The DASS‐21 is a well‐established instrument for measuring depression, anxiety, and stress with good reliability and validity reported from Hispanic American, British, and Australian adults. However, the lack of appropriate validation among Asian populations continues to pose concerns over the use of DASS‐21 in Asian samples. Cultural variation may influence the individual's experience and emotional expression. Thus, when researchers and practitioners employ Western‐based assessments with Asian populations by directly translating them without an appropriate validation, the process can be challenging. We conducted a series of rigorous statistical tests and minimized any potential confounds from the demographic information. Following factor analyses, we performed multigroup analysis across six nations to demonstrate consistency of our findings. The advantages of this revised DASS‐18 stress scale are twofold. First, it possesses fewer items, which results in a cleaner factorial structure. Second, it has a smaller interfactor correlation. With these justifications, the revised DASS‐18 stress scale is potentially more suitable for Asian populations. Nonetheless, given limitations, findings should be considered preliminary.

Work-related stress is an important issue in any industry, particularly in construction, in which stressful environments are frequently encountered. “What are the primary stressors in the construction workplace?” and “What are the relationships between the strain effect of psychological distress and the countermeasures and coping mechanisms used by construction workers?” are, therefore, critical questions. The first question was addressed by using Q-methodology survey with 18 participants. The results showed that time, personal finance and the nature of tasks are important stressors. For the second question, a questionnaire survey administered to 91 participants on two construction sites of a single contractor was used to collect data about the stressors, psychological strain effects, and coping strategies they used. Mediated regression analysis of the data showed that lack of personal and family time, increases in the cost of living, and fears about job security all act as powerful stressors. Coping strategies including acceptance, self-blame, and disengagement are associated with higher levels of psychological distress. Increased substance use, although associated with lower levels of anxiety, may only be a short-term coping mechanism. An anomaly was found with humor as a coping strategy, in which the relationship was found to be counterintuitive and contrary to the findings of previous research. Future research should examine this more closely. Employers should better inform workers about the negative effects of maladaptive coping strategies and offer opportunities for adopting more positive alternatives.

Despite more than three decades of research, there is a limited understanding of the transactional process of appraisal, stress and coping. This has led to calls for more focused research on the entire process that underlies these variables. To date, there remains a paucity of such research. The present study examined Lazarus and Folkman's (1984) transactional model of stress and coping. One hundred and twenty nine Australian participants with full time employment (i.e., nurses and administration employees) were recruited. There were 49 male (age mean = 34, SD = 10.51) and 80 female (age mean = 36, SD = 10.31) participants. The analysis of three path models indicated that in addition to the original paths, which were found in Lazarus and Folkman's transactional model (primary appraisal→secondary appraisal→stress→coping), there were also direct links between primary appraisal and stress level time one and between stress level time one to stress level time two. This study has provided additional insights into the transactional process that will extend our understanding of how individuals appraise, cope and experience occupational stress.

Engagement with information and communication technology and psychological well-being

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to answer the research question: “Do different pedagogies used in teaching entrepreneurship education influence individual skill development, which then in turn translates into a likelihood of entrepreneurial implementation intention?”Design/methodology/approach: The number of total participants for the quasi-experiment was 308 undergraduate students in Malaysia, in which pre- and post-test (n=203) and control (n=105) groups are included. Students who enroled in the entrepreneurship course were randomly allocated into a class employing teacher-centred pedagogy or student-centred pedagogy. Learning outcomes are measured by objective and subjective measures.Findings: Both pedagogical approaches had a positive effect on the development of the learning outcomes. However, the students who learned using the teacher-centred approach statistically developed a higher level of objective and subjective learning outcomes compared to the students who learned using the student-centred approach. The findings also suggest that the relationship between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intention mediates by learned skills.Originality/value: The quasi-experimental design greatly improves the ability to make accurate claims about the impact of entrepreneurial education on entrepreneurship-related outcomes. Further, the study uses the implementation intention strategy in measuring the entrepreneurial intention. Thus, the study strongly supports for the view that implementation intention improves predictive validity of the behavioural intention within the framework of theory of planned behaviour by setting out in advance when, where, and how the goal will be achieved.