Gunn Johansson

Social Psychological and Neuroendocrine Stress Reactions in Highly Mechanised Work

Social psychological theory on relations between production technology and work satisfaction was combined with arousal theory based on psychophysiological stress research in a study of workers in a highly mechanised production industry. A group of workers whose tasks were characterised by rcpetitiveness, physical constraint, machine-regulation of work pace and high demands for continuous attention (high-risk group) was compared to a control group who performed their work under less monotonous and more flexible conditions. Both groups were studied at work and during free hours with regard to urinary excretion of adrenaline and noradrenaline as well as self-ratings of mood and alertness. During work the high-risk group excreted significantly more catecholamines than the control group. The results suggest that the combination of monotony and mental overload experienced by the high-risk group demands continuous mobilisation of biochemical adaptive resources which in the long run may prove harmful to the indiv...

Adaptation to continued work and early retirement following downsizing : Long-term effects and gender differences

As part of the downsizing of a large insurance company in Sweden, all personnel 55 years of age and older were invited to apply for early retirement on financially favourable terms. A total of 357 (55%) of senior employees applied for and were permitted early retirement, while 276 remained employed. Effects of voluntary/forced choice of employment status on subsequent adaptation were evaluated. Gender differences were also tested. The study compared early retirees and persons continuing to work over the years following downsizing with regard to satisfaction, well-being, health, and work centrality. 224 ‘retirees’ and 146 ‘stayers’ filled in a questionnaire on mental health and work conditions on two occasions (at an 18-month interval). Results indicated that voluntary (as opposed to forced) choice was directly and positively associated with satisfaction, psychological well-being and health for both groups. Females showed lower values of work centrality, appeared to be more inclined to apply for retirement, and were generally more satisfied with the outcome than males.

Smoking and sedentary behavior as related to work organization

There is little research which has investigated whether working life may affect health behaviors. However, there is data suggesting that smoking as well as leisure activities are affected during times of stress. Both theoretical work and research suggests that work may socialize people such that the use of leisure time for active pursuits, including exercise, may be contingent upon jobs which promote interaction, learning, and activity on the job. In investigating whether the psychosocial structure of work might affect smoking and sedentary behavior, a subsample (n = 7.201) of a representative sample of the Swedish population aged 16-65 years was selected for study. Reports on job characteristics and health behaviors were obtained in personal or telephone interviews and a logistic regression analysis was performed. In general, job demands like shift work, piece work, hazardous exposure, and physical load tended to be associated with smoking and sedentary behavior, whereas job resources, including personal autonomy, were predictive of regular exercise, but unrelated to smoking behavior. Correlational patterns varied somewhat between sexes. The implications of these findings with respect to work organization, considerations in epidemiological research, and the conduct of health promotion programs are discussed.

Residence in the Social Ecology of Stress and Restoration

We relate residence to health within a social ecological model of stress and restoration. As an isolated setting and in relation to other everyday settings, we discuss the residence in terms of demands, coping resources and responses, and opportunities for restoration. Our model indicates how processes operating above the household level can affect health by modifying the quantity, quality, and distribution of demands, resources, and restoration opportunities within and across the settings of everyday life, including the residence. We illustrate some of these social ecological dynamics with the case of home-based telework. Concluding, we discuss the utility of the model for environmental interventions intended to alleviate health-threatening chronic stress.

Behavioural and physiological effects of cigarette smoking in a monotonous situation.

Sustained performance in a visual reaction time test was examined in 12 moderate smokers. In a control condition without smoking, efficiency decreased over time. In a, condition, where 3 cigarettes were smoked at 20-min intervals, the subjects were able to maintain their initial level of performance throughout the session, mean reaction times being significantly shorter in the smoking than in the control condition. Smoking produced a significant increase in adrenaline excretion and heart rate.

Work without boundaries : psychological perspectives on the new working life

Translated and adapted from a Swedish original, Work without Boundaries: Psychological Perspectives on the New Working Life tackles the human impact of the changing nature of work. It brings together strands of research from a variety of disciplines including work psychology, occupational health psychology, social psychology, and psychobiology. Written by two leading international researchers and writers in this field, Work without Boundaries delivers new levels of understanding in the field and charts the way forward for future research.

Temporal factors in sympatho-adrenomedullary activity following acute behavioral activation

Abstract Sixteen healthy male subjects performed a complex choice-reaction task under time pressure. Adrenaline and noradrenaline excretion, heart rate, and subjective reactions were measured before, during, and after the work period and at corresponding points in time in a control session without work. Mean adrenaline excretion, heart rate, and subjective arousal increased significantly during work and returned to baseline levels within 1–2 hr after the end of work. There were large inter-individual differences in the rate at which adrenaline output decreased. When subjects whose adrenaline output decreased rapidly were compared with those whose adrenaline output decreased slowly, it was found that ‘rapid decreasers’ had higher baseline levels of adrenaline, performed better on the choice-reaction task, and had lower scores in neuroticism. The significance of temporal factors in adrenaline-mediated adjustment to environmental stressors is discussed.

