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Purpose Job stressor exposure is associated with mental health in police officers. Police stress research rarely draws a distinction between urban and rural policing, raising the possibility that stressors specific to the rural context remain unidentified and their implications unknown. This may hinder actions to protect the mental health of those involved in policing rural communities. Design/methodology/approach Among rural policing teams in an English county police force this study used an exploratory sequential mixed method design to (1) identify and quantify exposure to rural policing stressors and (2) examine links between job stressor exposure and psychological distress. Findings Interviews (N = 34) identified three rural policing job stressor themes: (1) job demands, (2) isolation and (3) critical decisions. Survey data (N = 229) indicated significant differences in exposure by rank to demand and critical decision stressors, with police community support officers (PCSOs) reporting lower exposure than officers of constable and sergeant rank. Overall, 44% of respondents reported symptoms of psychological distress indicative of likely minor psychiatric disorder; higher levels of psychological distress were associated with higher stressor exposure across all three job stressor themes for PCSOs and constables and within the job demand theme for sergeants. Originality/value Findings point towards practical actions focussed on resource provision for officers and a research strategy to ameliorate the impact of stressors in English rural policing.
Jonathan Houdmont; Liza Jachens; Raymond Randall; Jim Colwell. English rural policing: job stress and psychological distress. Policing: An International Journal 2020, 44, 49 -62.
AMA StyleJonathan Houdmont, Liza Jachens, Raymond Randall, Jim Colwell. English rural policing: job stress and psychological distress. Policing: An International Journal. 2020; 44 (1):49-62.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJonathan Houdmont; Liza Jachens; Raymond Randall; Jim Colwell. 2020. "English rural policing: job stress and psychological distress." Policing: An International Journal 44, no. 1: 49-62.
Set in challenging and complex environments, there has been growing concern about the mental health consequences of aid work. Along with existing difficulties in reducing well-known occupational risks such as exposure to trauma, there is a lack of awareness of psychosocial risks in the humanitarian sector. This paper is a discussion, drawing on occupational health perspectives, on ways to reflect on mental health policies, research and interventions in this sector.
Liza Jachens. Humanitarian aid workers’ mental health and duty of care. Europe’s Journal of Psychology 2019, 15, 650 -655.
AMA StyleLiza Jachens. Humanitarian aid workers’ mental health and duty of care. Europe’s Journal of Psychology. 2019; 15 (4):650-655.
Chicago/Turabian StyleLiza Jachens. 2019. "Humanitarian aid workers’ mental health and duty of care." Europe’s Journal of Psychology 15, no. 4: 650-655.
Background The UK Health and Safety Executive’s Stress Management Competency Framework and associated questionnaire, the Stress Management Competency Indicator Tool (SMCIT), address line managers’ behaviours across four competency areas. The application in policing remains unexplored. Aims This study profiled English police officers’ perception of their line managers’ competencies in the framework areas. The odds of experiencing poor mental wellbeing and work attitudes associated with having a line manager with a development need on each competency area were tested. Methods Two hundred and sixty-three police officers completed a survey comprising the SMCIT and measures of psychological distress, resilience and work engagement. Bivariate correlations were calculated to identify patterns of relationships between variables. Binary logistic regression analyses tested the odds of psychological distress caseness, low resilience and low work engagement being associated with officers’ perception of their line manager having a development need on the SMCIT criteria. Results Approximately half the participants reported their line manager had a development need on the ‘Managing and Communicating Existing and Future Work’, ‘Managing the Individual Within the Team’ and ‘Reasoning and Managing Difficult Situations’ competencies, and one quarter on the ‘Respectful and Responsible: Managing Emotions and Having Integrity’ competency. Officers’ rating of their line manager having a development need on the four competency areas was associated with up to four-fold elevated odds of each undesirable state. Conclusions The framework competency areas are relevant to English policing and offer a basis for stress reduction interventions targeted at line managers’ behaviours.
J Houdmont; L Jachens; R Randall; J Colwell; S Gardner. Stress Management Competency Framework in English policing. Occupational Medicine 2019, 70, 31 -37.
AMA StyleJ Houdmont, L Jachens, R Randall, J Colwell, S Gardner. Stress Management Competency Framework in English policing. Occupational Medicine. 2019; 70 (1):31-37.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJ Houdmont; L Jachens; R Randall; J Colwell; S Gardner. 2019. "Stress Management Competency Framework in English policing." Occupational Medicine 70, no. 1: 31-37.
