scholarly journals Job Demands and Exhaustion in Firefighters: The Moderating Role of Work Meaning. A Cross-Sectional Study

Author(s):  
Andra Cătălina Roșca ◽  
Alexandru Mateizer ◽  
Cristina-Ioana Dan ◽  
Evangelia Demerouti

Emotional exhaustion and other symptoms of burnout are often found among emergency services professions, such as firefighting. Given the social importance of this activity and the high responsibility it requires, prevention and alleviation of burnout symptoms become primary concerns in ensuring the well-being of firefighters. Although work meaning is one of the factors associated with a lower risk of developing burnout, its protective role has not been studied in firefighters. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the buffering role of work meaning in the health-impairment process of the Job Demands-Resources model, targeting the relationship between job demands and related emotional exhaustion. A cross-sectional survey design was used to collect data from a sample consisting of Romanian firefighters (n = 1096). Structural equation modeling indicated a positive link between job demands and exhaustion. In addition, deriving personal meaning from work was associated with lower levels of exhaustion in firefighters. A small but significant interaction effect between work meaning and job demands showed that higher levels of work meaning attenuated the positive relationship between job demands and exhaustion. In conclusion, our findings suggest that work meaning has a buffering effect on the impact of various job demands on job-related exhaustion. Nevertheless, the small effect sizes warrant further research on this topic.

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 446-463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wilmar B. Schaufeli

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to integrate leadership into the job demands-resources (JD-R) model. Based on self-determination theory, it was argued that engaging leaders who inspire, strengthen, and connect their followers would reduce employee’s levels of burnout and increase their levels of work engagement. Design/methodology/approach – An online survey was conducted among a representative sample of the Dutch workforce (n=1,213) and the research model was tested using structural equation modeling. Findings – It appeared that leadership only had an indirect effect on burnout and engagement – via job demands and job resources – but not a direct effect. Moreover, leadership also had a direct relationship with organizational outcomes such as employability, performance, and commitment. Research limitations/implications – The study used a cross-sectional design and all variables were based on self-reports. Hence, results should be replicated in a longitudinal study and using more objective measures (e.g. for work performance). Practical implications – Since engaged leaders, who inspire, strengthen, and connect their followers, provide a work context in which employees thrive, organizations are well advised to promote engaging leadership. Social implications – Leadership seems to be a crucial factor which has an indirect impact – via job demands and job resources – on employee well-being. Originality/value – The study demonstrates that engaging leadership can be integrated into the JD-R framework.


Author(s):  
Serena Barello ◽  
Rosario Caruso ◽  
Lorenzo Palamenghi ◽  
Tiziana Nania ◽  
Federica Dellafiore ◽  
...  

Abstract Purpose The purpose of the present cross-sectional study is to investigate the role of perceived COVID-19-related organizational demands and threats in predicting emotional exhaustion, and the role of organizational support in reducing the negative influence of perceived COVID-19 work-related stressors on burnout. Moreover, the present study aims to add to the understanding of the role of personal resources in the Job Demands-Resources model (JD-R) by examining whether personal resources—such as the professionals’ orientation towards patient engagement—may also strengthen the impact of job resources and mitigate the impact of job demands. Methods This cross-sectional study involved 532 healthcare professionals working during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. It adopted the Job-Demands-Resource Model to study the determinants of professional’s burnout. An integrative model describing how increasing job demands experienced by this specific population are related to burnout and in particular to emotional exhaustion symptoms was developed. Results The results of the logistic regression models provided strong support for the proposed model, as both Job Demands and Resources are significant predictors (OR = 2.359 and 0.563 respectively, with p < 0.001). Moreover, healthcare professionals’ orientation towards patient engagement appears as a significant moderator of this relationship, as it reduces Demands’ effect (OR = 1.188) and increases Resources’ effect (OR = 0.501). Conclusions These findings integrate previous findings on the JD-R Model and suggest the relevance of personal resources and of relational factors in affecting professionals’ experience of burnout.


