MEPMIS

Publications

All - 2011 - 2010

Results 11 to 20 out of 48.

• 07/09/2010 - Social support has both positive and negative effects on the relationship of work stress and alcohol consumption
  Previous studies imply that certain combinations of work stressors, social support (SS), and other conditions could lead to both increased and decreased alcohol consumption. Thus, we evaluated both positive and negative influences of social support on the work stress-alcohol consumption relationship in a general population. The study design was a cross-sectional survey. Of a probability sample of persons 25 years of age or older and living in the United States (n = 3617), subjects who drank and who were without missing values with respect to study variables were analysed (n = 967 or 94). Since previous studies have suggested the necessity of adopting the sensitivity hypothesis (i.e. different stressors require different social supports), hierarchical regression analyses were carried out to test the effects of interactions between two types of social support (e.g. family social support or out-of-family social support) and two types of work stressors (e.g. job psychological demand, job decision latitude) on alcohol consumption. Our analysis verified that (1) social support had both positive and negative effects on the work stress-alcohol relationship. Specifically, (2) interactions between physical activity and decision latitude, and between child support and psychological job demand were related to decreased alcohol consumption. However, (3) interactions between spouse support and decision latitude, and between informal social integration and psychological job demand, were related to increased alcohol consumption. It has been suggested that social support is not of universal benefit in reducing excessive drinking and may sometimes be a reinforcing factor. Since the external validity of these findings might be limited because of the small sample size in some analyses, further study is necessary.
• 07/09/2010 - A systematic review of work-place interventions for alcohol-related problems
  Aims: The aims of this study were to (1) gauge any improvement in methodological quality of work-place interventions addressing alcohol problems; and (2) to determine which interventions most effectively reduce work-place-related alcohol problems. Methods: A literature search was undertaken of the data bases, Ovid Medline, PsychINFO, Web of Science, Scopus, HSELINE, OSHLINE and NIOSHTIC-2 for papers published between January 1995 and September 2007 (inclusive). Search terms varied, depending on the database. Papers were included for analysis if they reported on interventions conducted at work-places with the aim of reducing alcohol problems. Methodological adequacy of the studies was assessed using a method derived from the Cochrane Collaboration guidelines. Results: Ten papers reporting on work-place alcohol interventions were located. Only four studies employed randomized controlled trials (RCT), but all these had methodological problems. Weaknesses in all studies related to representativeness of samples, consent and participation rates, blinding, post-test time-frames, contamination and reliability, and validity of measures used. All except one study reported statistically significant differences in measures such as reduced alcohol consumption, binge drinking and alcohol problems. Conclusions: The literature review revealed few methodologically adequate studies of work-place alcohol interventions. Study designs, types of interventions, measures employed and types of work-places varied considerably, making comparison of results difficult. However, it appears from the evidence that brief interventions, interventions contained within health and life-style checks, psychosocial skills training and peer referral have potential to produce beneficial results.
• 07/09/2010 - Team awareness, problem drinking and drinking climate : workplace social health promotion in a policy context
  Purpose. (1) To determine the effectiveness of classroom health promotion/prevention training designed to improve work climate and alcohol outcomes; (2) to assess whether such training contributes to improvements in problem drinking beyond standard workplace alcohol policies. Design. A cross-sectional survey assessed employee problem drinking across three time periods. This was followed by a prevention intervention study; work groups were randomly assigned to an 8-hour training course in workplace sical health promotion (Team Awareness), a 4-hour informational training course, or a control group. surveys were administered 2 to 4 weeks before and after training and 6 months after posttest. Setting and subjects. Employees were surveyed from work departments in a large municipality of 3000 workers at three points in time(year, sample and response rate are shown): (1) 1992, n=1081, 95%; 1995, n=856, 97%; and (3) 1999, n=587, 73%. Employees in the 1999 survey were recruited from safety sensitive departments and were randomly assigned to receive the psychosocial (n=201), informational (n=192), or control (n=194) condition. Intervention. The psychosocial program (Team Awareness) provided skills training in team referral, team building and stress management. Informational training used a didactic review of policy, employee assistance and drug testing. Measures. Self-reports measured alcohol use (frequency, drunkenness, hangovers, and problems) and work drinking climate (enabling, responsiveness, drinking norms, stigma, and drink with co-workers). Results. Employees receiving Team Awareness reduced problem drinking from 20% to 11% and working with or missing work because of a hangover from 16% to 6%. Information-trained workers also reduced problem drinking from 18% to 10%. These rates of change contrast with changes in problem drinking seen from 1992 (24%) to 1999 (17%). Team Awareness improvements differed significantly from control subjects, which showed no change at 13%. Employees receiving Team Awareness also showed significant improvements in drinking climate. For example, scores on the measure of coworker anabling decreased from pretest (mean=2.19) to posttest (mean=2.05) and follow up (mean=1.94). Posttest measures of drinking climate also predicted alcohol outcomes at 6 months. Conclusion. Employers should consider the use od prevention programming as an enhancement to standard drug-free workplace efforts. Team Awareness training targets work group social health, aligns with employee assistance efforts, and contributes to reductions in problem drinking.
• 07/09/2010 - Guidance on alcohol and drug misuse in the workplace
  This guidance is intended to give pragmatic support to occupational physicians in addressing problems of alcohol and drug misuse in the workplace. It sets out the actions to be taken, in the face of difficult situations, and aims to help the occupational physician to ensure a fair and consistent approach. Whilst aimed primarily at occupational physicians, this guidance will also be of assistance to other healthcare professionals, managers, employees, human resources staff and trade union representatives. It explains why and how a workplace policy should be implemented, whether to test for alcohol and drugs and how this should be carried out, fitness for work and rehabilitation. In the course of this, the guidance refers to the ethical and legal aspects of dealing with alcohol and drug problems at work, and clarifies roles and procedures.
