Briony Thompson

Job demands, work–family conflict, and emotional exhaustion in police officers: A longitudinal test of competing theories.

We propose and test a comprehensive theory designed to explain seemingly contradictory relations between job demands, emotional exhaustion, and work-family conflict (WFC) reported in the literature. Using job demands-resources theory, effort-recovery theory, and personal resources theory we hypothesized that job demands would spillover to emotional exhaustion as mediated by WFC (causality model), and alternatively that job demands would also spillover to WFC as mediated by emotional exhaustion (reverse causal model). Further, we also hypothesized using loss spiral theory that a more comprehensive model representing reciprocal and cross-linked effects (causal and reverse causal simultaneously) would best fit the data. The hypotheses were tested in a longitudinal study of 257 Australian (Victorian) frontline police officers at two time points approximately 12 months apart. We used structural equation modelling and found in support of the simultaneous reciprocal effects hypothesis, that the more comprehensive model fitted the data better than either the causality or the reverse causal model. Future research should more comprehensively model the important relationships between job demands, emotional exhaustion, and WFC to reflect their complex interplay. Interventions to reduce work demands arising from work pressure and emotional demands are indicated to prevent conflict at home and emotional exhaustion in police officers.

Supervisor and subordinate work-family values: Does similarity make a difference?

Supervisor-subordinate similarity affects a number of workplace outcomes, but the effect of similarity in work-family values is not well understood. Our sample consisted of 209 participants (121 female and 88 male) from a range of occupations. A structural model was tested in which subordinate perceptions of supervisor work-family value similarity predicted increased supervisor support and reduced family conflict, with an indirect effect through these variables to job satisfaction. Higher work-family conflict and lower job satisfaction had significant paths to emotional exhaustion, as a key indicator of burnout. Structural equation modeling indicated a good fit to the model for both men and women. Similarity of work-family values influenced emotional exhaustion through its impact on work-family conflict and job satisfaction.

Strategic determinants: the context of managerial decision making

Previous studies point to a range of factors as influencing managerial decision‐making processes. There are four major trends with regard to the studies. They are environmental antecedents, organisational antecedents, decision‐specific antecedents and individual managerial characteristics. While the majority of literature has chosen to focus in a specialised way on the influence of unidimensional variables there are a number of studies advocating the study of multiple dimensions simultaneously. This paper examines the findings from a qualitative research methodology, convergent interviewing, focussing on the impact of environmental, organisational, decision‐specific and individual characteristics, in combination with environmental and organisational characteristics on managerial decisions. Information from managers suggested decision‐specific and individual characteristics in combination with environmental and organisational characteristics, were highly relevant to the process of decision making. For all managers, managerial years of experience and the complexity and politicality of decision content were indicated as an important preconditions for determining the nature of managerial decision making. Furthermore, environmental and organisational factors such as environmentally determined time constraints (e.g. government policy) and staff conflict were important issues influencing managers’ decisions. A number of multidimensional interactions were posited from the findings. Implications for future research are discussed.

Sources of stress in policewomen: a three-factor model

It has been argued that models of stress need to be occupation specific. Policewomen are an occupational subgroup which experiences stress differently from male officers. Sixteen sources of felt stress were rated by 206 policewomen. Exploratory factor analysis suggested a three factor model of operational, interpersonal, and management/organizational stress. Confirmatory factor analysis with a second sample of 213 policewomen confirmed the three factor structure. Interpersonal stressors accounted for most variance in ratings of felt stress. The suggests that the interpersonal climate experienced by female officers contributes significantly to rated stress levels, and consideration of this finding should be given in interventions to reduce work stress for female officers

The Training Guarantee Scheme: A Longitudinal Study in the Australian Metals Manufactures Industry*

The impact of the Training Guarantee Scheme within the metals manufactures industry is assessed by comparison of outcomes with selected objectives. In particular, expenditure on training, employer attitudes towards responsibility for training, and support for continuance of the scheme are examined. Data from 66 companies collected in 1989 is compared with current data from 43 of the 58 companies still in business in 1992. Results suggest increased minimum levels of training expenditure but, concurrently, a narrowing of the range of expenditure. Subsequent to the scheme, a narrower range of training options was used, with increased emphasis on company training and off-site consultants rather than government-funded programs and on-site consultants. Employers were more likely to indicate they had responsibility. The majority of employers were not in favour of the scheme, citing administrative costs and failure to address quality of training. Possible reasons for the failure of the scheme to attain its objectives are examined.

