Search

Many employees are drawn to work-from-home arrangements based on expectations that such arrangements will help them manage both work and home life more effectively. Yet, mixed empirical findings suggest that telework arrangements do not uniformly result in less interrole interference (i.e., work-home and home-work interference). Applying and extending a border theory perspective, the present research offers insight into what factors may predict interrole interference, mediating mechanisms that may explain why such interference occurs, and a moderator that tests for whom interference is most damaging when employees work from home. Specifically, we test cross-role interruption behaviors as a predictor of interrole interference, with recovery experiences as a mediator of this relation and work-life border segmentation preference as a moderator. A sample of 504 home-based teleworkers recruited through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk participated in a three-wave survey. Results from a structural equation modeling approach support our overall model. However, the extent and valence of the impact of cross-role interruption behaviors had on teleworkers’ interrole interference depended on the direction of the interruption, type of recovery experience, and personal work-life border preference. These findings provide theoretical and practical insights that may help explain the gap between expected and actual occurrence of interrole interference in home-based telework arrangements.

The COVID-19 pandemic created a complex psychological environment for Americans. In this study, 450 MTurk workers completed measures of sociodemographic characteristics, perceived risk for COVID-19, general perceived vulnerability to disease, intolerance of uncertainty, and psychological flexibility. These variables were used to predict COVID-19 preventive health behaviors (PPE use), psychological distress, and physical symptoms. The surveys were completed between April 9, 2020 and April 18, 2020 which is a period that corresponded to the first 2–3 weeks of lockdown for most participants. A demographically diverse sample of participants was recruited. A substantial number of participants reported a reduction employment status and 69% were in self-isolation. Participants reported a high degree of perceived vulnerability to COVID-19. PPE mask wearing was variable: 16% “not at all,” 20% “some of the time,” 42% “a good part of the time,” and 26 “most of the time.” Using clinical cutoff on the post-trauma scale, 70% of the sample would be considered to have symptoms consistent with PTSD. Physical symptom reporting was also high. Intolerance of uncertainty and psychological inflexibility were significant predictors of psychological distress and physical symptoms. Psychological flexibility moderated the relationship between intolerance of uncertainty and psychological distress/physical symptoms. The relationship between intolerance of uncertainty and psychological distress/physical symptoms was stronger among participants with lower levels of psychological flexibility. These findings indicate psychological flexibility can reduce distress associated with COVID-19. Additionally, these results support the workability of the Unified Flexibility and Mindfulness Model as a framework for studying health behavior.

Employees face many demands throughout the workday. Participating in activities can help employees recover from the pressures of work, and physical activity and time spent in nature are among the most beneficial. Simulations of nature offer some of the benefits of actual contact with nature and can address some of the barriers to exercising outdoors that some employees may face. In this pilot study, we examine the influence of physical activity and virtual or actual nature contact on affect, boredom, and satisfaction when experienced during a break from a demanding work task. Twenty-five employed adults participated in an online study in which they completed a problem-solving task, completed a twenty-minute break, and then completed another session of the problem-solving task. During the break, participants were randomized to either a control condition, a physical activity and low-fidelity virtual nature contact condition, a physical activity and high-fidelity virtual nature contact condition, or a physical activity and actual nature contact condition. An examination of the means of affect, boredom, and satisfaction before, during, and after the break revealed that those in high-fidelity virtual nature and actual nature contact conditions seemed to report more positive well-being during the break. The results highlight that to help employees recover from work demands, it could be important to take breaks, be physically active, and have contact with nature, which should be simulated in high fidelity if actual nature contact cannot be achieved.

Many OHP interventions depend on some form of active participation from an employee and trends of low participation in interventions could jeopardize validity and impact. Intervention involvement can vary based on demographic, job-related, and health-related factors, with some research finding that those who would benefit the most from an intervention may be the least likely to participate. To examine factors that may influence attitudes toward and intentions to participate in OHP interventions, I apply the Sociocultural Self Model, or a framework that suggests that individual characteristics, structural conditions, and sociocultural context will influence an employee’s sense of self and thoughts, feelings, and behaviors relevant to health. Based on cross-sectional data from 315 employed adults recruited using a Qualtrics Panel, the Sociocultural Self Model generally conformed to model predictions. Individual characteristics, some structural conditions, and some sociocultural contexts were significantly related to attitudes towards and intentions to participate in OHP interventions. Results also suggest the presence of some industry-related differences in model components. Together, these results provide a preliminary look into the utility of a model that integrates individual and environmental determinants of health and safety to inform OHP interventions.

In the context of a global pandemic, the need for reliable analysis of qualitative data in healthcare has never been more pressing. Open-ended questions are a feasible way for both researchers and organizational stakeholders to gain deeper insight into complex situations when timely research is needed. However, the interpretation of brief, textual responses can prove problematic. Both manual and automated/semiautomated methods of coding qualitative data have been associated with errors and costly temporal delays. Data obtained from the qualitative analysis of open-ended questions have been questioned for lacking robust insights. The present article introduces an innovative, manual, team-based method of analyzing responses to open-ended survey questions. This method was developed and implemented at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic to understand the needs of nurses and their perceptions of organizational strategies that were implemented to address pandemic-related challenges. This framework utilizes a dedicated project management structure, general purpose software for data collection and analysis, frame-of-reference training designed for an interdisciplinary team of coders, and data analysis procedures that align with qualitative content analysis procedures. In concert, these techniques empower researchd team members with varying backgrounds and disparate levels of experience to provide unique human insights to data analysis procedures, refine the coding process, and support the abstraction of meaningful themes that were used to prioritize organizational strategies and further support nurses as the pandemic progressed.

