Justin P. Boren

The Relationships between Co-Rumination, Social Support, Stress, and Burnout among Working Adults

Workers regularly report high levels of stress and burnout because of their daily interactions at work. They also tend to seek social support as a mechanism to reduce stress and burnout. Social support buffers the negative effects of stress on health-related outcomes and is inversely associated with burnout and perceived stress. However, recent research has revealed that not all social support is beneficial. Co-rumination, or excessive negative problem talk about an issue, has been linked to increasing levels of stress and burnout. Working adults (N = 447) completed a survey exploring the relationships between social support, co-rumination, stress, and burnout. Two mediation models predicted that co-rumination would suppress the relationships between social support and both burnout and perceived stress. Data supported both partial mediation hypotheses. This study concludes that some social support can be less-than-beneficial, if the content of the supportive transaction focuses on excessive and negative problem talk.

Co-Rumination Partially Mediates the Relationship Between Social Support and Emotional Exhaustion Among Graduate Students

Graduate students regularly report high levels of stress and burnout. Many of those same students utilize social support networks, which can act as stress buffers. This study evaluated excessive negative talk about issues (co-rumination) and its effects on that social support-to-burnout (emotional exhaustion) relationship and predicted that co-rumination would act as a suppressor variable. Graduate student volunteers (N = 213) reported their levels of social support, co-rumination, and emotional exhaustion. Data indicated that co-rumination did mediate the social support-to-emotional exhaustion relationship on 2 dimensions. This project purports that, although social support is important, the content of socially supportive interactions may also be important when attempting to intervene in stressful situations, especially when those interactions involve co-ruminative messages.

Affectionate Communication Can Suppress Immunity: Trait Affection Predicts Antibodies to Latent Epstein-Barr Virus

The communication of affection in close relationships has been linked empirically to multiple physical and mental health benefits that are attributable largely to its stress-alleviating effects. Because affectionate communication frequently involves tactile contact of an intimate nature, however, it may also elevate vulnerability to opportunistic illness and infection, increasing the chances for immune system suppression. Using a sample of 52 healthy adults in cohabiting romantic relationships who were seropositive for latent human herpesvirus-4 (also known as the Epstein-Barr virus), the present study documented that self-reported trait expressed affection predicts antibody titers to Epstein-Barr virus viral capsid antigen complex, indicating viral replication and suppressed cell-mediated immunity.

Examining the Relationships Among Peer Resentment Messages Overheard, State Guilt, and Employees’ Perceived Ability to Use Work/Family Policies

This study sought to determine if frequency of peer resentment messages overheard in organizational settings was associated with employees’ perceived ability to use work/family policies. Job burnout and state guilt were also included as potential predictors. In this sample of workers (N = 474), resentment messages, internalized guilt, and burnout were significantly and negatively associated with the likelihood of using work/family policies, accounting for 22% of the variance. An interaction effect was also discovered for burnout and resentment on perceived ability to use work/family policies. This study highlights the importance of understanding the messages embedded within an organizations culture and those messages’ impacts on individual decisions to make use of leave policies.

Communicatively Restricted Organizational Stress (CROS) I Conceptualization and Overview

In this article, we conceptualized a new organizational variable, Communicatively Restricted Organizational Stress (CROS). CROS is a perceived inability to communicate about a particular stressor and functions to exacerbate negative outcomes related to the appraisal of that stressor. To aid in our conceptualization, we reviewed extant literature on organizational stress and social support. We also collected open-ended data from a national sample of 354 workers. The responses to these questions lead us to specific themes about the nature and function of CROS. Finally, we propose a conceptual conditional process model with two primary propositions: (a) An organizational member who reports high levels of CROS will experience negative outcomes, regardless of reported level of social support and (b) an organizational member who reports high levels of CROS will experience negative outcomes, regardless of the severity of the stressor.

“Kind, Sensitive, and Above All, Honest”: Long-Term Cancer Survivors’ Quality of Life and Self-Advocacy

ABSTRACT Long-term survivors of cancer (LTS) are a growing population whose needs differ significantly from patients undergoing cancer treatment. Many LTS suffer from late effects of cancer treatments or symptoms that persist after treatment concludes or appear following remission. This study explored the relationship between LTS perceptions of quality of life with late effects and perceptions of patient self-advocacy through quantitative and qualitative analyses. A negative statistical relationship emerged between the variables. LTS median self-advocacy scores were quite high, reflecting their preference for health-care providers who listen actively, understand patient needs, are knowledgeable and compassionate, and utilize joint decision making.

Social Inclusion Predicts Lower Blood Glucose and Low-Density Lipoproteins in Healthy Adults

ABSTRACT Loneliness has been shown to have direct effects on one’s personal well-being. Specifically, a greater feeling of loneliness is associated with negative mental health outcomes, negative health behaviors, and an increased likelihood of premature mortality. Using the neuroendocrine hypothesis, we expected social inclusion to predict decreases in both blood glucose levels and low-density lipoproteins (LDLs) and increases in high-density lipoproteins (HDLs). Fifty-two healthy adults provided self-report data for social inclusion and blood samples for hematological tests. Results indicated that higher social inclusion predicted lower levels of blood glucose and LDL, but had no effect on HDL. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Communicatively Restricted Organizational Stress (CROS) II: Development and Validation of the CROS-14

ABSTRACT In this article, we operationalize Communicatively Restricted Organizational Stress (CROS). CROS is a new variable previously conceptualized as a perceived inability to communicate about a particular stressor within an organizational context and operationalized as having two dimensions of prevalence and distress. The present investigation presents data from two studies (total N = 918) aimed at developing and validating a measure of CROS. In Study 1, we generated and tested a series of items intended to tap into the dual dimensions of CROS with currently employed organizational members (n = 373). In Study 2, we collected a second sample (n = 545) and confirmed the factor structure of the measure identified in Study 1. We present evidence of reliability, content validity, and construct validity. The final result is a two-dimensional measure of CROS we call the CROS-14. Our discussion includes information on implementation, scoring, and potential future applications of the CROS-14.

“I Just Can’t Clean the Bathroom as Well as You Can!”: Communicating Domestic Labor Task Equity-Resistance and Equity-Restoring Strategies Among Married Individuals

Women generally perform the majority of domestic labor despite changes in demographics and household income allocations, contributing to relational conflict and prompting the use of communication strategies to reallocate tasks. This study examines the strategies individuals use to reduce personal or increase partner domestic labor performance. Married individuals (N = 228) responded to a questionnaire assessing perception of hours spent on household tasks, global equity, relationship length, and equity-restoring and equity-resistance strategies specific to domestic labor. Data indicate that perception of time spent on household tasks is related to equity-restoring and equity-resistance strategies. Global assessment of relational underbenefitedness or overbenefitedness was not associated with equity-restoring and equity-resisting strategies when characterized as a continuous variable; however, significant results occurred when equity was characterized categorically, highlighting the importance of methodological choices in equity research. Marriage length was negatively associated in a curvilinear function with the use of equity-restoring and equity-resistance strategies.