Karen Albertsen

• Team Working Llife, Denmark

Objective Major organizational changes may be associated with both positive and negative uncertainty in working life. This study described the prevalence of organizational changes (reorganizations or round of layoffs) within different job functions in Denmark and investigated whether quality of the implementation process (measured as “information”,...

Senior policies have been introduced by many Danish companies with the intention of retaining senior employees, but implementation can be challenging and may create tension at the workplace.This study aims to explore how social capital at the workplace may support or counteract the development and implementation of senior policies. A qualitative ca...

Background Surveying expected reasons for retirement may be a useful strategy to maintain labor market affiliation. The aim was to investigate the prospective association between self-reported expected reasons for leaving the labour market and subsequent loss of paid employment before the state pension age among older workers. Methods The prospect...

Introduction Frequencies of mental health conditions are increasing among children and adolescents. Providing long-term informal care for family members has been associated with detrimental stress-related outcomes. This study examines health and job impacts for working caregivers, who have children with mental disorders. Material and Methods This...

Sundhed og sygdom beskrives ofte som hver sin pol i et kontinuum, hvor fravær af sygdom udgør et midtpunkt. Sundhedsfremme sigter mod at styrke en bevægelse i retning af den sunde pol og sygdomsforebyggelse sigter mod at forhindre en bevægelse mod den syge pol. I artiklen stilles der spørgsmålstegn ved, om denne opfattelse er adækvat. Specielt frem...

Background: This study investigates the association between the implementation of new technology in the workplace and the subsequent loss of paid employment among older workers. Methods: We estimated the prospective risk of loss of paid employment (register-based) from questions on new technology among 10,320 older workers (≥50 years). To invest...

Introduction: We aimed at testing the hypotheses that night-shift work is associated with an increased incidence of 1) redeemed prescriptions for psychotropic medicine, and 2) psychiatric hospital treatment due to mood, anxiety or stress-related disease. We, moreover, aimed to test 3) if the effect of night-shift work on the rates of antidepressant...

Objectives: We aimed to test the hypotheses that night-shift work is associated with an increased incidence of (i) redeemed prescriptions for psychotropic medicine and (ii) psychiatric hospital treatment due to mood, anxiety or stress-related disease. Moreover, we aimed to assess whether (iii) the effect of night-shift work on the rates of antidep...

Rapporten dokumenterer projektets empiriske analyser, herunder brugen af programteori. Projektets teoretiske basis: Professionel kapital belyses og diskuteres i f t anvendelse til forskningsformål.

Objective This study aimed to estimate prospective associations between long working hours and (i) redeemed prescriptions for psychotropic drugs and (ii) psychiatric hospital treatment due to mood, anxiety or stress-related disease, among full-time employees in Denmark. Methods Full-time employees who participated in the Danish Labor Force Survey...

Young workers employed in temporary positions constitute a vast part of the employees in the Danish retail sector. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the implementation of an intervention to establish H&S groups for young workers in Danish supermarkets. The intervention aimed to include and involve the young workers in the management of t...

Purpose The project “Public schools in change – collaboration as a resource” was aimed to strengthen professional capital (social- human- and decision-capital) in public schools and as a part of this to strengthen collaboration within teams. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the approach of linking development of professional capital to the...

Background: The burden of mental ill health in working-age populations has prompted research on possible links between work-related factors and mental ill health. Long working hours and night shift work are some of the factors that have been studied in relation to the risk of developing mental ill health. Yet, previous studies have not generated c...

BACKGROUND The burden of mental ill health in working-age populations has prompted research on possible links between work-related factors and mental ill health. Long working hours and night shift work are some of the factors that have been studied in relation to the risk of developing mental ill health. Yet, previous studies have not generated con...

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate a prospective association between shift work and use of psychotropic medicine. METHODS: Survey data from random samples of the general working population of Denmark (N=19 259) were linked to data from national registers. Poisson regression was used for analyses of prospective associations between shift...

Introduction: Intersectoral integration is recommended in vocational rehabilitation, though difficult to implement. We describe barriers to and strategies for the development of normative integration in an intersectoral, team-based vocational rehabilitation intervention. Method: Attitudes and behaviours regarding the development of shared cultur...

Introduction: Inter-sectoral integration is increasingly warranted between the health care sector and other welfare-sectors. However, lack of normative integration (shared mission, values. and culture) among stakeholders is considered an important barrier. An integrated vocational rehabilitation intervention was established in a novel collaboration...