• 07/09/2010 - Work environment, alcohol consumption and ill-health: the Whitehall II study
  The influences of the psychosocial work environment on incident coronary heart disease and diabetes and the influences of change in work risk factors on health are reported from the longitudinal Whitehall II cohort study of 10308 British Civil Servants. The contribution of alcohol consumption and alcohol dependence to absence from work attributable to accidents is also investigated. High job demands, low decision latitude and effort reward imbalance were related to increased incidence of coronary heart disease. Work characteristics were not associated with the incidence of diabetes, with the exception of effort reward imbalance which was related to increased incidence of diabetes in men. These effects were not explained by conventional risk factors such as smoking and blood pressure. Adverse changes in levels of work characteristics, particularly social support at work, predicted worsening mental health functioning in men and women. The effects of change in work characteristics on physical health and coronary heart disease were modest, although there was some evidence to support a longer term influence on physical functioning and longstanding illness. Alcohol consumption was related to risk of sickness absence due to injury with increased risk seen at moderate levels of alcohol consumption. "Binge" drinking and alcohol dependence were also related to absence due to injury. A PDF version of the report is available from www.hse.gov.uk/science/
• 07/09/2010 - Alcohol and drug problems at work: the shift to prevention: prepared in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention
  This is a practical manual to setting up and managing substance abuse prevention programmes, complementing the International Labour Office code of practice Management of alcohol and drug related issues in the workplace published in 1995. This manual examines the advantages of establishing workplace substance abuse initiatives and shows how enterprises of all sizes can set up and implement their own programmes to deal with this growing problem.
• 07/09/2010 - Drug testing in the workplace: the report of the Independent Inquiry into Drug Testing at Work
  This report examines the context for today's debate about workplace testing; the scientific, legal, ethical, social, economic and cultural dimensions; and the growth and development of testing in the UK.
• 07/09/2010 - Workplace social capital and co-occurrence of lifestyle risk factors: the Finnish Public Sector Study.
  OBJECTIVE: The aim of this prospective study was to examine the link between individual and ecological workplace social capital and the co-occurrence of adverse lifestyle risk factors such as smoking, heavy drinking, physical inactivity and overweight. METHODS: Data on 25 897 female and 5476 male public sector employees were analysed. Questionnaire surveys conducted in 2000-2002 (baseline) and 2004-2005 (follow-up) were used to assess workplace social capital, lifestyle risk factors and other characteristics. Multilevel multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to examine associations between individual and ecological social capital and the co-occurrence of lifestyle risk factors. RESULTS: In the cross-sectional analysis adjusted for age, sex, marital status and employer, low social capital at work at both the individual and ecological level was associated with at least a 1.3 times higher odds of having more than two lifestyle risk factors versus having no risk factors. Similar associations were found in the prospective setting. However, additional adjustment for the co-occurrence of risk factors and socioeconomic status at baseline attenuated the result to non-significant. CONCLUSION: Social capital at work seems to be associated with a lowered risk of co-occurrence of multiple lifestyle risk factors but does not clearly predict the future risk of this co-occurrence.
• 07/09/2010 - Low organisational justice and heavy drinking: a prospective cohort study
  To investigate whether low perceived organisational injustice predicts heavy drinking among employees. METHODS: Data from a prospective occupational cohort study, the 10-Town Study, on 15 290 Finnish public sector local government employees nested in 2432 work units, were used. Non-drinkers were excluded. Procedural, interactional and total organisational justice, heavy drinking (>/=210 g of absolute alcohol per week) and other psychosocial factors were determined by means of questionnaire in 2000-2001 (phase 1) and 2004 (phase 2). Multilevel logistic regression analyses taking into account the hierarchical structure of the data were conducted and adjustments were made for sex, age, socio-economic status, marital status, baseline heavy drinking, psychological distress and other psychosocial risk factors such as job strain and effort/reward imbalance. RESULTS: After adjustments, participants who reported low procedural justice at phase 1 were approximately 1.2 times more likely to be heavy drinkers at phase 2 compared with their counterparts reporting high justice. Low perceived justice in interpersonal treatment and low perceived total organisational justice were associated with increased prevalence of heavy drinking only in the model adjusted for sociodemographics. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first longitudinal study to show that low procedural justice is weakly associated with an increased likelihood of heavy drinking. Publication Type
• 07/09/2010 - The association between psychosocial characteristics at work and problem drinking: a cross-sectional study of men in three Eastern European urban populations
  BACKGROUND: Psychosocial factors at work are thought to influence health partly through health behaviours. AIMS: To examine the association between effort-reward imbalance and job control and several alcohol related measures in three eastern European populations. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Novosibirsk (Russia), Krakow (Poland), and Karvina (Czech Republic). The participants completed a questionnaire that included effort-reward at work, job control, and a number of sociodemographic variables. Annual alcohol intake, annual number of drinking sessions, the mean dose of alcohol per drinking session, and binge drinking (> or =80 g of ethanol in one session at least once a week) were based on graduated frequencies in the questionnaire. Data were also available on problem drinking (> or =2 positive answers on CAGE questionnaire) and negative social consequences of drinking. All male participants in full employment (n = 694) were included in the present anal! yses. RESULTS: After controlling for age and centre, all indices of alcohol consumption and problem drinking were associated with the effort-reward ratio. Adjustment for material deprivation did not change the results but adjustment for depressive symptoms reduced the estimated effects. Job control was not associated with any of the alcohol related outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: The imbalance of effort-reward at work is associated with increased alcohol intake and problem drinking. The association appears to be partly mediated by depressive symptoms, which might be either an antecedent or a consequence of men's drinking behaviour.