Nerina L. Jimmieson’s research while affiliated with Queensland University of Technology and other places

Purpose Mental health problems are a grave concern in construction. Although the distinction between high job demands and low job resources, as reflected in the Job Demands-Resources (JD–R) model, has been used to examine the extent to which psychosocial hazards influence mental health for construction practitioners, limited research has reflected on the nature of these psychosocial hazards by exploring experiences of site-based construction practitioners. Design/methodology/approach This study adopted a phenomenological approach to examine people’ experiences and thoughts of the complex phenomena of psychosocial hazards and mental health in construction. In total, 33 semi-structured interviews were undertaken with site-based construction practitioners in Australia to unveil construction-focused psychosocial hazards and their effects on mental health. The data were analysed via content analysis, employing an interpretation-focused coding strategy to code text and an individual-based sorting strategy to cluster codes. Findings Eighteen psychosocial hazards were identified based on the JD–R model. Six of these represented a new contribution, describing salient characteristics inherent to the construction context (i.e. safety concerns, exposure to traumatic events, job insecurity, task interdependency, client demand and contract pressure). Of particular importance, a number of interrelationships among psychosocial hazards emerged. Originality/value The significance of this qualitative research lies in elucidating psychosocial hazards and their complex interrelatedness in the context of the mental health of construction practitioners, enriching the understanding of this central health and safety issue in the high-risk setting of construction work. The findings contribute to addressing mental health issues in the Australian construction industry by identifying higher order control measures, thereby creating a mentally healthy workplace.

Custodial officers perform unique and challenging work tasks making it a profession with predictable work-to-home spillover. Drawing on Spillover and Safety Climate theories, we hypothesized that work-to-home spillover would be associated with higher psychological distress, sleep disturbance, binge drinking, and commuting incidents, and that these individual-level effects would be buffered in workgroups with a shared perception that fatigue was managed well. Using a mixed-methods design, multilevel quantitative data (498 employees nested in 72 workgroups across 12 Australian prisons) and qualitative data (from 63 structured interviews) were collected. Results supported predicted main effects for psychological distress, sleep disturbance, and commuting incidents, and a cross-level buffering effect on the positive relationship between custodial work spillover and psychological distress that occurs when workgroups perceive their organization is managing fatigue well. We found qualitative support for relationships via the emergence of six themes including how custodial officers experience a collective sense of fatigue management.

Site-based construction practitioners face high levels of job stress and need to recuperate from work-induced fatigue. Insufficient recovery from work will lead to work fatigue and health problems. While need for recovery (NFR) is an important concept to the wellbeing of construction practitioners, there is limited study in this area. Thus, this study aims to evaluate NFR for site-based construction practitioners in Australia and identify patterns of NFR as a function of demographics and work characteristics. A survey was conducted with site-based construction practitioners in Australia. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were employed to analyse collected data. Results showed that the mean NFR of site-based construction practitioners in Australia was 17.96 (range = 6 – 30, 6 items). Age and work hours explained differences in NFR mean scores according to both the one-way ANOVA and correlations. NFR increased with work hours and decreased with age, with r = 0.19 and r = -0.24 respectively. The correlation analysis also indicated the negative relationship between work experience and NFR ( r = -0.21). Work experience and work hours interacted to influence NFR according to the two-way ANOVA. The positive relationship between work hours (≤ 60 hours) and NFR was weaker in those with more work experience while this moderating effect of work experience did not apply to people working more than 60 hours. The significance of the study lies in providing insights to increase the work capacity of construction practitioners and help them to recover from job stress.

Drawing on the tenets of job demands‐resources and conservation of resources theories, it is suggested that HR attributions about wellness programs hold ‘job resource potential’, irrespective of actual participation. It is proposed positive (commitment, compliance) and negative (control, image) attributions about the organization's motivation for offering a wellness program predict employee outcomes. In addition, it is proposed wellness program attributions influence how employees cope with role overload. A sample of 524 Australian employees with access to a wellness program completed a questionnaire. Commitment and compliance buffered the negative effects of role overload on job dissatisfaction. However, commitment created a stress‐exacerbating effect of role overload on days impaired due to poor health. Employees with control attributions were buffered from the negative effects of role overload on job dissatisfaction. Overall, results highlight that the underlying theoretical distinction between positive and negative HR attributions across different types of employee outcomes should not be assumed.