This study examined Nordic research on psychosocial work environment and disability management, specifically employer strategies for preventing work disability in common mental disorders (CMDs). A scoping review was performed to identify strategies across several research databases, alongside contact with content experts, hand-searching of non-inde...

In the Danish retail industry, young workers employed in temporary positions for few hours a week constitutes more than half of the employees. For the main part of the young workers this employment is their first meeting with the labor market, they lack knowledge and awareness of the work environment, and at some workplaces the introduction is limi...

To retain qualified care workers and to ensure high‐quality care for residents in eldercare homes, well‐functioning collaboration among care workers is pivotal. This study aims to identify barriers and facilitators of collaboration among eldercare workers and to describe the processes leading to well‐functioning collaboration. We collected focus gr...

Introduction Studies have indicated that long working hours is associated with circulatory diseases. The aim of the present studies was to test if long working hours were prospectively associated with ischaemic heart disease (IHD), usage of antihypertensive drugs (AD) and stroke, in a large randomly selected sample from the general workforce of Den...

Aims: A systematic review and meta-analysis have found that long working hours were prospectively associated with an increased risk of overall stroke. The primary aim of the present study was to test if this finding could be reproduced in a sample that has been randomly selected from the general workforce of Denmark. A secondary aim was to estimat...

Background: Workplace bullying is a serious stressor with devastating short- and long-term consequences. The concept of organizational social capital may provide insights into the interactional and communicative dynamics of the bullying process and opportunities for prevention. Objective: This study aimed to explore the association between organ...

Background: Danish professional caregivers have high rates of depressive symptoms. One proposed cause is exposure to emotion work. However, emotion work is usually measured by self-report which may bias results. Objectives: The objective of this study was to examine the association of emotion work, externally observed at the workplace, with self...

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the possibility of a prospective association between long working hours and use of psychotropic medicine. Methods: Survey data drawn from random samples of the general working population of Denmark in the time period 1995-2010 were linked to national registers covering all inhabitants. The participants...

This study aims at 1) examining the effect of self-rostering on emotional demands, quantitative demands, work pace, influence, social community at work, social support from leaders and colleagues, job satisfaction, and negative acts, 2) examining whether this effect was mediated through increased influence on the scheduling of working hours, and in...

Hvordan hænger begreberne om social kapital og relationel koordinering sammen? I hvilken grad er der overensstemmelse mellem målinger af det ene og det andet, og kan man sige, at det ene er mere grundlæggende end det andet? Med udgangspunkt i spørgeskemadata fra ældreplejen i fem danske kommuner undersøger vi disse spørgsmål. Resultaterne peger på,...

Background: Mental ill health is the most frequent cause of long-term sickness absence and disability retirement in Denmark. Some instances of mental ill health might be due to long working hours. A recent large cross-sectional study of a general working population in Norway found that not only "very much overtime", but also "moderate overtime" (4...

I den psykosociale arbejdsmiljøforskning har der i de sidste 50 år overvejende været fokuseret på en række faktorer, der i denne sammenhæng kaldes job-faktorer: Krav, indflydelse, monotoni, udviklingsmuligheder etc. Dette fokus har vist sig i såvel de herskende teorier og modeller som i de anvendte metoder. Med udgangspunkt i en undersøgelse af soc...

Unlabelled: We investigated how employees prioritised when they scheduled their own shifts and whether priorities depended on age, gender, educational level, cohabitation and health status. We used cross-sectional questionnaire data from the follow-up survey of an intervention study investigating the effect of self-scheduling (n = 317). Interventi...

Purpose: The aims of the study were to explore the effects of the implementation of IT-based tools for planning of rosters among shift workers on work-family-related outcomes and to interpret the results in light of the different implementation processes. Methods: A quasi-experimental intervention study was conducted with 12-month follow-up at 1...

Lærere og ledere i folkeskolen har i de senere år været udsat for en øget mængde af krav til dokumentation og registrering. Dette er et led i New Public Management styringsparadigmet, som på dette felt kan siges at have skabt en ubalance mellem en bureaukratisk systemtænkning og den fagprofessionalisme der har kendetegnet folkeskolen. Dokumentation...

The aim of this study was to (i) investigate the consequences of self-rostering for working hours, recovery, and health, and (ii) elucidate the mechanisms through which recovery and health are affected. Twenty eight workplaces were allocated to either an intervention or reference group. Intervention A encompassed the possibility to specify preferen...

To explore the mediating effects of work-life conflict between transformational leadership and job satisfaction and psychological wellbeing. The importance of work-life balance for job satisfaction and wellbeing among health-care employees is well-recognized. Evidence shows that transformational leadership style is linked to psychological wellbeing...

