Background. Patient-centered measures of the inpatient neurorehabilitation experience are needed to assess services. Objective. The objective of this study was to develop a valid and reliable Neurorehabilitation Experience Questionnaire (NREQ) to assess whether neurorehabilitation inpatients experience service elements important to them. Methods. Based on the themes established in prior qualitative research, adopting questions from established inventories and using a literature review, a draft version of the NREQ was generated. Focus groups and interviews were conducted with 9 patients and 26 staff from neurological rehabilitation units to establish face validity. Then, 70 patients were recruited to complete the NREQ to ascertain reliability (internal and test-retest) and concurrent validity. Results. On the basis of the face validity testing, several modifications were made to the draft version of the NREQ. Subsequently, internal reliability (time 1 α = .76, time 2 α = .80), test retest reliability ( r = 0.70), and concurrent validity ( r = 0.32 and r = 0.56) were established for the revised version. Whereas responses were associated with positive mood ( r = 0.30), they appeared not to be influenced by negative mood, age, education, length of stay, sex, functional independence, or whether a participant had been a patient on a unit previously. Conclusions. Preliminary validation of the NREQ suggests promise for use with its target population.
For most health professionals, stress goes with the job. It is also a factor for many clients and families. This article explains recent thinking on recovery from work-related stress and outlines some everyday strategies to help.
Much is known about the physical effects of work and health, but less is known about how older workers unwind mentally from work, and their post-work ruminative thinking.The present study aimed to explore the association between age, gender and two types of work-related rumination: affective rumination, and problem-solving pondering.This study utilized a sample of 3991 full-time employees (working 30 or more hours per week), who were stratified into five age bands (18-25, 26-35, 36-45, 46-55, and 56-65 yrs.).Affective rumination was found to significantly decline in the older age groups (46 + yrs.), but this finding was moderated by gender. Males reported lower work-related rumination over the entire age range, but the greatest difference between males and females was observed in the 56-65 age category. The results for problem-solving pondering mirrored those of affective rumination but with the only exception that there was no significant difference in gender between those aged 18-25 years.These findings add to our understanding about how workers (between different age groups) mentally switch off from work and highlight the need for interventions to help older workers mentally recover from the effects of work.
Sleep has strong links to the symptomology of fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS), a diffuse musculoskeletal pain disorder. Information about the involvement of the circadian clock is, however, sparse. In this study, 1548 individuals with FMS completed an online survey containing questions on demographics, stimulant consumption, sleep quality, well-being and subjective pain, chronotype (assessed by the Munich ChronoType Questionnaire, MCTQ), and FMS impact. Chronotype (expressed as the mid-sleep-point on free days, corrected for sleep deficit on workdays, MSF sc ) significantly correlated with stress-ratings, so-called “memory failures in everyday life,” fatigue, FMS impact, and depression but not with anxiety. When chronotypes were categorized into 3 groups (early, intermediate, late), significant group differences were found for sum scores of perceived stress, memory failures in everyday life, fatigue, FMS impact, and depression but not anxiety, with late chronotypes being more affected than early chronotypes. Sleepiness ratings were highest in early chronotypes. Challenges of sleep quality and subjective pain were significantly increased in both early and late chronotypes. The results show that according to their reports, late chronotypes are more affected by fibromyalgia.
According to the perseverative cognition hypothesis, prolonged activation for example, via work-related rumination impairs recovery and thereby poses a risk to employee health. The extent to which gender, age, occupation or longitudinal stress exposure may alter work-related rumination is an ongoing debate. Whether group or longitudinal comparisons of work-related rumination are valid, however, has never been tested. In this multistudy report, we therefore investigated measurement invariance of the widely used Work-Related Rumination Questionnaire (WRRQ) across gender, age, occupation, and longitudinal measurements by performing secondary analyses of preexisting data on work-related rumination. We examined the psychometric properties of WRRQ measurements in two languages and expand knowledge about the nomological network of affective rumination, problem-solving pondering and detachment in relation to individual employee characteristics (e.g., personality, work engagement, commitment), job stressors (e.g., work intensity, decision latitude, social relations with colleagues and supervisors) and employee health outcomes (e.g., wellbeing, irritation, somatic symptoms). Multigroup confirmatory factor analyses showed partial scalar invariance of English and German WRRQ measurements and full scalar invariance across gender, age, occupation and over the period of 1 week (Study 1, n = 2,207). Correlation analyses supported criterion, convergent and discriminant validity of WRRQ measurements (Study 2, n = 4,002). These findings represent a prerequisite for comparisons of work-related cognition across groups and further the understanding of the antecedents and outcomes of different types of work-related cognition.
Mindfulness-based psychological interventions (MBIs) are effective in reducing chronic stress, yet little is known about their therapeutic mechanisms. One possibility is that MBIs act by re-training attention monitoring and acceptance skills which have been impaired by chronic stress exposure. However, a paucity of research has investigated whether chronic stress is associated with reduced monitoring and acceptance skills. This cross-sectional study investigated the association between self-reported chronic stress, self-reported acceptance, and behavioural attention monitoring measures. We hypothesised to observe correlations between chronic stress, and (impaired) monitoring and acceptance measures. Moreover, we explored and statistically compared the magnitude of the correlation between chronic stress and four self-reported acceptance measures. Finally, we explored whether the association between chronic stress and monitoring is moderated by acceptance. Adults (n = 85) completed self-reported measures and a behavioural attentional task. Results revealed that chronic stress was associated with reduced acceptance skills but not with attention monitoring. Exploratory analyses revealed no differences in the magnitude of the correlation between chronic stress and each acceptance measure, except for the combined facets of mindfulness acceptance subscales and nonreactivity subscale. Further analyses revealed a significant negative association between chronic stress and the interaction between acceptance and the target detection component of monitoring. Surprisingly, these results show that chronic stress is associated with reduced target detection efficiency, at higher levels of acceptance. Future longitudinal studies may investigate whether MBIs can effectively train attention and reduced acceptance skills in individuals reporting high level of chronic stress and how these improvements may drive stress reduction.
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