but functional coping strategies reported less strain than those with poor working conditions and dysfunctional coping. Decreasing resources from T1 to T3 had a direct negative impact on T3-strain but also interacted with T3-work related stressors: Young physicians with poor working conditions at T3 and a T1-T3-decline in coping functionality and perceived social support reported the highest strain levels at T3. Over the career entry period, adverse personality change was observed: On average, resilience and social support decreased. Furthermore, non-normative change was observed on all Big Five-factors. Inter-individual differences within personality change were due to strain shortly after career entry (T2) and to its further development (T2-T3): Young physicians who had reported high levels of strain shortly after career entry, as well as those with increasing strain levels throughout the following months, were at higher risk for declines in protective traits and the Big Five-factors. Summing up the results, it can be concluded that young physicians with low personality resources do not only report higher strain levels in response to their career entry, but because of their higher strain they are also at a higher risk of decreasing protective traits. This means that young physicians with low resources are more vulnerable to work-related stressors and, consequently, their high levels of strain lead to a further decrease of the buffer potential of their personality. The detrimental accentuation of their weak protective personality potential heightens the risk for future strain. The results illustrate the need for supporting young physicians in this sensitive and significant transition phase. In addition to an improvement of their working conditions, they should be made aware of the stressor-strain-relationship at an early stage. Furthermore, they should be constantly supervised and receive competence-focused and resource-consolidating feedback from their mentors and supervisors. For young physicians, these are prerequisites for sustaining their own health under stressful working conditions and for experiencing the practice of medicine as fulfilling and satisfying.

Negative interpersonal workplace behaviours are an important but relatively infrequently studied occupational-stressor. The present research investigated the connection between these behaviours and employee well-being. This work had two main goals. The first goal was to provide greater insight into when and why social interactions at work can be harmful to employee well-being. Consistent with this goal, theory and research were reviewed, and results from two field studies were presented suggesting that (1) disrespect is an important characteristic of interpersonal workplace events that can explain detriments to employee well-being, and (2) both individual and contextual moderators are relevant in this process. In a first study, disrespectful leader behaviours were shown to negatively relate to employee well-being independent of demanding, production-focused leader behaviours. In a second study, perceived disrespectfulness mediated the relationship between exposure to negative interpersonal behaviour and well-being; workplace norms, social support, control-related self-beliefs, and negative affectivity moderated associations within the mediation sequence. Given the importance placed on objective measurement methods in the occupational stress literature, the inherent difficulties in measuring social stressors objectively, and the widespread use of self-report instruments in the literature, the second main goal of this work was to approach greater objectivity in the measurements of self-reported negative interpersonal workplace interactions. A number of approaches were used toward this end, including the development of a more objective self-report measure of interpersonal workplace behaviours, as well as the use of aggregate variables and the investigation of moderated relations within multilevel frameworks. Implications of this work and directions for further research are discussed.

Negative interpersonal workplace behaviours are an important but relatively infrequently studied occupational-stressor. The present research investigated the connection between these behaviours and employee well-being. This work had two main goals. The first goal was to provide greater insight into when and why social interactions at work can be harmful to employee well-being. Consistent with this goal, theory and research were reviewed, and results from two field studies were presented suggesting that (1) disrespect is an important characteristic of interpersonal workplace events that can explain detriments to employee well-being, and (2) both individual and contextual moderators are relevant in this process. In a first study, disrespectful leader behaviours were shown to negatively relate to employee well-being independent of demanding, production-focused leader behaviours. In a second study, perceived disrespectfulness mediated the relationship between exposure to negative interpersonal behaviour and well-being; workplace norms, social support, control-related self-beliefs, and negative affectivity moderated associations within the mediation sequence. Given the importance placed on objective measurement methods in the occupational stress literature, the inherent difficulties in measuring social stressors objectively, and the widespread use of self-report instruments in the literature, the second main goal of this work was to approach greater objectivity in the measurements of self-reported negative interpersonal workplace interactions. A number of approaches were used toward this end, including the development of a more objective self-report measure of interpersonal workplace behaviours, as well as the use of aggregate variables and the investigation of moderated relations within multilevel frameworks. Implications of this work and directions for further research are discussed.