Exposure to deadlines at work is increasing in several countries and may affect health. We aimed to investigate cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between frequency of difficult deadlines at work and sleep quality. Study participants were knowledge workers, drawn from a representative sample of Danish employees who responded to a baselin...

The aim was to elucidate the possible bi-directional relation between daytime psychological arousal, cortisol, and self-reported sleep in a group of healthy employees in active employment. Logbook ratings of sleep (Karolinska Sleep Questionnaire), stress, and energy, as well as positive and negative experiences in work and private life, were collec...

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Persson, R., Albertsen, K., Garde, A.H. & Rugulies, R. (2012). The relationship between performance‐based self‐esteem and self‐reported work and health behaviors among Danish knowledge workers. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 53, 71–79. Since knowledge intensive work often requires self‐management, one might fear that persons who are dependent o...

Prioriteret arbejdstid giver medarbejderne mulighed for at ønske arbejdstider. Alt i alt er der en overvejende positiv vurdering af prioriteret arbejdstid både blandt medarbejdere og ledere, men et stort interventionsprojekt viser også, at der er store forskelle mellem forskellige arbejdspladser. I denne artikel peges der på en række vanskeligheder...

This paper is a report of a study, which examines the moderating effect of collective efficacy on the associations between physical workload, intention to leave and sickness absence. The positive association between physical workload and both intention to leave and sickness absence in the healthcare sector is well-established. However, knowledge is...

The eldercare sector in Denmark as in many industrialised countries is characterised by difficulties in retaining labour. Research suggests a possible imbalance between lifestyle and health among eldercare trainees and the demanding work encountered as eldercare employees. The aim of the present study was to determine the predictive effect of lifes...

To investigate whether work-time influence moderated the effect of shift work on psychological well-being measured as vitality, mental health, somatic stress symptoms, and disturbed sleep. We used questionnaire data from 2,148 health care workers who finished their education in 2004 and were followed during their first 2 years of employment in the...

The aims of the present study were to investigate (1) whether antecedents of work-to-family conflict identified in previous research have similar effects among knowledge workers, whether work environmental factors, particularly relevant for boundaryless work and not explored previously, affect work-to-family conflict in this group, and (2) whether...

The Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ) comprises dimensions (emotional demands, demands of hiding emotions, meaning of work, quality of leadership, and predictability) that are not in the job strain or the effort-reward imbalance (ERI) models. The study aim was to investigate whether these dimensions explain changes in vitality and ment...

Interpersonal relations at work as well as individual factors seem to play prominent roles in the modern labour market, and arguably also for the change in stress symptoms. The aim was to examine whether exposures in the psychosocial work environment predicted symptoms of cognitive stress in a sample of Danish knowledge workers (i.e. employees work...

This special issue was conceived as a tribute to Tage Sonderga urd Kristensen when he retired from the position as professor at the National Research Centre for the Working Environment to pursue a career as independent researcher and consultant. We chose the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ) as a theme, since this questionnaire was co-...

Health care workers have a high prevalence of sickness absence because of low back pain (LBP). This study examined whether fear-avoidance beliefs (FAB): 1) predicted sickness absence and 2) moderated the association between LBP and sickness absence among 1724 newly educated health care workers with LBP >or= day during the previous 12 months. High F...

Dominant theories of working conditions and their effects on poor employee health have been criticized for failing to consider how psychosocial factors interact and how such relationships may differ across occupational groups. This paper examines the associations between psychosocial factors and physical and psychological health complaints while at...

Health care workers have a high prevalence of low back pain (LBP). Although physical exposures in the working environment are linked to an increased risk of LBP, it has been suggested that individual coping strategies, for example fear-avoidance beliefs, could also be important in the development and maintenance of LBP. Accordingly, the main object...

To determine the work-relatedness of mood disorders. From 2001-2005, we followed up all economically active people in Denmark, aged 20-59 years as of January 2001, for hospital contact due to mood disorders. We calculated gender-stratified standardized incidence ratios (SIR) by industry. Using the distribution of the SIR values as input, we used a...

It appears that quasi-experimental approaches to the evaluation of organizational stress management interventions do not adequately measure, or take account of, employees' perceptions of the interventions themselves, or the way they are implemented. This is a problem because these perceptions may influence intervention outcomes. As a consequence, o...

Interventions in occupational health often target worksites rather than individuals. The objective of this paper is to describe the (lack of) stability in units of analysis in occupational health and safety intervention projects directed toward worksites. A case study approach is used to describe naturally occurring organizational changes in four,...