The Job Demand-Control-Support (JDC-S) and Effort-Reward Imbalance (ERI) models dominate psychosocial work environment research and practice, with their independent and collective contributions to employee health having been extensively demonstrated. Psychosocial risk assessment in the humanitarian aid sector is in its infancy, and there is a need to identify appropriate psychosocial work environment models to inform approaches to assessment. The aim of this study is to examine the efficacy of these models separately and in combination to identify psychological distress in humanitarian aid workers. Cross-sectional survey data were obtained from 283 humanitarian aid workers. Logistic regression analyses investigated the separate and combined ability of the models to identify psychological distress. More than half of the participant sample reported psychological distress, and one third reported high ERI and high job strain. When tested separately, each model was associated with a significantly elevated likelihood of psychological distress. When tested in combination, the two models offered a superior estimation of the likelihood of psychological distress than achieved by one model in isolation. Psychosocial risk assessment in the humanitarian aid sector encompassing the characteristics of both these leading psychosocial work environment models captures the breadth of relevant generic psychosocial work characteristics. These initial findings require corroboration through longitudinal research involving sector-representative samples.
Liza Jachens; Jonathan Houdmont. Effort-Reward Imbalance and Job Strain: A Composite Indicator Approach. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2019, 16, 4169 .
AMA StyleLiza Jachens, Jonathan Houdmont. Effort-Reward Imbalance and Job Strain: A Composite Indicator Approach. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2019; 16 (21):4169.
Chicago/Turabian StyleLiza Jachens; Jonathan Houdmont. 2019. "Effort-Reward Imbalance and Job Strain: A Composite Indicator Approach." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 16, no. 21: 4169.
Single-item measures of global job stressfulness are increasingly used in occupational health research, yet their construct validity remains unexplored. This study used a qualitative approach to identify frames of reference that underlie self-ratings on such a measure. Data were collected from a convenience sample of 55 adults in full-time employment who completed a single-item measure inviting a rating of the extent to which their job is generally stressful. A cognitive interview schedule was used to explore the factors taken into account when providing a global rating, with thematic analysis applied to identify themes in the interview transcripts. The most common frames of reference were the presence of problematic psychosocial working conditions, particularly job demands. Health characteristics, predominantly poor psychological wellbeing, emerged as a further less dominant secondary theme. Almost half the sample cited four or more referents. In terms of the timeframe under consideration, most participants referred to a long timeframe such as their work in general, with some specifying their current job and, a few, recent weeks. These findings shed light on the frames of reference used to inform judgements on global job stressfulness elicited by a single-item measure and in doing so contribute to the evidence base to support the application of such measures in occupational health research and organisational psychosocial risk management activities.
Jonathan Houdmont; Liza Jachens; Raymond Randall; Sadie Hopson; Sean Nuttall; Stamatia Pamia. What Does a Single-Item Measure of Job Stressfulness Assess? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2019, 16, 1480 .
AMA StyleJonathan Houdmont, Liza Jachens, Raymond Randall, Sadie Hopson, Sean Nuttall, Stamatia Pamia. What Does a Single-Item Measure of Job Stressfulness Assess? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2019; 16 (9):1480.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJonathan Houdmont; Liza Jachens; Raymond Randall; Sadie Hopson; Sean Nuttall; Stamatia Pamia. 2019. "What Does a Single-Item Measure of Job Stressfulness Assess?" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 16, no. 9: 1480.
This study sought to examine stress‐related working conditions—defined in terms of effort–reward imbalance (ERI)—and their association with burnout among a large, international sample of humanitarian aid workers. Descriptive statistics were applied to cross‐sectional survey data (N=1,980) to profile ERI and burnout and Pearson's χ2 tests were used to characterise associated socio‐ and occupational‐demographic factors. Associations between ERI and burnout were established using binary logistic regression to generate odds ratios and 95 per cent confidence intervals adjusted for potential confounding variables. For high emotional exhaustion, the prevalence rate was 36 per cent for women and 27 per cent for men, whereas the proportions for high depersonalisation and low personal achievement were 9 and 10 per cent and 47 and 31 per cent, respectively. Intermediate and high ERI was associated with significantly increased odds of high emotional exhaustion; the findings were mixed for depersonalisation and personal achievement.
Liza Jachens; Jonathan Houdmont; Roslyn Thomas. Effort–reward imbalance and burnout among humanitarian aid workers. Disasters 2018, 43, 67 -87.
AMA StyleLiza Jachens, Jonathan Houdmont, Roslyn Thomas. Effort–reward imbalance and burnout among humanitarian aid workers. Disasters. 2018; 43 (1):67-87.