Author(s):  
Antonia-Sophie Döbler ◽  
André Emmermacher ◽  
Stefanie Richter-Killenberg ◽  
Joshua Nowak ◽  
Jürgen Wegge

The present study provides evidence for the important role of job crafting and self-undermining behaviors at work, two new concepts that were recently integrated into the well-known job demands-resources (JD-R) theory (Bakker and Demerouti, 2017). We investigate how these behaviors are associated with work engagement, emotional exhaustion, and work ability as a long-term indicator of employee’s well-being. Furthermore, we examine the moderating role of personal resources in the stress-strain process by comparing groups of employees representing the five types of job satisfaction defined by Bruggemann (1974). Data was collected in a cross-sectional study within a German DAX company’s manufacturing plant from 1145 blue- and white-collar workers. Results of structural equation modeling provided, as expected, support for an indirect effect of job demands and job resources on emotional exhaustion and work engagement through job crafting and self-undermining. Work ability, on the other hand, was mainly affected by emotional exhaustion, but not by work engagement. Most important, we found significant differences between path coefficients across the five types of job satisfaction indicating that these types represent important constellations of personal resources and job demands that should be considered both for analyzing stress at work and for offering tailored stress interventions in organizations.


Author(s):  
Akihito Shimazu ◽  
Arnold B. Bakker ◽  
Evangelia Demerouti ◽  
Takeo Fujiwara ◽  
Noboru Iwata ◽  
...  

This study examines how working parents’ work attitudes (i.e., workaholism and work engagement) are associated with their child’s psychological well-being. Based on the Spillover-Crossover model (SCM), we hypothesize that (a) work-to-family spillover (i.e., work-to-family conflict and facilitation) and (b) employee happiness will sequentially mediate the relationship between parents’ work attitudes and their child’s emotional and behavioral problems. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among Japanese dual-earner couples with pre-school child(ren). On the basis of valid data from 208 families, the hypothesized model was tested using structural equation modeling. For both fathers and mothers simultaneously, workaholism was positively related to work-to-family conflict, which, in turn, was negatively related to happiness. In contrast, work engagement was positively related to work-to-family facilitation, which, in turn, was positively related to happiness. Fathers’ and mothers’ happiness, in turn, were negatively related to their child’s emotional and behavioral problems. Results suggest that parents’ workaholism and work engagement are related to their child’s emotional and behavioral problems in opposite ways, whereby parents’ spillover and happiness mediate this relationship. These findings support the SCM and suggest that decreasing workaholism and improving work engagement may not only improve employees’ happiness, but also decrease their child’s emotional and behavioral problems.


2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 346-352
Author(s):  
Melody D. Reibel ◽  
Marianne H. Hutti

Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain disorder characterized by uncertainty in etiology, symptomatology, diagnosis, treatment, and outcome. The high level of illness uncertainty that results from fibromyalgia is a risk factor for maladjustment to illness. A cross-sectional survey design was used to examine the relationships among illness uncertainty, helplessness, and subjective well-being in 138 women with fibromyalgia. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine a predictive model for mediation. We found illness uncertainty is negatively associated with subjective well-being and that helplessness strongly influences the impact of illness uncertainty on subjective well-being in women with fibromyalgia.


2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (7) ◽  
pp. 899-914 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Kashif ◽  
Eliane Braganca ◽  
Zainudin Awang ◽  
Ernest Cyril De Run

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the combined effects of customer aggression, job stress, and emotional intelligence (EI) on job satisfaction and organizational turnover among managers from a developing country, i.e. Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach Data are collected from 230 respondents working as bank managers in Pakistan by means of a cross-sectional survey. The collected data are analyzed by employing a structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. Findings The employees perceive that job stress positively influences emotional exhaustion among employees. Furthermore, EI negatively influences job exhaustion to minimize the potential to lead it through to organizational turnover. Originality/value The combined effects of customer- and organization-related elements have been scarcely investigated – the heart and soul of contribution regarding this research. The moderation of EI to lessen the emotional exhaustion is a significant contribution to this study. Finally, the context of Pakistan’s banking sector is also unique to this study.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Saleem ◽  
Abou Bakar ◽  
Areeha Khan Durrani ◽  
Zubair Manzoor

