Research Methods In Occupational Health Psychology

Research Methods in Occupational Health Psychology: Measurement, Design, and Data Analysis provides a state-of-the-art review of current issues and best practices in the science of Occupational Health Psychology. Occupational Health Psychology (OHP) is a multidisciplinary and rapidly growing area of research and it is difficult or impossible for researchers to keep up with developments in all of the fields where scholars conduct OHP science. This book will help OHP scholars improve their own research by translating recent innovations in methodology into sets of concrete recommendations that will help scholars improve their own research as well as their training of future researchers.

This ground-breaking textbook is the first to cover the new and rapidly developing field of occupational health psychology. Provides a thorough introduction to occupational health psychology and an accessible overview of the key themes in research and practice Each chapter relates to an aspect of the core education curriculum delineated by the European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology Written by internationally recognized experts in the field Examines a host of contemporary workplace health issues, including work-related stress; the psychosocial work environment; positive psychology and employee well-being; psychosocial risk management; workspace design; organizational research methods; and corporate culture and health

Occupational health psychology (OHP) involves the application of psychology to improving the quality of work life and to promoting and protecting the safety, health and well-being of employees. Achieving these aims requires researchers and practitioners to possess in-depth knowledge of the processes that are presumed to bring about the desired outcomes. To date, most studies in OHP have relied on cross-sectional designs in examining these processes. In such designs all variables of interest are measured simultaneously. Although this has generated useful insights in how particular phenomena are associated, such designs cannot be trusted when it comes to drawing causal inferences: association is not causation. This book therefore focuses on longitudinal research designs in OHP, whereby the concepts of interest are measured several times, offering much stronger evidence for causal relationships. The authors focus on design issues in longitudinal research (such as the number of measurements chosen, and the length of the time lags between these measurements), and illustrate these issues in the context of applied research on topics such as the work-family interface, conflict at work, and employee well-being. By doing so this volume provides a state-of-the-art overview of current research in OHP, both in terms of its findings and methodologies. This book is based on a special issue of the journal Work & Stress.

Essentials of Occupational Health Psychology provides a thorough overview of Occupational Health Psychology (OHP) with a focus on empowering readers to take appropriate and reasoned action to address a wide variety of worker health, safety, and well-being challenges that are present in working situations all over the world. Although relatively new as an area of specialization, OHP research and intervention efforts are already having major impacts on the way work is done around the world. Each of the twelve chapters in Essentials of Occupational Health Psychology addresses an essential aspect of OHP, with a consistent emphasis on putting what is known about that area into practice. Topics include essential background information regarding the history of OHP and major areas of OHP research and practice, such as work-related stress and recovery, psychological and physical demands and resources, interpersonal mistreatment, work and nonwork role dynamics, and safety. Each chapter features a discussion of why these topics are important to workers and organizations, as well as pertinent evaluation and/or intervention recommendations to help readers better understand what they can do to improve worker health, safety, and well-being, and how to convince others of the value of such efforts. Additional supplements within each chapter include a set of targeted learning objectives to help structure student reading and in-class discussion, focused discussion questions, pertinent media resources to provide current examples of these topics, and professional profiles based on interviews conducted by the authors with fourteen well-known and widely respected OHP researchers and practitioners. Essentials of Occupational Health Psychology is valuable to graduate and advanced undergraduate students as well as working professionals who are interested in learning how to manage work environments that support worker health, safety, and well-being. The chapters in this text could also provide supplemental reading for training and development workshops for professionals in related disciplines who could benefit from a better understanding of the psychology associated with work experiences.

Though psychology as a discipline has grown enormously in popularity in recent years, compulsory courses in research methods and statistics are seldom embarked upon with any great enthusiasm within the undergraduate and postgraduate communities. Many postgraduate and PhD students start theirresearch ill-equipped to design effective experiments and to properly analyse their results. This lack of knowledge also limits their ability to critically assess and evaluate research done by others. This book is a practical guide to carrying out research in health psychology and clinical psychology. It bridges the gap between undergraduate and postgraduate study. As well as describing the various techniques and methods available to students, it provides them with a proper understanding of whata specific technique does - going beyond the introductory descriptions typical of most undergraduate methods books. The book describes both quantitative and qualitativeve approaches to data collection, providing valuable advice on methods ranging from psychometric testing to discourse analysis. Forboth undergraduate and postgraduate students, the book will be essential in making them aware of the full range of techniques available, helping them to design scientifically rigorous experiments, and effectively analyse their results.

Now available in paperback, this book equips researchers and practitioners with background for a critical aprecation ofpublished research as well as bases for action research in practice settings. ``The editors have provided a singularly important contribution to our current and evolving pradigm on the subject of stress and health. Authors are to be congratulated for their important contributions in this strategically important work.''—JOURNAL OF HUMAN STRESS

Occupational health psychology is a relatively young specialty within the science and practice of psychology. This handbook is designed to consolidate and organize the emerging knowledge in the field from the interdisciplinary perspectives of an international group of scholars and researchers. Part I includes 5 chapters designed to provide historical, contemporary, and future-oriented perspectives on this emerging specialty after first discussing prevention and public health in occupational settings. Part II includes 6 chapters that address key causes of health and safety at work as well as key risks to health and safety, focusing on factors both within the specific workplace as well as broader occupational factors and factors from the personal life domain. Regardless of how effectively organizations design prevention and public health programs to protect the health and safety of people at work, some experience symptoms and health disorders. The first 2 chapters in Part III focus on two key symptoms or health disorders, and the remaining 4 chapters address specific primary, secondary, or tertiary interventions for health and safety. The volume concludes with a 3-chapter part addressing issues of epidemiology, program evaluation, and socioeconomic cost-benefit analysis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2004 APA, all rights reserved)

This book brings together the most current thinking and research on educator stress and how education systems can support quality teachers and quality education. It adopts an occupational health perspective to examine the problem of educator stress and presents theory-driven intervention strategies to reduce stress load and support educator resilience and healthy school organizations. The book provides an international perspective on key challenges facing educators such as teacher stress, teacher retention, training effective teachers, teacher accountability, cyber-bullying in schools, and developing healthy school systems. Divided into four parts, the book starts out by introducing and defining the problem of educator stress internationally and examining educator stress in the context of school, education system, and education policy factors. Part I includes chapters on educator mental health and well-being, stress-related biological vulnerabilities, the relation of stress to teaching self-efficacy, turnover in charter schools, and the role of culture in educator stress. Part II reviews the main conceptual models that explain educator stress while applying an occupational health framework to education contexts which stresses the role of organizational factors, including work organization and work practices. It ends with a proposal of a dynamic integrative theory of educator stress, which highlights the changing nature of educator stress with time and context. Part III starts with the definition of what constitute healthy school organizations as a backdrop to the following chapters which review the application of occupational health psychology theories and intervention approaches to reducing educator stress, promoting teacher resources and developing healthy school systems. Chapters include interventions at the individual, individual-organizational interface and organizational levels. Part III ends with a chapter addressing cyber-bullying, a new challenge affecting schools and teachers. Part IV discusses the implications for research, practice and policy in education, including teacher training and development. In addition, it presents a review of methodological issues facing researchers on educator stress and identifies future trends for research on this topic, including the use of ecological momentary assessment in educator stress research. The editors’ concluding comments reflect upon the application of an occupational health perspective to advance research, practice and policy directed at reducing stress in educators, and promoting teacher and school well-being.