Learning Styles—What Do They Measure?

The employees of an organisation provide a creative and flexible resource that can be harnessed to meet the challenges of the coming decade. This opportunity, however, assumes that individual employees are willing and able to learn. Learning style instruments have been developed to assist in the design of more efficient learning experiences. This article examines the validity of the Learning Style Questionnaire based on a factor analysis of 395 respondents. This analysis indicated little factorial validity of the instrument and also raised the question of the usefulness of the concept of learning styles. The factors are as readily interpreted as personality factors. However, this is only an initial study and further investigations need to be carried out.

Work family conflict as a predictor of turnover intent in male and female police officers

This paper will discuss the Supervision Training and Accreditation Program (STAP), initiated by the Psychologists Board of Queensland, which registers psychologists in Queensland. The development of the relational model of supervision training, based on the literature and interviews with APS College chairs, will be discussed in light of the complexities involved in developing a generic model suitable to a range of specialties in psychology. An overview of content and process of training will include how the program addresses a range of essential aspects in supervision practice using both didactic and interactive practice skills training. Also described and discussed will be the format of an evaluation of the supervisor’s knowledge and skills as a requirement for accreditation. Information regarding the effectiveness of the program, to date, will be provided based on feedback from participants and evaluation of participant change as a result of training. Professional issues which have been raised in relation to training of supervisors will also be considered.Maximising the efficacy of treatments for psychiatric disorders in older adults is of increasing importance, given their increasing prominence as a percentage of those seeking mental health services. Older adults are prescribed more medication than any other age group; while adherence levels among older patients are similar to younger adults, adverse consequences of non-adherence may be more severe and less easily detected or resolved in this group. Similarly, compliance with homework assignments in CBT is a major predictor of efficacy in psychotherapy treatment, but adapting homework structure and process for older adults has only begun to be discussed in the literature, and little empirical work in this area exists. This presentation will review empirical compliance findings in both pharmacological and psychological treatment approaches with older populations. The difficulties involved in actually running medication compliance studies will be discussed and illustrated with issues and data emerging from a small pilot study in New Zealand on medication compliance in older adults. Finally, suggestions for maximising efficacy of homework assignment use with older populations in a range of settings, including those with mild cognitive impairment, will be offered.Asian communities in New Zealand is growing rapidly, with Asian people now forming a significant part of the New Zealand population. Research suggests that Asian people have high levels of gambling participation. However, little is known about gambling practices and the potential for problem gambling among Chinese people living in New Zealand. People seeking counselling services for their gambling problems often say they use gambling as a form of release from stress. This paper assesses gambling participation and experiences among Chinese people working in food industry who comprise a particular group that is exposed to stress and the potential for problem gambling. The research draws on findings from a quantitative survey and follow up interviews with participants to document reasons for gambling among this group, the prevalence of problem/pathological gambling, and help seeking patterns.Instead of sowing the seeds for ongoing disability, distress and disconnection, an adversity such as a disaster is more often just a “bump in the road” to be navigated. This was clearly demonstrated in the community responses to the Newcastle Earthquake. What can we, as psychologists, do to facilitate resilient responses? I draw on work that I am currently undertaking with children following traumatic injury, and work of Kevin Ronan, to provide some possible guidelines for the promotion of recovery. I will address initial intervention and outreach, screening and stepped care.Whilst job satisfaction and organisational commitment are consistently linked to turnover cognitions, the difficulties employees have balancing work and family lives is increasingly recognized as a potential contributor to turnover intention (Haar, 2004) and may be particularly problematic for employees in high demand occupations such as policing. This study examines whether work family conflict (WFC) makes an independent contribution to turnover cognitions above job