Thesis (Ph.D.)--Bowling Green State University, 2009. / Document formatted into pages; contains xiii, 119 p. Includes bibliographical references.

Background & Rationale: Burnout syndrome (BOS) is a psychological state resulting from prolonged exposure to job stressors. It is commonly observed in occupations with human interaction. The most visible impact of burnout is a decrease in work performance and the overall quality of service, and within healthcare professionals, BOS correlates with reported medical errors. Academic healthcare workers are particularly predisposed to experience BOS given the high level of work-related stress that characterizes their jobs. There is a scarcity of studies investigating burnout in academic clinicians. Objective: The goal of this study is to identify the prevalence of burnout in academic clinicians in the Faculty of Health Sciences at McMaster University and investigate potential demographic and workload variables that contribute to self-reported measures of burnout. Methods: A novel modification to the MBI (Maslach Burnout Inventory) scale was distributed to all academic clinicians at McMaster University through an internet-based survey. The MBI scale was modified to reflect three hypothesized sources of burnout for academic clinicians: interactions with students/trainees, interactions with patients and interactions with administration. The scale comprised of three dimensions of burnout: Emotional Exhaustion (EE), Depersonalization (DP) and Personal accomplishment (PA). Demographic and workload data were also collected. Results: Factor analysis and internal consistency showed that the modified MBI scale was associated with valid and reliable scores, respectively, within this population. Results showed that academic clinicians experienced high levels of burnout due to administration interactions relative to that attributed to patients and students. The prevalence of burnout for the EE subscale are: administration = 51.8%;, patients = 26.4%, students = 11.7%); for the DP subscale: administration = 44.8%, patients, = 24.5%, students, = 9.8%); and the PA subscale: administration =16.3%, patients = 33.4%, students =33.7%). Regression analyses suggested that young age, surgical specialty, low academic rank, academic main practice, female gender, numerous night shifts and living alone contribute to EE and DP subscales. Meanwhile, high number of patients under their care was shown to contribute to increasing PA. Conclusion: Burnout Syndrome is prevalent among academic clinicians at McMaster University. The major source of burnout was attributed to interactions with administration. Surgical specialties and young faculty staff members correlated with burnout. Further studies are needed to further characterize the nature of administrative interactions that contribute to burnout and to solidify other contributing variables. / Thesis / Master of Health Sciences (MSc) / Burnout syndrome (BOS), is a syndrome characterized by depleted energy resources, dealing with people as if they were impersonal objects and with decreased personal accomplishment. Physicians and educators are at risk of the syndrome. BOS has been linked to providing suboptimal care and medical errors. Our study investigated the prevalence of BOS in academic clinicians (physicians who work in a teaching hospitals) since they have two roles; physicians and educators. We also investigated any demographic variables related to BOS. We have created a novel modifications to Maslach Burnout Inventory ( one of the main scales used to measure BOS). We have established its validity and reliability. Our study showed that almost 50% of academic clinicians have burnout. Major source is due to their interaction with administration, followed by interaction with patients and lastly interaction with studens. Surgeons, females, young age, single, increased night on-call and low academic rank were predictors for burnout. A larger scale study is needed to pinpoint the kind if administrative interaction that is related to BOS. The ultimate goal is to make our teaching hospital work environment more friendly and transpiring to better patient care.

Using data from the National Comorbidity Survey (NCS) from the Fall of 1990 to the Spring of 1992 among respondents between the ages of 15 and 54 in 48 of the contiguous United States, this paper hypothesized an increase in serious drug problems and serious alcohol problems when a combination approach was used regarding home and work stressors. Results indicate support for the hypotheses that the combination of home and work stressors leads to an increase in both serious drug and alcohol problems (each measured separately). These findings are important especially since they suggest that stressors from home affecting work are significant and positively related to problems with both alcohol and drugs and stressors from work affecting home are not. In addition to demographic controls and stress scales of work and home, the model takes into account other possible explanations. These include past traumatic or recent life events that are considered high in stress, the family background of the parents of the respondents with regard to past psychiatric disorders, and the comorbidity of the respondents themselves. Results imply that stressors from home affecting work are significant and matter more than work stressors affecting home in every model. This research improves upon previous research by both exploring the inter-relationship between home and work stress and controlling for alternative explanations. Although more research needs to be carried out in the area of "home stressors," these results suggest previous conflicting findings within the work stress literature may be due in part to too narrow of a focus on stressors at the workplace or related to the job environment separate from home stressors. / Master of Science

The aim of this research study was to explore the relationship between academic work stress, psychological well-being and social life of university master students. It was also examined whether the presence of control variables i.e. gender and living status had an influence on the relationship between the variables mentioned above. A total of 100 participants both male (N=56) and female (N=44) were conveniently drawn from master students pursuing different master programmes in the university and the spearman’s correlation results of how academic work stress is related to psychological well-being showed a significant strong negative correlation between the variables (rs=-.448, p < .001) which suggests that students who experienced a high level academic work stress, experienced a lower level of psychological well-being. In addition, the results on the relationship between academic work stress and social life showed a significant negative correlation between variables (rs=-.293, p < .001) meaning that a high level of academic work stress is negatively correlated with a lower level of social life among students. Also, the inclusion of living status as a control variable did not have an influence on the above relationship but including gender had a positive significant impact. Lastly, theoretical implications of the study as well as the conclusion were presented.

