J.F. Ybema

Antecedents and consequences of employee absenteeism: A longitudinal perspective on the role of job satisfaction and burnout

This study examined the interrelations between registered employee absenteeism, job satisfaction, and burnout in a longitudinal design with four yearly waves of data. The participants were 844 workers in 34 companies in The Netherlands. In line with the predictions, a reciprocal relationship between job satisfaction and absence frequency was found. Lower job satisfaction increased absence frequency in the following year, whereas higher absence frequency lowered subsequent job satisfaction. Contrary to the prediction, more time lost due to absence increased job satisfaction in the following year. Furthermore, it was found that higher burnout enhanced future time lost due to absence, and lowered future job satisfaction. Finally, individuals who were frequently absent in one year, were more likely to have a prolonged absence in the following year.

Employment contracts: Cross-sectional and longitudinal relations with quality of working life, health and well-being

Employment Contracts: Cross‐sectional and Longitudinal Relations with Quality of Working Life, Health and Well‐being: Michiel Kompier, et al. Department of Work and Organizational Psychology, Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Effects of organizational justice on depressive symptoms and sickness absence: A longitudinal perspective

A longitudinal three-wave study among a large representative sample of 1519 employees of various companies in The Netherlands examined how organizational justice (as measured by distributive and procedural justice) was related to depressive symptoms and sickness absence. It was predicted that perceived justice would contribute to lower depressive symptoms and sickness absence, whereas depressive symptoms and absenteeism in turn would contribute to lower perceptions of organizational justice. In line with the predictions, we found that both distributive and procedural justice contributed to lower depressive symptoms, and distributive justice contributed to lower sickness absence in the following year. With regard to reversed effects, sickness absence contributed to lower perceptions of distributive justice to some extent. Moreover, sickness absence was related to higher depressive symptoms a year later. This research shows the importance of justice in organizations as a means to enhance the wellbeing of people at work and to prevent absenteeism.

Caregiver burnout among intimate partners of patients with a severe illness: an equity perspective

In the present study, caregiver burnout among the intimate partners of 106 cancer patients and 88 patients with multiple sclerosis was assessed. This study examined how burnout is related to marital quality and perceptions of inequity in the relationship. LISREL analyses showed that higher perceptions of inequity are strongly associated with higher emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, and lower feelings of personal accomplishment. Intimate partners of both cancer patients and patients with multiple sclerosis are relatively likely to experience burnout when they feel that they do not invest or benefit enough in the exchange with their ill partner. The relationship between inequity and burnout held when general marital quality, gender, the duration of the illness, the physical and psychological condition of the ill partner, and support from other persons were controlled for. This study shows that perceptions of equity or balance in the relationship between patients and their intimate partners are important for preventing caregiver burnout and for enhancing positive caregiver experiences.

Are equity concerns important in the intimate relationship when one partner of a couple has cancer

Guided by equity theory, the present study examined the balance of give-and-take in couples facing cancer. Healthy couples were included as a control group. Patients with cancer felt, as expected, more overbenefited in their relationship than did healthy people. Contrary to our expectation, their partners did not feel underbenefited; they felt as equitably treated as did healthy people. Moreover, perceived equity was related to quality of the relationship: all participants (patients, their partners, and healthy people) generally reported the lowest quality when they felt underbenefited in their relationship. Equity concerns were not equally important to all patients and partners, however. When the patient was seriously physically impaired, neither patients nor their partners were troubled any longer by feeling underbenefited.

Depression and Perceptions of Inequity among Couples Facing Cancer

In the present study, symptoms of nonclinical depression among 106 cancer patients and their intimate partners were assessed. From the perspective of equity theory, it was examined how depression was related to neuroticism, marital quality, and perceptions of inequity in the relationship. LISREL analyses showed that neuroticism and perceptions of inequity in the relationship were associated with higher depression, but differences were found between patients and partners in the way that inequity and depression were related. Cancer patients reported more symptoms of depression when they felt that they invested too little in the relationship, whereas their partners were higher in depression when they felt that they received too little benefits in the relationship. The findings are discussed in terms of structural differences in roles between patients and caregiving partners.

The relation between perceived inequity, marital satisfaction and emotions among couples facing cancer.

The central aim of the present study was to examine if equity theory still applies to intimate relationships when couples are confronted with a serious illness. Equity concerns were examined among 68 cancer patients and their partners. Contrary to our expectations, only male patients on average felt overbenefited in their relationship, whereas female patients on average felt equitably treated. Moreover, it was found that the partners of these patients did not, as was expected, feel underbenefited in their relationship. The main focus of the present study was on the association between perceived equity on the one hand and relationship satisfaction and emotions on the other. It was found that in general patients seemed most sensitive to underbenefit (i.e. they felt least satisfied), and experienced on average least positive and most negative affect when they felt underbenefited. Particularly, patients who were physically impaired felt dissatisfied and angry when underbenefited. The partners of these patients were in general equally sensitive to inequity in both directions, regardless of their ill partners physical condition.

