Work stress and employee wellbeing have gained heightened attention since the COVID-19 pandemic. Until now, organizations have primarily sought to conceptualize these variables as an individual-level phenomenon; thereby neglecting the potential influence of social dynamics within the workplace. Drawing on conservation of resources and emotional contagion theories, this study examines the extent to which team-level emotional contagion moderates the impact of stress on wellbeing, factoring in multilevel effects. Data from 237 professional services employees nested within 41 teams was analyzed. The results show support for emotional contagion as a team-level moderator between individual-level work stress and employee wellbeing. The role of organizational resources in shaping stress and wellbeing outcomes was also significant. This study underscores the significance of team dynamics and organizational resources in shaping employee wellbeing. Well-targeted, stress alleviation, and team-contagion enhancing initiatives will have a more positive impact on wellbeing, than individually targeted stress alleviation initiatives in isolation.

Organisational psychology literature is abounded with empirical evidence of the mitigating effect that social support seeking (SSS) behaviour has on stress. However, it is unclear if this phenomenon is present in a collectivist context where workers might be hesitant to seek social support when under stress. A total of 123 employees from China completed a longitudinal survey over 4 weeks assessing their appraisals of an ongoing work stressor, coping strategies, and stress level. Path-analysis, hierarchical regression and means comparison determined the degree of fit of two theoretical perspectives (stress-buffer and main effects) to Chinese employee's SSS behaviour, and its frequency of use against other coping strategies. Results showed that SSS was not elicited by primary and secondary appraisals, but instead may be better explained by employees' collectivistic aspirations. Implications of the results were addressed in relation to stress management strategies and human resource support initiatives. Future research directions were also discussed.

Several decades of research have addressed the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology. However, segmented research streams with myriad terminologies run the risk of construct proliferation and lack an integrated theoretical justification of the contributions of ICT concepts. Therefore, by identifying important trends and reflecting on key constructs, findings, and theories, our review seeks to determine whether a compelling case can be made for the uniqueness of ICT-related concepts in studying employee and performance in I-O psychology. Two major themes emerge from our review of the ICT literature: (a) a technology behavior perspective and (b) a technology experience perspective. The technology behavior perspective with three subcategories (the “where” of work design, the “when” of work extension, and the “what” of work inattention) explores how individual technology use can be informative for predicting employee well-being and performance. The technology experience perspective theme with two subcategories (the “how” of ICT appraisals and “why” of motives) emphasizes unique psychological (as opposed to behavioral) experiences arising from the technological work context. Based on this review, we outline key challenges of current ICT research perspectives and opportunities for further enhancing our understanding of technological implications for individual workers and organizations.

The aims of this study were to investigate the associations between work stress defined by the effort–reward imbalance (ERI) model and diet quality and to examine the potential role of over-commitment (OC) personality in ERI–diet relationships. A cross-sectional study was conducted in random population samples of 6340 men and 5792 women (age 45–69 years) from the Czech Republic, Russia and Poland. Dietary data were collected using FFQ. The healthy diet indicator (HDI) was constructed using eight nutrient/food intakes (HDI components) to reflect the adherence to WHO dietary guideline. The extent of imbalance between effort and reward was measured by the effort:reward (ER) ratio; the effort score was the numerator and the reward score was multiplied by a factor adjusting for unequal number of items in the denominator. Logistic regression and linear regression were used to assess the associations between exposures (ER ratio and OC) and outcomes (HDI components and HDI) after adjustment for confounders and mediators. The results showed that high ER ratio and high OC were significantly associated with unhealthy diet quality. For a 1-sd increase in the ER ratio, HDI was reduced by 0·030 and 0·033 sd in men and women, and for a 1-sd increase in OC, HDI was decreased by 0·036 and 0·032 sd in men and women, respectively. The modifying role of OC in ERI–diet relationships was non-significant. To improve diet quality at workplace, a multiple-level approach combining organisational intervention for work stress and individual intervention for vulnerable personality is recommended.

Depression and anxiety disorders are the leading cause of sickness absence and long-term work incapacity in most developed countries. The present study aimed to carry out a systematic meta-review examining the effectiveness of workplace mental health interventions, defined as any intervention that a workplace may either initiate or facilitate that aims to prevent, treat or rehabilitate a worker with a diagnosis of depression, anxiety or both. Relevant reviews were identified via a detailed systematic search of academic and grey literature databases. All articles were subjected to a rigorous quality appraisal using the AMSTAR assessment. Of the 5179 articles identified, 140 studies met the inclusion criteria, of which 20 were deemed to be of moderate or high quality. Together, these reviews analysed 481 primary research studies. Moderate evidence was identified for two primary prevention interventions; enhancing employee control and promoting physical activity. Stronger evidence was found for CBT-based stress management although less evidence was found for other secondary prevention interventions, such as counselling. Strong evidence was also found against the routine use of debriefing following trauma. Tertiary interventions with a specific focus on work, such as exposure therapy and CBT-based and problem-focused return-to-work programmes, had a strong evidence base for improving symptomology and a moderate evidence base for improving occupational outcomes. Overall, these findings demonstrate there are empirically supported interventions that workplaces can utilize to aid in the prevention of common mental illness as well as facilitating the recovery of employees diagnosed with depression and/or anxiety.