Chicago/Turabian StyleLiza Jachens; Jonathan Houdmont; Roslyn Thomas. 2018. "Effort–reward imbalance and burnout among humanitarian aid workers." Disasters 43, no. 1: 67-87.
There is a paucity of research on the subjective stress-related experiences of humanitarian aid workers. Most evaluations of stress among these individuals focus on trauma and related conditions or adopt a quantitative approach. This interview-based study explored how 58 humanitarian aid workers employed by a United Nations-aligned organisation perceived the transactional stress process. The thematic analysis revealed eight main topics of interest: an emergency culture was found where most employees felt compelled to offer an immediate response to humanitarian needs; employees identified strongly with humanitarian goals and reported a high level of engagement; the rewards of humanitarian work were perceived as motivating and meaningful; constant change and urgent demands resulted in work overload; and managing work–life boundaries and receiving positive support from colleagues and managers helped to buffer perceived stress, work overload, and negative health outcomes. The practical implications of the results are discussed and suggestions made in the light of current research and stress theory.
Liza Jachens; Jonathan Houdmont; Roslyn Thomas. Work-related stress in a humanitarian context: a qualitative investigation. Disasters 2018, 42, 619 -634.
AMA StyleLiza Jachens, Jonathan Houdmont, Roslyn Thomas. Work-related stress in a humanitarian context: a qualitative investigation. Disasters. 2018; 42 (4):619-634.
Chicago/Turabian StyleLiza Jachens; Jonathan Houdmont; Roslyn Thomas. 2018. "Work-related stress in a humanitarian context: a qualitative investigation." Disasters 42, no. 4: 619-634.
The purpose of the study was to explore the prevalence of heavy alcohol consumption and its association with stress-related working conditions—defined in terms of effort–reward imbalance (ERI)—among a large sample of humanitarian aid workers operating across four continents. Research has shown employee alcohol consumption has potential detrimental implications for health and work outcomes and is associated with exposure to work stressors. Research to identify links between stressful aspects of work and heavy alcohol consumption among humanitarian aid workers could usefully inform the design of sector-specific interventions concerned with the reduction of alcohol consumption. Questionnaire data were obtained from 1,063 women and 917 men working in an international humanitarian agency. Logistic regression analyses were conducted separately for men and women (with different cutoff points to identify heavy drinking) to investigate the relationship between ERI and the risk of heavy alcohol consumption while controlling for a host of sociodemographic and occupational variables. The prevalence of heavy alcohol consumption among women (18%) was higher than the corresponding rate for men (10%). Results lent support for the effort–reward perspective among women only: intermediate and high ERI in women was associated with a tripling of risk for heavy alcohol consumption. Interventions to reduce ERI among female humanitarian aid workers might help to reduce heavy drinking within this population.
Liza Jachens; Jonathan Houdmont; Roslyn Thomas. Effort–Reward Imbalance and Heavy Alcohol Consumption Among Humanitarian Aid Workers. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs 2016, 77, 904 -913.
AMA StyleLiza Jachens, Jonathan Houdmont, Roslyn Thomas. Effort–Reward Imbalance and Heavy Alcohol Consumption Among Humanitarian Aid Workers. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. 2016; 77 (6):904-913.
Chicago/Turabian StyleLiza Jachens; Jonathan Houdmont; Roslyn Thomas. 2016. "Effort–Reward Imbalance and Heavy Alcohol Consumption Among Humanitarian Aid Workers." Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs 77, no. 6: 904-913.
Infants' transfer of information from pictures to objects was tested by familiarizing 9-month-olds (N = 31) with either a color or black-and-white photograph of an object and observing their preferential reaching for the real target object versus a distractor. One condition tested object recognition by keeping both objects visible, and the other tested object representation by hiding both objects. On visible trials, infants reached more for the distractor, indicating they recognized the target object from its picture. On hidden trials, infants reached more for the target object, suggesting they formed a continued representation of the object based on its picture. Photograph color had no effect. Infants thus show picture-to-object transfer by 9 months with preferential reaching, even with black-and-white pictures.
Jeanne L. Shinskey; Liza J. Jachens. Picturing Objects in Infancy. Child Development 2014, 85, 1813 -1820.
AMA StyleJeanne L. Shinskey, Liza J. Jachens. Picturing Objects in Infancy. Child Development. 2014; 85 (5):1813-1820.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJeanne L. Shinskey; Liza J. Jachens. 2014. "Picturing Objects in Infancy." Child Development 85, no. 5: 1813-1820.