Title: Research on middle-age worker¡¦s stressors and withdrawal behaviors Student: Tzu Hui Liao Advisor: Jin Feng Uen By the trend of decreasing baby-bust and early-retirement, the labor force structure has changed. Middle age and older workers will become increasingly prevalent in the work place. The impact of an aging workforce raises the height-light issues facing employees today. During the global economic crisis in 2008, there are many business enterprises chose to lay off employees massively or offer unpaid leaves. And the middle age and older workers are the main target. Thus, this worker issue has become more and more important. Attention is mainly given to the human resource policies which may impact middle age workers such as performance management, selection and training etc. Less research has focused on attitudes toward the elderly held by middle-aged adults themselves. The presence of ageism in our society is of mounting concern with regard to the changing demographic shape of the workforce. Governments and organizations have become interested in the middle-age worker on performance, training, in recent years. Middle-age worker has numerous life and working experiences, so their mental and physical attitudes may vary form the ones held by the freshmen in labor market. Therefore, this research aims to explore on middle-age workers and withdrawal behaviors in depth in order to development the best human resource practices.

Baigiamajame magistro darbe atliekami statinių projektavimo specialistų patiriamo streso ir jį sukeliančių veiksnių bei Vilniaus universiteto Statybos ir remonto direkcijos darbo aplinkos sąlygų ir darbo vietų įrengimo tyrimai ir analizuojami jų rezultatai . Siekiant ištirti statinių projektavimo specialistų stresą ir jį sukeliančius veiksnius atlikta anketinė apklausa Lietuvos architektūros ir statybinių konstrukcijų projektavimo įmonėse. Anketa įdėta elektroninėje apklausų sistemoje ir elektroniniu paštu išplatinta daugiau nei 200 skirtingų statinių ir inžinerinių sistemų projektavimo įmonių, užpildytos 129 anketos. Gauti rezultatai parodė, kad statinių projektavimo specialistai patiria vidutinio intensyvumo stresą, visus arba dalį streso požymių jaučia 78 % respondentų, o pagrindiniai stresą sukeliantys veiksniai yra skubėjimas, netolygus darbo pasiskirstymas ir aukštas atsakomybės lygis. Vilniaus universiteto Statybos ir remonto direkcijos darbo aplinkos sąlygų ir darbo vietų įrengimo tyrimo metu išmatuotos darbo vietų meteorologinės sąlygos ir apšvieta, gautos vertės palygintos su teisės aktuose reglamentuojamomis reikšmėmis. Taip pat išmatuoti darbo kėdės bei stalo parametrai ir įvertinta jų atitiktis darbuotojų antropometriniams kūno matmenims. Atlikta šios įstaigos darbuotojų apklausa bei jos rezultatų palyginimas su atliktais matavimais parodė, kad norint užtikrinti optimalias darbo sąlygas yra būtina laikytis Higienos normose apibrėžtų reikalavimų ir atsižvelgti... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The research on stress assessment of building design professionals and the research of work environment in Vilnius University Directorate of Construction and Repairs are analysed in this master thesis. A survey was carried out to investigate the level of stress and the main stressors in the architectural and constructional engineering companies of Lithuania. The questionnaire was published on the internet. The link to the questionnaire was sent to more than 200 engineering companies and 129 questionnaires were fully answered. The results of survey have shown that the building design professionals are affected by a middle range stress in their workplace and 78 % of them feel few or all symptoms of stress. The main stressors are high level of rush, uneven work intensity and high level of responsibility. During the research of work environment in Vilnius University Directorate of Construction and Repairs there were measured the meteorological factors and the level of illumination in the office. The results were compared with the values in the regulations. The parameters of the work chair and the table were measured as well. The values were compared with the anthropometric data of the workers. The comparison of measurements results and opinion of the workers has shown that optimal work environment can be reached by tracing the rules of regulations and designing the workplace by the individual needs. There are made few conclusions and suggestions for work environment improvements... [to full text]