Currently, a considerable amount of work stress is present in school teachers,one of the occupational groups with the highest levels of job strain andburnout. As chronic stress produces significant modifications in emotionaladjustment and neuroendocrine functioning, we aimed to investigate the role ofthese work stress constructs in the endocrine and mood responses of a group offemale teachers during two working days (WD) at different moments in theacademic year. We studied mood as well as levels of cortisol and testosterone,representative of a predominant catabolic or anabolic balance. Our resultsshowed that higher “control” was associated with higherpositive mood (p = .028 on WD1 andp = .057 on WD2) and salivary testosterone (Tsal)(p = .022 on WD1), whereas“demands” and “total job strain”were related to negative mood (p = .011 andp = .015, respectively). Participants withhigher scores on “total burnout” and “emotionalexhaustion” also had higher negative mood (p< .05 in all cases). Depersonalization correlated positively withnegative mood (p = .019 and p= .006 on WD1 and WD2, respectively). Finally, personalaccomplishment showed an inverse relationship with negative mood(p = .038 on WD2). These results are useful for jobrisk prevention and interventions that should focus on the control dimension ofthe job strain questionnaire and on personal accomplishment from the burnoutscale.

In this study, we investigated the prevalence, severity, and organisational factors of risk for psychological injury in a national sample of Australian school teachers, using the Psychological Injury Risk Indicator. We predicted that teachers would report higher levels of risk for psychological injury if working in schools located in rural areas, with a low socioeconomic index, and low psychosocial safety climate. Teachers from across Australia (N = 960) completed an online survey that measured risk for psychological injury and relevant organisational factors. We found a high number of teachers (26%) whose responses showed high risk, indicating the need for professional intervention in order to avoid potentially debilitating psychological injury. Analyses also showed main effects for two organisational factors, indicating that teachers most at risk for psychological injury tended to be employed by schools with low psychosocial safety climate and in areas with a low socioeconomic index. These results highlight the severe levels of work-related psychological injury risk in the Australian teacher population, and the important role for school administration and education departments in maintaining a working environment that supports staff psychologically.

The purpose of this study was to examine demographic effects on the satisfaction levels of lecturers from a Singapore public tertiary institution regarding job-related variables. The research findings indicated that demographic variables had an effect on the levels of satisfaction over specific job-related differentials. Satisfaction related to job stress levels increased significantly with being female, age, job position and length of employment; while satisfaction over salary levels rose significantly with being female and job position. Satisfaction with nature of the job was significantly affected positively with job position, academic qualification and length of employment; whereas satisfaction over supervision level decreased significantly with age, marital status, job position and length of employment. Satisfaction with organisational justice rose significantly with age, job position and length of employment, while satisfaction over communication was decreased significantly with age and years of service. These findings have practical implications for the management of the tertiary institution to reexamine their current institutional policies and make the necessary changes to enhance job satisfaction of the academics.

Work stress is widely thought to be a significant problem in the health and community services sector. We reviewed evidence from a range of different data sources that confirms this belief. High levels of psychosocial risk factors, psychological health problems and workers compensation claims for stress are found in the sector. We propose a multilevel theoretical model of work stress to account for the results. Psychosocial safety climate (PSC) refers to a climate for psychological health and safety. It reflects the balance of concern by management about psychological health v. productivity. By extending the health erosion and motivational paths of the Job Demands-Resources model, we propose that PSC within work organisations predicts work conditions and in turn psychological health and engagement. Over and above this, however, we expect that the external environment of the sector particularly government policies, driven by economic rationalist ideology, is increasing work pressure and exhaustion. These conditions are likely to lead to a reduced quality of service, errors and mistakes.

The effects of work stress and dietary supplementation on ovarian activity were determined in 16 multiparous Mashona cows in Sanyati Communal Area, which lies in a semi-arid environment of Zimbabwe. The cows were assigned to one of four treatments: supplemented working (SW), supplemented non-working (SNW), non-supplemented working (NSW) and non-supplemented non-working (NSNW) cows in a 2 × 2 factorial treatment arrangement with two dietary and two work levels. Cows in the SW and NSW groups pulled a cart with a 200-1 water drum for 18 km (9 km with drum empty, 9 km with drum full) every day for 5 days/week for a total of 12 weeks.

Rectal temperatures were recorded at specific points along the route to and from the river where the water was obtained. Blood samples were collected by jugular venipuncture once a week, before working, for the determination of plasma glucose and non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA). In addition, blood samples were collected once every 3 days for the determination of progesterone concentration. There were no differences (P > 0⋅05) in the rectal temperatures between SW and NSW cows. Cows in the NSW group had the highest decrease in glucose levels and also showed marked increases in NEFA concentrations. The incidence of ovarian activity was similar between SNW and SW cows (P > 0⋅05). The incidence of ovarian activity was least in NSW cows. We conclude that nutritional stress was more important in suppressing ovarian activity than work stress and that dietary supplementation can reduce the negative effects of draught on ovarian activity.