Purpose: This study is based on the JD‐R model and aims at understanding the role of work engagement (WE) as a mediator between job resources (i.e. perceived organizational support) and positive extra‐role behaviors (i.e. organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB)), between job demands (i.e. interpersonal conflicts at work) and negative extra‐role behaviors (i.e. counterproductive work behaviors (CWB)), and also between a personal resource (i.e. conscientiousness) and both types of extra‐role behaviors.Design/methodology/approach: Data from three Romanian organizations (n=258) were collected in a cross‐sectional study. Two main models (fully mediated and partially mediated) tested the role of WE as a mediator, using structural equation modelling.Findings: The results support the partially mediated model. All anticipated antecedents have a direct, and also an indirect relation with extra‐role behaviors – via WE. In addition, the mediating effect was stronger for OCB than for CWB. Overall, the results show that job and personal characteristics differentially predict OCB and CWB, and that employees' affective‐motivational state explains, in part, these job and personal characteristics – extra‐role behaviors associations.Originality/value: The paper advances the knowledge about the JD‐R model and its relevance for OCB and CWB. In addition, understanding work engagement's potential to stimulate OCB and inhibit CWB can aid professionals to advance beneficial behavioral outcomes in organizations by promoting wellbeing at work, thereby supporting the employees' healthy career development.

The present study is part of the first national oral health survey for children in Romania. The aim of this study was to determine caries prevalence in correlation with the level of the parents’ education, preventive behavior, and socioeconomic parameters in 11–14-year-old schoolchildren in Romania. A cross-sectional epidemiological survey was designed and conducted in 2019–2020. The sampled children were selected from 49 schools distributed in rural and urban areas of Romania, including its capital. Data were collected using the Oral Health Questionnaire for Children developed by the World Health Organization and described in the WHO Oral Health Surveys—Basic Methods, 5th edition, 2013, after positive informed consent. To express prevalence and severity of carious lesions, International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS) criteria were recorded in school for 814 schoolchildren (388 boys and 426 girls) aged between 11 and 14 years old (mean age 12.29 ± 0.6). Elements regarding the specificity of the child (gender, age, and parental education) were tabulated against preventive behavior. The parents’ education was correlated with three clinical indices in order to assess the existence or lack of certain significant differences among schoolchildren in Romania. In terms of correlation between the mother’s education and preventive behavior, results showed a significant positive correlation in case of dental check-ups (r_s = 0.08 *, p < 0.05), brushing (r_s = 0.02 **, p < 0.01), and use of different types of dental hygiene aids (r_s = 0.06 **, p < 0.01) and a negative correlation with tooth pain or discomfort (r_s = −0.01 **, p < 0.01). A statistically significant positive relationship was highlighted between the mother’s education and the presence of restorations (r_s = −0.09 **, p < 0.01). Regarding the father’s education, there was a positive relationship with oral hygiene behavior (r_s = 0.18 **, p < 0.01) but a negative relationship with the D₃T index (r_s = −0.18 **, p < 0.01). In conclusion, there was a strong correlation between the parents’ education, preventive behavior, and oral health status of Romanian schoolchildren.