Objectives: Nurses and nurse aides experience high rates of physical injury, assault, and abuse compared to other occupations. They also frequently have intersectional identities with other groups that experience higher rates of mental and physical health challenges and problems. In addition to belonging to these multiple vulnerable populations, nurses and nurse aides experience high levels of work stress and burnout. These variables are risk factors for injuries associated with lifting and transferring, as well as assault from residents. Given the focus on present moment awareness, commitment to values, and responding flexibly in difficult situations, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) may be an effective approach for this population. Design: Participants were randomly assigned to either the ACT group condition or a wait-list control condition. Participants completed baseline and one-month follow-up outcome measures. Setting/Location: The interventions were provided at participant work sites (nursing homes and assisted living facilities) that were located in multiple locations across Northern Ohio. Subjects: Seventy-one nurses and nurse aides participated in the study. Of these, 37 were randomly assigned to the ACT group intervention and 34 were assigned to the wait-list control group. Intervention: A two-session group-based ACT intervention. Each session was 2.5 hours long and spaced one-week apart. The intervention topics included acceptance, mindfulness, psychological flexibility, willingness to experience discomfort, present-moment focus, self-as-context, values identification, and values-congruent committed action. Outcome measures: Days missed due to injury, frequency of work-based injuries, musculoskeletal complaints, mental health symptoms, and overall satisfaction with the intervention. Results: Participants in the ACT group reported significantly fewer days missed due to injury and a significant reduction in mental health symptoms compared to the control group. Participants in the ACT group rated the intervention very favorably. Conclusion: A group-based ACT intervention can promote improvements in well-being for nurses and nurse aides working in long-term care settings. Further research in this area would benefit from conducting group-based ACT interventions at different organizational levels.

Nursing aides working in long-term care settings experience high rates of injury, musculoskeletal symptoms, and exposure to resident aggression. Some of these injuries and exposure to aggression may be related to trait mindfulness. The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between trait mindfulness, job training, injury, sources of injury, and musculoskeletal symptoms among nursing aides working in long-term care residential settings. Nursing aides working in long-term care settings across Ohio, USA (n = 152) were recruited for the study. Measures of sociodemographic characteristics, job tenure, job training, mindfulness, work injuries, sources of injuries, and musculoskeletal symptoms were obtained. Correlational analyses demonstrated that higher levels of mindfulness and training were associated with lower levels of injury and musculoskeletal symptoms. They were also significantly inversely associated with the following injury sources: lifting/repositioning resident, bumping/hitting equipment, and resident aggression. Results of hierarchical linear regressions indicated that mindfulness was a significant and unique predictor of injuries, exposure to the most common sources of injury, and musculoskeletal symptoms. Specifically, nursing aides with higher levels of mindfulness were less likely to report experiencing injuries, exposure to the most common sources of injury, and musculoskeletal symptoms. Given that mindfulness can be trained and modified, adding mindfulness training to nursing aide educational programs could potentially help reduce risk for injury among this vulnerable population of workers. Further research exploring the potential benefit of mindfulness training could address this possibility.

This article reports the findings of two empirical studies investigating the usability of image-based and text-based CAPTCHAs that authenticate users accessing the web. The first investigated four image-based CAPTCHAs, Asirra, ESP-PIX, SQ-PIX and IMAGINATION, with twenty participants interacting with five of each type on a desktop computer. The participants then completed the computer system usability questionnaire (CSUQ), the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX), and a final post-test subjective questionnaire ranking the CAPTCHAs based on preference. The results found statistically significant differences among the CAPTCHAs for all dependent variables except task completion time, with participants preferring Asirra and ESP-PIX. The second compared the usability of these two with the two most commonly used text-based CAPTCHAs, ReCAPTCHA and Google's CAPTCHA. After receiving training on Asirra and ESP-PIX, twenty-four participants completed 10 trials with each type on a desktop computer, subsequently completing the CSUQ and the NASA-TLX followed by a retrospective think-aloud session. The results of this second study indicated that Google's CAPTCHA and ReCAPTCHA took the least amount of time to complete. The workload associated with Asirra and ReCAPTCHA was lower than that for ESP-PIX and Google's CAPTCHA. Perceived overall usability tended to be highest for Asirra and ReCAPTCHA. Participant comments indicated that Google's CAPTCHA was too visually distorted and ESP-PIX had commonalities between the images that weren't immediately obvious, factors perhaps contributing to their lower perceived usability scores. Overall, ReCAPTCHA is recommended for use on a desktop computer because of its high perceived usability, low completion time, and low workload.

While interventions teaching general mindfulness and self-compassion have been effective in promoting health and participation in health behaviors, more research is needed to evaluate the effect of targeted interventions that teach participants to apply mindfulness and self-compassion to health behaviors. A sample of 24 university employees participated in a 10-week health behavior change intervention that featured psychoeducation in mindful and self-compassionate nutrition, exercise, and stress management and engagement in guided group exercise. The intervention produced significant improvements in mindfulness, self-compassion, mindful health behaviors, and some health behaviors, well-being measures, and some body composition and physical fitness measures. This program had high satisfaction and low attrition rates. These findings provide initial evidence that targeted mindfulness and self-compassion may be useful components of health behavior change interventions.