satisfaction and job commitment, and whether gender moderates relations between WFC and turnover cognitions, in police officers. The sample consisted of 1,044 officers (690 males, 351 females) from an Australian police organisation. WFC was conceptualized bi-directionally as Work -family conflict (WIF) and Family-work conflict (FIW). Turnover intent was measured by thoughts of quitting, perceived probability of alternative employment, search for alternative employment, and intention to quit. Women perceived more WIF, and men, more FIW. The hypotheses were tested via moderated regression, and found WFC added to the prediction of turnover cognitions, with FIW being more problematic. Gender moderated the relation between WIF and search for alternatives; the relationship was stronger for females. Difficulties balancing needs of family with work are significant in predicting officers turnover cognitions.Behavioural patterns are determined in part by sociocultural factors such as values, expected behaviours and sociopolitical organisation. This paper presents the patterns of physical activity reported by Tongan and Fijian females aged 12-18 years and possible explanations for these patterns. The paper draws on interviews conducted in a wider study of adolescents patterns of eating, physical activity and body size in Tonga, Fiji, New Zealand and Australia. The study examined sociocultural factors that could promote or protect against obesity from the perspective of adolescents in order to develop culturally-appropriate strategies for healthy lifestyles. Twenty four indigenous Fijian and 24 Tongan females aged 12-18 years were interviewed by females who were fluent in participants first languages. Researchers from Australia, Tonga and Fiji analysed the data separately and then together in order to capture cultural nuances and enhance cultural validity. This analysis revealed similarities and differences in both cultural groups. Limitations to physical activity identified by Tongan and Fijian girls included the time spent in household chores and parental restrictions.Fijian girls also identified concern about personal safety as a constraint. These findings are examined in relation to sociocultural factors that appear to limit opportunities for young females to be physically active.This presentation details research evaluating the efficacy and cultural acceptability of a group behavioural family intervention program (Group Triple P – Positive Parenting Program) tailored for Australian indigenous families. This preventively oriented, early intervention program incorporates parent education groups, print and video materials, which aim to promote positive parent-child relationships, and to help parents develop effective management strategies for common behaviour problems and developmental issues. Cultural tailoring involved broad community consultation in relation to program resources and format. A pilot randomised controlled trial showed that, compared waitlist controls, group participants reported significantly lower rates of problem child behaviour and lower reliance on dysfunctional parenting practices of authoritarian discipline, anger and irritability, with a further significant reduction found for lax or permissive discipline by 6-month follow-up. There were high rates of consumer satisfaction and positive comments about the cultural acceptability of the program. Also presented is an update on an effectiveness evaluation of program implementation in regional and remote community health services across Australia. The need for culturally appropriate parenting programs, issues experienced by indigenous Health Workers, and implications for the dissemination of family interventions in indigenous communities are discussed.Measures to assess anxiety and depression separately often incur difficulties due to overlap of these constructs, especially in older individuals. Using the Goldberg Anxiety and Depression Scale (GADS) we aimed to confirm the factor structure of the instrument in a large cohort of older Australian women, to validate the instrument against other selfreport information. Participants were 7264 women (aged 75-82 years) enrolled in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health. Measures of anxiety and depression included the GADS, the mental health components of the SF-36, and self reported information on mental health diagnoses, symptoms and medications.In a variety of disciplines, particularly the social sciences and health sciences, but in areas spanning the arts and sciences, interest among students in ageing issues, and interest among professionals in ageing as a focus of research and practice, is increasing. Yet many undergraduate students (and even some postgraduate students) receive little exposure to research and theories regarding ageing. This talk aims to convey a sense of how ageing can be integrated into existing course structures across a variety of areas in psychology (for example, in clinical, health and research methodology areas). The presenter will offer suggestions as to how such material can be incorporated, even if the lecturer has little direct training or experience in ageing.