Background: Perceived severity of COVID-19 (SARS-COV-2) is known to be associated with mental health of people in general and health professionals in particular in Western societies. However, its association with the mental health of students in Pakistan, which is predominantly a Muslim society, remains unclear so far. Moreover, the role of Muslim religiosity for such an association has not yet been investigated. We aimed to examine the association and report findings on the impact of perceived severity on mental health with a sample of students from all five provinces of Pakistan.Methods: We did a cross-sectional online survey from 1,525 Pakistani students in March 2020 using standardized measurement tools. We then determined the prevalence of perceived severity among students and its impact on their mental health. The strength of associations between these variables was estimated using generalized linear models, with appropriate distribution and link functions. Structural equation modeling through SmartPLS (3.0) software was utilized to analyze the results.Findings: The perceived severity of COVID-19 is significantly associated with mental health of Pakistani students, whereas Muslim religiosity is a strong mediator between perceived severity and mental health of Pakistani students.Conclusions: Though the perceived severity of COVID-19 is associated with mental health, this relationship can be better explained by the role of Muslim religiosity. When tested individually, the perceived severity accounted for only 18% variance in mental health that increased up to 57% by the mediating role of Muslim religiosity. This difference clearly indicates the mediating role of Muslim religiosity in the association between perceived severity and mental health for Pakistani students.


2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 148-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Hall

Abstract. This multistudy investigation examines how entrapment, which is the guilt, anxiety, or stress to respond and be available to others via mobile devices, shapes and is shaped by patterns of mobile use. Using structural equation modeling on cross-sectional survey responses, Study 1 (N = 300) tested relationships among offline social network size, voice and text frequency, entrapment, and well-being. Offline social network size was associated with text message frequency, and both were indirectly associated with lower subjective well-being via entrapment. Study 2 used experience sampling to confirm associations among entrapment, texting, and well-being. Participants (N = 112) reported on face-to-face, phone, and text interactions five times a day for 5 consecutive days (n = 1,879). Multilevel modeling results indicated that beginning-of-week entrapment was associated with more interactions with acquaintances and strangers, and with reporting lower affective well-being and relatedness when interacting via text. Well-being reported during text interactions and number of interactions with acquaintances and strangers during the week both predicted changes in entrapment by the week’s end. Change in entrapment was associated with lower subjective well-being at the week’s end. Results suggest that entrapment is associated with using texting to maintain larger networks of social relationships, potentially stressing individuals’ capacity to maintain less close relationships via mobile communication.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Talat Islam ◽  
Muhammad Ali ◽  
Saqib Jamil ◽  
Hafiz Fawad Ali

Purpose This study aims to investigate individual-related consequences of workplace bullying among the health-care section. Specifically, this study examined the mediating role of burnout between workplace bullying and nurses’ well-being. Moreover, passive avoidant leadership is examined as a conditional variable between workplace bullying and burnout. Design/methodology/approach This study collected data from 314 nurses working in various hospitals through a questionnaire-based survey using Google Form in two waves. Findings Structural equation modeling confirmed the negative effect of workplace bullying on nurses’ well-being, whereas burnout mediates this relationship. In addition, passive avoidant leadership was identified as a conditional variable that strengthens the positive association between workplace bullying and burnout. Research limitations/implications Although data for the study were collected in two waves, still cross-sectional design limits causality. Practical implications This study suggests management to focus on developing and implementing counter-bullying rules to avoid the adverse consequences of workplace bullying (e.g. capital loss, recruitment costs, burnout, well-being, etc.). In addition, leaders/supervisors must be trained to fulfill their responsibilities to reduce negative consequences. Originality/value Studies on workplace bullying in high-power distance cultures are scant. Therefore, drawing upon conservation of resource theory, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that has investigated the moderating role of passive avoidant leadership on the association between workplace bullying and burnout.


2019 ◽  
Vol 123 (4) ◽  
pp. 1005-1026 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melinde Coetzee ◽  
Louise Engelbrecht

The study examines employability attributes as psychological mechanisms that explain the link between the career adaptation concerns and self-perceived employability of a sample of professionally qualified knowledge workers (N = 404). A cross-sectional survey was used to collect primary data. Results of a mediation analysis by means of structural equation modeling show that proactivity, career resilience, and career self-management attributes are significant intrinsic motivational mechanisms in explaining the link between high career adaptation concerns and high self-perceived employability. The study makes an important contribution to the employability literature by illustrating by means of self-determination theory the role of employability attributes as psychological processes that restore individuals’ sense of autonomous functioning as expressed by their self-perceived employability. The findings advance human resource management’s understanding of the role of employability attributes as mechanisms of fulfilling knowledge workers’ need for competence and autonomy in the career adaptation concerns—perceived employability link. Practice implications include supportive career development practices that strengthen knowledge workers’ sense of competence and autonomy when confronted with changes in job and employment conditions that affect their perceived employability.


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