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the present review was to summarize the scientific literature about the consequences of long and nonstandard workhours and employee influence over workhours on different measures of worklife balance. METHODS: Literature with a focus on the social consequences of the organization of workhours on worklife balance was search...

It has been argued that traditional quasi-experimental approaches to evaluation do not adequately measure, or take account of, perceptual processes that could contribute to the effectiveness of organizational-level interventions. Using longitudinal data with added process measures at time 2 gathered from 11 intervention projects in Denmark, this pa...

arbejdstidens tilrettelæggelse er et af de forhold i arbejdslivet, som har størst indfl ydelse på privatlivet. Artiklen undersøger, hvilken rolle arbejdstidens længde og placering samt graden af indflydelse på placeringen af arbejdstiden spiller for oplevelsen af balance mellem arbejde og privatliv. Desuden undersøges, hvordan oplevelsen af balance...

To compare levels of self-efficacy among the general working population and employees with sickness absence from work, and to examine if general self-efficacy measured before occurrence of sickness absence predicted subsequent onset of sickness absence and Return-to-Work. The study follows a cohort of 5357 working employees and 106 long-term sickne...

The number of people leaving the labour market with a disability pension is high and knowledge regarding risk factors is limited. The aim of this study was to explore work- and non-work-related predictors of disability pension among men and women and to estimate to what extent the gender difference in retirement rate could be explained by factors i...

Smoking is an important issue for the majority of the world's working population. It is important to explore in which ways the workplace might contribute to changes in smoking status and smoking behavior. The present article provides a systematic review and quality assessment of studies that have addressed the impact of factors in the work environm...

While many studies of interventions have focused on their content and immediate effects, less research has focused on the processes that may explain these effects. The purpose of this study was to show how process evaluation can be used to interpret the results of an intervention study in four industrial canteens in Denmark. Two canteens acted as i...

Aims: To evaluate the impact of an open-rota scheduling system on the health, work-life balance and job satisfaction of nurses working in a psychiatric ward in Denmark. Background: The effects of shift rotation and scheduling are well known; however, little is known about the wider benefits of open-rota systems. Method A structured questionnaire...

To investigate incidences of disability retirement among men who had been employed at the construction of a large traffic link in Denmark, which involved long working hours and long distances between home and work place. Men aged 20-54 years at baseline who had been engaged in the construction of the Great Belt Link (n = 5882) were followed-up for...

This study explored whether factors related to the work environment could predict changes in body mass index (BMI) and whether the effect of psychosocial factors was dependent on baseline BMI. The sample consisted of 1,980 male employees from the Danish National Work Environment Cohort Study. Changes in BMI between 1995 and 2000 were analyzed, by m...

The objective of the study was to identify industries associated with a high risk of disability retirement and to roughly estimate the fraction of the retirements that can be attributed to a non-optimum work environment. All economically active people in Denmark, aged 20-54 years, in the beginning of 1996 (1196235 men and 1063058 women) were follow...

The authors set out to estimate effects of occupational factors on smoking cessation among Danish employees. Data from 3,606 observations of smokers gathered from the Danish National Work Environment Cohort Study in 1990, 1995, and 2000 were analysed by logistic regression. The model comprised background variables, smoking variables, and measures o...

To investigate social differences with regard to smoking cessation in Denmark. Social differences in smoking cessation were estimated from 3606 smokers from the Danish National Work Environment Cohort Study in 1990, 1995 and 2000. The differences were investigated using heavy smoking and four work environment factors as explanatory variables. The o...

It is a common notion that teachers constitute a group at high risk of occupational stress, but the potential health consequences of the assumed high stress levels are still poorly illuminated. The aim of the present study was to investigate morbidity among Danish teachers. Cohorts of Danish teachers of primary, secondary and vocational schools, ag...

Kompetence er blevet et af nøgleordene i psykologisk, pædagogisk og socialpsykologisk forskning, praksis og formidling. Blandt faglige eksperter såvel som i dagligdagens tænkning gives der udtryk for, at enhver på en eller anden måde er »kompetent«, »kan noget«, »vil noget«, »har« en måske uspecifik form for »intelligens«, som ikke lige behøver at...

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to explore the main, mediating and moderating role of sense of coherence (SOC) on stress symptoms and on the association between perceived psychosocial work environment and stress symptoms. The sample includes 2053 Danish employees from 52 workplaces. Hierarchical regression models were applied for each mea...