More than a third of all adults in the United States are considered obese. Due to the high costs of health care for obese adults and children, obesity has become a national health crisis. Many government programs have been developed to curtail obesity in adults and children. Unfortunately, there has only been limited success. Past research has shown that obesity has been linked to stress and eating while stressed. Emotional eating occurs when individuals respond to certain emotions, such as stress, by eating to cope with the emotion. Research has shown a correlation between nursing and disordered eating. Given the stressful working environment of mental health workers, the purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of mental health workers who self-identify as emotional eaters. Selye's stress response theory and Heatherton and Baumeister's affect regulation model provided the theoretical framework for this study. Participants included 12 purposefully selected individuals from a specific mental health agency who responded to semi-structured interview questions. Data were analyzed for themes and patterns. The major themes included stress related to mental health work, food patterns altered due to stress, and ways to manage emotional eating. Future research should include a larger sample size across different geographical regions and agencies and the inclusion of individuals who do not self-identify as emotional eaters. With greater knowledge and understanding on the reasons people choose to eat when stressed, individuals and employers may be able to gain insight and make changes that would allow them to manage stress at work without food.

Stressful workplace relationships, such as abusive supervision, social undermining, and victimization, are rampant in the workplace, presenting serious challenges to individuals and organizations. This research attempts to shed new light on factors that lead to an individual experiencing a stressful relationship at work. Using a mixed methods approach, I assess a number of relationship dynamics by evaluating these relationships both from the perspective of individuals who may be the target of stressful relationship behaviors, as well as individuals who may be actors driving the stressful relationship. I first use a qualitative approach in Study 1 to get a broad sense of these relationships, including how these relationships come about, traits and behaviors of each party, coping strategies, and various outcomes. Based on this study's conclusions, and in concert with existing theories and research, I then conduct a quantitative study to specifically look at a number of factors that lead to a stressful relationship. Focusing on supervisor-subordinate dyads, Study 2 examines how supervisor behaviors are related to perceptions of subordinate arrogance, and how specific supervisor behaviors impact subordinates on both personal and professional levels. This study will also examine whether subordinate self-determination mediates the relationship between supervisor behaviors and subordinate outcomes. This research addresses a number of gaps in the literature, including: a) how perceptions of another individual motivate stress-causing behaviors, b) how perceived behaviors of one individual contribute to another (target) individual experiencing a stressful work relationship, and c) the role target self-determination plays in the relationship between actor behaviors and subordinate outcomes.

The study investigated the relationship among supervisor's job insecurity, job stress, abusive supervision, employee¡¦s job engagement and innovative behavior. The author distributed 90 questionnaires for supervisors and 270 questionnaires for employees who work in research and development department. In all, questionnaires were completed by the 83 supervisor and 133 employees and analyzed by factor analysis, internal consistency analysis, regression analysis and path analysis to measure the relationship among the constructs. Research results found that: (1) Supervisor¡¦s job insecurity and work stress was positively related to employee¡¦s perception of abusive supervision. (2) Employee¡¦s perception of abusive supervision was negatively related to their job engagement. (3) Employee¡¦s job engagement was positively related to their innovative behavior. The results provide an idea that encourages researchers to explore other possible factors which cause abusive supervision in the future.

Abstract This study focuses the work stress by children¡¦s English teachers and their Coping Strategies so as to find out if there is a correlation between work stress and background variables, such as sex, age, marriage status, whether English teachers majored in English at college, and whether English teachers assumed administrative duties concurrently. The author has invited four English teachers for children in Tainan area to take part in the research project, and has gathered data via semi-structural intensive interviews for summarization and analysis. Four participants were highly interested in sharing their experience with the author. The author has reached conclusions as follows: 1. The work stress sensed by children¡¦s English teachers subjectively are resulted from the varied abilities of students, shortage of professional know-how, classroom management, and teachers¡¦ workload. 2. The Coping Strategies taken by children¡¦s English teachers include participation in on-job training programs, search for support in and outside campus, as well as emotion adjustment. 3. As to the relationship between work stress and background variables: the relationship was inconsistent with respect to sex, age, and whether English teachers majored in English at college; and the relationship was consistent with regard to marital status, English teachers¡¦ seniority, whether the English teachers assumed administrative duties concurrently, the grade of class, the number of students in the class, and whether the English teachers had received professional training programs. 4. Regarding the relationship between background variables and Coping Strategies: the relationship was consistent with respect to the English teacher¡¦s seniority and personal characteristics. The aforesaid results are presented to faculty training institutions, children¡¦s English teachers, and future researchers for their reference.

Thesis--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. / This report was prepared for the Manpower Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, under research and development contract (grant) no. 91-25-75-17-1. Available from the National Technical Information Center, Springfield, Va. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 300-311).

Thesis--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. / This report was prepared for the Manpower Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, under research and development contract (grant) no. 91-25-75-17-1. Available from the National Technical Information Center, Springfield, Va. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 300-311).