This study addresses the psychological mechanisms that lead to compliance with safe work practices among electrical workers. Compliance with safe work practices can be challenging as it involves substantive cognitive effort and often takes place in the presence of multiple competing demands and situational constraints. Guided by expectancy‐value theory, we advance theorizing on compliance by conceptualizing it as a task choice. Our key proposition is that compliance is motivated by the unique and interactive effects of "can‐do" (i.e., self‐efficacy) and "reason‐to" (i.e., perceived usefulness and perceived low cost) psychological states. Distal individual (i.e., safety knowledge and sensation seeking personality) and organizational (i.e., psychological safety climate) antecedents also were considered. Data from a sample of 386 Australian electrical workers in which the focal variables were assessed at Time 1 and compliance with safe work practices was assessed three months later at Time 2 confirmed the hypothesized relationships. A compensating interactive effect between self‐efficacy and perceived usefulness also was found. When self‐efficacy was high, perceived usefulness no longer had a significant positive relationship with compliance. Overall, this study demonstrates that expectancy‐value theory provides a meaningful explanation for the underlying psychological mechanisms that lead to safety compliance. Managers and safety practitioners should focus on cultivating self‐efficacy and utility perceptions when enforcing compliance with safe work practices. Practitioner points This research examined psychological states of a cognitive nature that encourage electricians’ compliance with safe work practices. Self‐efficacy was found to have the strongest positive association with compliance, and to a lesser extent, perceived usefulness. When feelings of confidence in being compliant were high, perceived usefulness no longer had a significant positive relationship with compliance, suggesting a compensating effect.

Individuals high in tolerance of ambiguity (TOA) are comfortable with, desire, and strive to manage ambiguous situations. We predicted leader TOA would be associated with better follower performance outcomes, depending on the level (Study 1) and nature (Study 2) of follower role ambiguity. Data were collected from employees (Study 1, n = 423) and managerial employees (Study 2, n = 326) who rated their leader on three facets of TOA and provided self-reports of their own performance outcomes. Positive implications of leader TOA for follower learning goal orientation and job performance (Study 1) were most pronounced when followers perceived low role ambiguity and, in the prediction of situational coping (Study 2), when ambiguous work situations were categorized as challenges (unexpected events requiring problem-solving) compared to hindrances. Findings have theoretical implications for understanding when TOA in leaders is optimal and have practical relevance for leaders seeking to adapt to the situational needs of their followers.

Background: Focusing on employees with psychological strain, this research draws on Fredrickson's 'undoing hypothesis' to examine praise and recognition from one's supervisor as an organizational resource. Objective: A model is tested in which psychological strain is a mediator in the positive relationship between role demands and employees' intentions to take sick leave and seek medical advice, and positions supervisor praise and recognition as a buffer of psychological strain on such intentions. Methods: The model was tested using two Australian samples in the tourism sector, consisting of motel workers (n = 104) and museum workers (n = 168). Results: For museum workers, but not motel workers, there was a positive indirect effect of each role demand on sick leave intentions through psychological strain that weakened as a function of supervisor praise and recognition. The proposed moderated mediated model was supported for both samples in regards to intentions to seek medical advice. Conclusions: This research contributes new evidence regarding the antecedents of employees' intentions to take sick leave and seek medical advice for work stress-related problems. It also contributes to the limited evidence regarding supervisor praise and recognition as a protective factor for employees exhibiting the symptoms of psychological strain.

The mental health of the construction workforce is an important health and safety concern for the construction industry. Individual studies show that work-related psychosocial hazards have negative implications for mental health. This meta-analysis aims to source and integrate existing studies to ascertain a more holistic indication of the relationship between psychosocial hazards and mental health in the construction industry. By conducting a random-effects meta-analysis, quantitative results of 48 existing studies (N = 13083), representing 14 identified psychosocial hazards, were combined. Results showed that the pooled correlation coefficient between psychosocial hazards and mental health problems was 0.28 (95% CI 0.24 to 0.33). Among the 14 psychosocial hazards, role conflict (r = 0.41, 95% CI 0.23 to 0.57) had the strongest significant correlation with mental health problems, followed by role ambiguity (r = 0.35, 95% CI 0.21 to 0.49), job insecurity (r = 0.31, 95% CI 0.21 to 0.41), and interpersonal conflict (r = 0.31, 95% CI 0.25 to 0.36). Meta-regression revealed year of publication effects and subgroup analyses revealed between-study variance could be partially explained by location, occupation, outcome, and timeframe. No publication bias was found according to Egger’s test. This study provides a synthesis of the relationship between psychosocial hazards and mental health in the construction industry and highlights implications for future research.