Feeling bad, but satisfied: The effects of upward and downward comparison upon mood and marital satisfaction

This study in a sample of 135 women from rural areas examined the effects of social comparison with the marriage of another woman upon mood, identification and relationship evaluation. The comparison target constituted either an upward or a downward comparison, characterized by either high or low effort. Upward targets evoked a more positive mood, and a less negative mood than downward targets, while, in contrast, the evaluation of ones own relationship was more positive after being exposed to a downward target than after being exposed to an upward target. Upward targets and high-effort targets instilled more identification than downward and low-effort targets. A higher level of marital quality led to less identification with the downward targets and to more identification with the upward targets, particularly with targets who put a high degree of effort in the relationship. Identification mediated the association between marital quality and positive mood following upward comparison. The present study suggests that upward and downward comparison may have effects upon mood that are opposite to those upon self-evaluation, and demonstrates that happily married individuals may through identification with upward targets derive positive affective consequences from exposure to such targets.

Health, job characteristics, skills, and social and financial factors in relation to early retirement – results from a longitudinal study in the Netherlands

OBJECTIVES This study aimed to investigate the relative contribution of health, job characteristics, skills and knowledge, and social and financial factors to the transition from work to (non-disability) early retirement. METHODS Employees aged 59-63 years (N=2317) were selected from the Study on Transitions in Employment, Ability and Motivation in the Netherlands (STREAM). Individual characteristics, health, job characteristics, skills and knowledge, and social and financial factors were measured using a questionnaire at baseline. Information on early retirement was derived from the one-year follow-up questionnaire. Logistic regression analyses were used to identify predictors of early retirement. Population Attributable Fractions (PAF) were calculated. RESULTS Older age [odds ratio (OR) 1.79], poor physical health (OR 1.78), a positive attitude of the partner with respect to early retirement (OR 3.85), and the financial possibility to stop working before the age of 65 (OR 10.2) predicted the transition to early retirement, whereas employees that reported high appreciation at work (OR 0.58) and higher focus on development of skills and knowledge (OR 0.54) were less likely to retire early. PAF were 0.75 for the financial possibility to stop working, 0.43 for a positive attitude of the partner with respect to early retirement, 0.27 for low appreciation at work, 0.23 for a low focus on development, and 0.21 for poor health. CONCLUSIONS The financial possibility to stop working before the age of 65 importantly contributes to early retirement. In the context of rapidly diminishing financial opportunities to retire early in the Netherlands, the prolongation of working life might be promoted by workplace health promotion and disability management, and work-related interventions focusing on appreciation and the learning environment.

The influence of chronic health problems on work ability and productivity at work: a longitudinal study among older employees

OBJECTIVES This study aimed to assess the influence of chronic health problems on work ability and productivity at work among older employees using different methodological approaches in the analysis of longitudinal studies. METHODS Data from employees, aged 45-64, of the longitudinal Study on Transitions in Employment, Ability and Motivation was used (N=8411). Using three annual online questionnaires, we assessed the presence of seven chronic health problems, work ability (scale 0-10), and productivity at work (scale 0-10). Three linear regression generalized estimating equations were used. The time-lag model analyzed the relation of health problems with work ability and productivity at work after one year; the autoregressive model adjusted for work ability and productivity in the preceding year; and the third model assessed the relation of incidence and recovery with changes in work ability and productivity at work within the same year. RESULTS Workers with health problems had lower work ability at one-year follow-up than workers without these health problems, varying from a 2.0% reduction with diabetes mellitus to a 9.5% reduction with psychological health problems relative to the overall mean (time-lag). Work ability of persons with health problems decreased slightly more during one-year follow-up than that of persons without these health problems, ranging from 1.4% with circulatory to 5.9% with psychological health problems (autoregressive). Incidence related to larger decreases in work ability, from 0.6% with diabetes mellitus to 19.0% with psychological health problems, than recovery related to changes in work ability, from a 1.8% decrease with circulatory to an 8.5% increase with psychological health problems (incidence-recovery). Only workers with musculoskeletal and psychological health problems had lower productivity at work at one-year follow-up than workers without those health problems (1.2% and 5.6%, respectively, time-lag). CONCLUSIONS All methodological approaches indicated that chronic health problems were associated with decreased work ability and, to a much lesser extent, lower productivity at work. The choice for a particular methodological approach considerably influenced the strength of the associations, with the incidence of health problems resulting in the largest decreases in work ability and productivity at work.