Stress and Health

Jimenez, William P.; Zeytonli, Asiye; Nabulsi, Yasmine; Hu, Xiaoxiao

doi: 10.1002/smi.3472pmid: 39243275

The global COVID‐19 pandemic saw marked research and clinical interest in evaluating pandemic‐related distress, namely fear and anxiety regarding infection and death. The most widely used and earliest developed measure of COVID‐19 distress is Ahorsu et al. (2022) seven‐item Fear of COVID‐19 Scale (FCV‐19S). To investigate the factor structure and measurement equivalence of the FCV‐19S, we conducted an item‐level meta‐analysis synthesizing 1155 effect sizes across k = 55 independent samples comprising N = 71,161 individuals. We found that a two‐factor measurement model comprising a four‐item Emotional factor and a three‐item Psychosomatic factor exhibits better fit than the originally proposed single‐factor measurement model. Moreover, the bidimensional FCV‐19S exhibits partial scalar/strong invariance across the general population, healthcare workers, schoolteachers, and university students as well as partial metric/weak invariance across samples from Bangladesh, China, Japan, Pakistan, Poland, and Portugal. Despite the theoretical and practical implications of these findings, more primary research across a wider range of sample types and countries is undoubtedly needed for further evaluation of the FCV‐19S's psychometric properties and generalizability.

Klaiber, Patrick; Roekel, Eeske; DeLongis, Anita; Sin, Nancy L.

doi: 10.1002/smi.3423pmid: 38773897

The emergence of the novel COVID‐19 disease and the social distancing measures implemented to curb its spread affected most aspects of daily life. Past work suggests that during times of more severe stress, people respond to daily stressors with relatively higher negative affect. However, little is known about how people responded to daily stressors and positive events at different moments in time during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Thus, we examined longitudinal changes in daily event‐related affect (covariation of daily stressors or positive events with same‐day affect) from Spring 2020 (wave 1) to 2022 (wave 2). The sample consisted of 324 adults aged 18–80 (mean = 52 years; 89% women) from the US and Canada who completed weeklong daily diaries at both waves. The results revealed improvements in affective well‐being, stressor‐related affect (i.e., smaller fluctuations in affect on stressor days vs. nonstressor days), and positive event‐related affect (i.e., lower negative affect on days with vs. without positive events). Furthermore, as people gradually resumed their social activities from 2020 to 2022, people reported being exposed to an increased frequency of both stressors and positive events. This study highlights the potential influence of socio‐historical phenomena, such as an ongoing pandemic, on the events that people encounter and how they emotionally respond to them.

Liu, Mengjun; Sun, Yicong; Liu, Tour; Qi, Liya

doi: 10.1002/smi.3449pmid: 39096247

Cyberloafing, the use of the Internet for non‐work‐related activities while at work, has become a growing problem in the workplace. Since cyberloafing is commonly regarded as counterproductive, anticipating and controlling employees' cyberloafing behaviour is becoming increasingly important. Previous research suggests that individuals who engage in cyberloafing may have difficulties regulating their attention to important tasks. Based on self‐regulation theory, our study examines the influence of job reattachment on cyberloafing through the mediating role of mindfulness and the moderating role of goal commitment. Data for this study were collected in China through surveys conducted with 275 employees at three different time points. The results showed that: (1) job reattachment was significantly negatively associated with cyberloafing; (2) mindfulness mediated this relationship between job reattachment and cyberloafing; and (3) goal commitment moderated the direct effect of job reattachment on mindfulness as well as the indirect effect of job reattachment on cyberloafing through mindfulness. Overall, our research findings emphasize the importance of the impact of job reattachment on cyberloafing through mindfulness. Theoretical and practical implications of this study are discussed.

doi: 10.1002/smi.3269pmid: N/A

No abstract is available for this article.

Clarke, James J.; Rees, Clare S.; Mancini, Vincent O.; Breen, Lauren J.

doi: 10.1002/smi.3448pmid: 39032114

Emotional labour is the process by which people regulate emotions congruently with occupational requirements. Research consistently links emotional labour to greater levels of burnout. However, we argue this literature is potentially confounded by measurement error. We sought to validate an English adaptation of a recent emotional labour measure that addresses measurement error concerns in an under‐researched sample at risk of burnout—psychologists providing psychotherapy. We termed this measure the Perth Emotional Labour Scale (PELS) which is based upon Andela and colleagues' (2015) original measure. Additionally, we explored what factors of emotional labour contributed most to burnout in this group. We recruited 418 psychologists (81.58% female, 17.46% male, 0.96% non‐binary) across Australia (N = 362, 86.60%) and New Zealand (N = 56, 13.40%). Factor analyses and correlational analyses examined the PELS’ reliability and validity. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis explored whether each component of emotional labour contributed unique variance to emotional exhaustion (EE). Preliminary support for the PELS’ psychometric properties was found and emotional dissonance was found to be the only emotional labour factor that uniquely contributed to EE. We demonstrate preliminary psychometric support for the PELS but recommend further development and argue our findings have unique implications for research and practice.