Changes in behavioral and physiological activation induced by cigarette smoking in habitual smokers

Performance in tasks on visual simple- and choice-reaction time was studied in six healthy habitual smokers. Results from a non-smoking condition, and a condition in which each subject smoked four cigarettes, indicated that smoking had a beneficial effect on performance efficiency in both tasks: (a) simple-reaction time increased over time in the non-smoking condition, but remained at the same level in the smoking condition, and (b) choice-reaction time increased slightly in the non-smoking condition, and decreased in the smoking condition. The difference between conditions was statistically significant for simple-reaction time. Hand steadiness was impaired by smoking. Heart rate and systolic pressure increased in the smoking condition, while catecholamine secretion remained relatively unaffected by smoking. Self-estimates of wakefulness and mood showed that smoking was judged to have favourable effects.

The effects of urban bus driving on blood pressure and musculoskeletal problems: a quasi-experimental study.

Objective Work settings with high levels of stress are consistently associated with poor health outcomes. This study examines the longitudinal relationships between the number of hours of driving a bus in a city and blood pressure and musculoskeletal problems. Methods A prospective longitudinal design coupled with multilevel random coefficient modeling was used to examine the relationship among exposure to a job with high level of stress, urban bus driving, blood pressure, and musculoskeletal problems. Baseline blood pressure and musculoskeletal symptoms of men and women (n = 88) were assessed before they began driving a bus in central Stockholm. The number of hours of driving per week, blood pressure, and musculoskeletal symptoms were tracked for a period of 5 years. Multilevel random coefficient modeling techniques were used to model how individual trajectories of health effects were affected by the number of hours of driving, after statistically controlling for baseline preworking health measures. Results Controlling for sex and baseline health outcomes, the average number of hours of bus driving per week predicted higher diastolic blood pressure (B = 0.069, standard error = 0.034, p = .042) and more frequent musculoskeletal symptoms (B = 0.013, standard error = 0.003, p < .001). Conclusions The findings provide evidence for a positive association between the number of hours of bus driving and blood pressure and musculoskeletal problems. These findings are discussed in exposures to potentially toxic physical and psychosocial work-related factors. Abbreviations MRCM = multilevel random coefficient modeling; ICC = intraclass correlation coefficient

WOMEN'S CAREER PATTERNS IN SWEDEN: A life event approach

Although research on and models of career patterns are often implicitly assumed to be of general validity, they are usually coloured by their cultural, ethnic and historical background and by a lack of gender perspective. One of the most critical research gaps concerns changes and transitions in womens careers. The general aim of this paper is to describe career patterns over the life course of women born in the 1950s in Sweden — in terms of shape, level and stability. Data were collected from work histories in the interviews of a sample of Swedish women aged 43 (n = 109) as part of a longitudinal study. Career patterns were plotted based on life events related to education, family and work. Results revealed relative stability of labour force participation, but not of work hours over the life course. Most of the women worked part time taking care of children for a varying number of years. Continuous full-time work (from 16 to 43) was highly unusual and almost entirely limited to women without children. Nevertheless, career progress in terms of moving to higher career levels was a common feature of the cohort albeit largely restricted to female-dominated occupations. The significance of a generous welfare state supportive for womens career opportunities as well as a highly gender-segregated labour market are discussed. A tentative new model of career patterns, taking account of womens experiences and sensitive to welfare state context, is proposed, as a basis for future research with larger and more diverse samples. Con frecuencia se asume implícitamente que la investigación y los modelos de los patrones profesionales tienen validez general. Sin embargo, estos estan generalmente matizados por sus antecedentes culturales, étnicos e históricos, y por la ausencia de perspectiva de género. Una de las brechas mas críticas en la investigación concierne a los cambios y transcisiones en la carrera de las mujeres. El objetivo general de este artículo es describir los patrones profesionales en el transcurso de la vida de las mujeres nacidas en Suecia en los años 1950s, en función de forma, nivel y estabilidad. Los datos fueron obtenidos de historias laborales procedentes de entrevistas en una muestra de 109 mujeres suecas de 43 años de edad, como parte de un estudio longitudinal. Los patrones profesionales fueron graficados en base a los eventos de la vida relacionados con educación, familia y trabajo. Los resultados revelaron una relativa estabilidad en la participación en la fuerza laboral, pero no en las horas de trabajo durante la vida. La mayoría de las mujeres trabajaron a tiempo parcial cuidando los hijos por un numero variable de años. El trabajo contínuo a tiempo completo (desde los 16 a los 43 años) resultó sumamente inusual y casi totalmente limitado a las mujeres sin hijos. No obstante, el progreso hacia mejores niveles profesionales resultó un rasgo común de la cohorte, aunque muy restringido a las ocupaciones dominantemente femeninas. Se discuten la significancia de un sistema de asistencia social estatal generoso en el apoyo a las oportunidades profesionales de la mujer y la amplia segregación de género en el mercado laboral. Como base para futuras investigaciones con muestras mayores y diversas, se propone un modelo tentativo de patrones profesionales que toma en cuenta las experiencias de las mujeres y que es sensible al contexto de la asistencia social estatal.