Lopez‐Romeo, Sheila; Subira‐Alvarez, Susana; Miranda‐Mendizabal, Andrea; Piqueras‐Marques, Jorge; Leal‐Pujol, Raquel; Recoder, Silvia; Calbo, Esther; Casajuana‐Closas, Marc; Forero, Carlos G.; Castellvi, Pere

doi: 10.1002/smi.3446

Bertrams, Alex; Zäch, Myriam; Minkley, Nina

doi: 10.1002/smi.3465pmid: 39141658

Human hair cortisol concentration (HCC) has previously been found to be highly stable for a 1‐year interval (r = 0.73) in terms of a product–moment correlation. The present study aimed to replicate this finding and compare HCC stability regarding 1‐year and 2‐year test–retest intervals. Female university students (N = 39) provided hair strands twice (t1 and t2) at intervals of 1 (n = 21) or 2 years (n = 18). Multiple regression analysis predicting HCC at t2 revealed a significant interaction term (HCC at t1 × time interval condition). It was determined that HCCs were substantially related for the 1‐year interval but unrelated for the 2‐year interval. The findings were not attributable to potential influences, such as hair treatment. The product–moment correlation showed nearly identical consistency with previous research regarding the 1‐year test–retest interval. There was no significant product–moment correlation for the 2‐year interval. Overall, these findings indicate that within a temporal framework of 1 year, HCCs may be stable predictors in correlational studies where the focus is on the rank orders of measured values.

Şanlı, Mehmet Emin; Yıldız, Ahmet; Ekingen, Erhan; Yıldırım, Murat

doi: 10.1002/smi.3425pmid: 38779880

This study compared the stress, anxiety and depression levels in employees working in the health, education and security sectors. The study also investigated the effect of psychological resilience on stress, anxiety, and depression levels and whether the stress, anxiety, depression and psychological resilience levels of employees differ according to occupational and demographic variables. In this cross‐sectional study, 1222 employees participated, comprising 50.8% from the health sector, 37.7% from education, and 11.5% from security. Data were collected using the Stress, Anxiety, and Depression Scale‐21 and the Brief Resilience Scale. The study revealed varying rates of severe stress (49.1%), anxiety (74.0%), and depression (53.2%) among participants. Health employees experienced higher stress (52.1%), anxiety (77.0%), and depression (58%) rates compared to those in education (46.4%, 72.4%, and 48.4%) and security sectors (44.3%, 66.4%, and 48.5%). Health employees exhibited higher stress, anxiety, and depression levels, signifying a significant difference. Furthermore, the research identified psychological resilience as a crucial predictor of stress, anxiety, and depression. Additionally, these mental health issues were more prevalent among younger individuals with less work experience, females, private sector employees, singles, and those without children. The findings of the study showed that the level of stress, anxiety and depression was high in employees working in all three sectors (health, education and security), but mental problems were more common in health employees. The fact that psychological resilience is a significant predictor of stress, anxiety and depression levels indicates that this factor should be taken into account.

Sousa, Helena; Ribeiro, Oscar; Figueiredo, Daniela

doi: 10.1002/smi.3460pmid: 39134404

Research has evidenced that purpose in life helps to minimise the strains of providing informal care to a significant other, but little is known about whether this psychological resource influences the paths from stressors to the health outcomes of family caregiving and through which mechanisms it can exert this protective effect. This study aimed to explore the moderating role of purpose in life on the (mediated through adaptive coping) relationship between caregiver burden and psychological distress in haemodialysis caregivers. A cross‐sectional study was conducted with a convenience sample of family caregivers (n = 173; M = 55.9, SD = 15.6 years old) of adults undergoing haemodialysis. A moderated‐mediation model was computed to explore the interaction effects of purpose in life on the path between burden and distress, having adaptive coping behaviours as parallel mediators. Results showed that purpose in life had a buffering effect on the mediated (through acceptance coping) relationship between burden and distress (index of partial moderated‐mediation: bsimple = −0.029, 95% bootstrap confidence interval (CI) [‐0.070, −0.002]), and that this conditional effect was lowest at high levels of the moderator (at +1SD: bsimple = 0.038, SE = 0.026, 95% bootstrap CI [0.001, 0.098]). Use of emotional support (F(1,159) = 4.395, p = 0.038) and positive reframing (F(1,159) = 5.648, p = 0.019) also mediated this path. This study expands knowledge about the modifiable internal resources through which purpose in life can help promote psychosocial adjustment to the haemodialysis caregiving process. Mental health promotion initiatives aimed at this population need to consider combining different intervention approaches to foster purpose in life and train adaptive (and flexible) coping skills.

Cook, Ryan M.; Wind, Stefanie A.; Fye, Heather J.

doi: 10.1002/smi.3468pmid: 39233352

We examined the longitudinal psychometric properties of the Perceived Stress Scale – 4 items version (PSS‐4) using item response theory with a sample of 361 mental health counsellors. Participants completed the PSS‐4 at three timepoints at six‐month intervals in a one‐year period. There were 290 participants who (80.3%) identified as female, 51 (14.1%) identified as male, eight (2.2%) identified as gender variant/non‐conforming, seven (1.9%) wrote in their own gender identity (e.g., genderqueer, gender expansive), three (0.8%) identified as Transgender male, and two (0.6%) did not respond to the item. The racial and ethnic backgrounds were as follows: White (87.3%), Multiracial (5.5%), Latino or Hispanic or Spanish (2.8%), Black or African American (1.4%), Asian (0.8%), Middle Eastern (0.8%), and five did not respond to the item (1.4%). We found unidimensionality evidence of the PSS‐4 across all three timepoints and response categories were monotonically ordered. We also found that across all timepoints, the average person location was lower than the average item location, suggesting that the PSS‐4 may not be well‐targeted for this sample of mental health counsellors. We observed no significant interactions between timepoints, hours worked per week, and length of employment. Implications of the findings, including a discussion of the utility of the PSS‐4 as a global measure of stress and with mental health counsellors.