Stress, work and health

The most devastating forms of negative social relations at work are exposure to bullying, harassment, and negative acts. It is well-known that these exposures are all highly associated with psychological and physiological stress reactions and may therefore potentially lead to sickness absence, change of job, and unemployment. However, little is known about the antecedent processes (organisational factors and job characteristics) leading to negative social relations and the mechanisms through which negative social relations cause sickness absence, change of job, and unemployment.

This study will contribute with substantial new knowledge at individual and organisational levels about how negative social relations may develop and lead to long-term sickness absence, change of job, and unemployment. Knowledge of these processes and mechanisms is useful in future management and prevention of negative social relations at work.

We investigate the mechanisms through which negative social relations at work predict sickness absence, change of job, and unemployment. More specifically, our research investigates whether different measures of stress mediates the effects of negative social relations on sickness absence, change of job and unemployment. Stress is operationalized as poor sleep, psychological stress reactions and cortisol measured in saliva.

Collaboration

• Department of psychology at the University of Copenhagen
• The National Research Centre for the Working Environment

The research activities are supported by The Danish Working Environment Research Fund and The Danish Council for Independent Research

The overall aim of the project is to develop evidence-based models and solutions related to working hours to support health, well-being and work participation among employees in the Nordic countries. The project will create working time –related solutions especially to women and ageing workers who often have challenging working hours. Among these groups, the role of work-life balance and health, which are the key determinants of well-being at work, will be studied as horizontal key concepts in this study.

Finally, the project creates and tests both individual and organizational level interventions related to working hours in shift work, boundary less work and safety-critical 24/7 industries to promote health, well-being and work participation with the focus on women and older workers.

Collaboration:

• Project manager: Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (FIOH). Team leader Prof. Mikko Härmä.
• University of Tampere (UT), School of Social Sciences and Humanities, Finland. Team leader Prof. Jouko Nätti.
• University of Stockholm, Stress Research Centre (SRC), Sweden. Team leader Ass. Prof. Göran Kecklund.
•  Karolinska Institute (KI), Department of Neuroscience, Sweden. Team leader Prof. Torbjörn Åkerstedt.
• National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH), Norway. Team leader Dr. Janny-Anne S. Lie.
• University of Bergen (UB), Department of Public Health, Norway. Team leader Prof. Bjørn Bjorvatn.
• National Research Centre on Working Environment (NRCWE), Denmark. Team leader Prof. Anne Helene Garde.
• University of Copenhagen (UC), Denmark. Team leader Prof. Åse Marie Hansen.
• Aarhus University, Denmark (AU). Team leader Prof. Henrik Kolstad.
• Danish Cancer Society (DCS), Denmark. Team leader Dr. Johnny Hansen.

The WOW project is funded by NordForsk, Nordic Program on Health and Welfare [grant number 74809]

Our research group is represented in the steering committee of the Copenhagen Stress Research Center, for which the overall purpose is to implement and support an interinstitutional collaboration on stress research. The center is a research collaboration between the National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Department of Occupational Medicine and Department of Public Health.

For more informationvisit stressresearch.ku.dk/

Do you want to join our research group, for example, as part of your PhD project? Then, you are welcome to contact us with specific ideas for research or data that you would like to work with. On the basis of your ideas, we will discuss the specific content, organization and timing of your stay in our group.

We also welcome engaged and enthusiastic students who would like to stay as an intern in our research group as part of their education. You will work in a friendly atmosphere and take part in the everyday life of the research group. As an intern in our research group, your tasks will normally consist of activities related to research, teaching, and administration. The specific content will be organized together with you in order to meet your and the research group’s interests.

You can contact research leader Kirsten Nabe-Nielsen (nabe@sund.ku.dk) for more information.

Below you can read about the experiences of former interns.

Kathrine Vingum Møller Olesen, Master of Public Health student
“I have learned a lot about research and how challenging it can be to convey research findings to lay persons. An internship at Stress, Work and Health holds a great opportunity to apply theoretical knowledge and methods in practice." 

You can read the report and fact sheet that Kathrine wrote as an intern here

Andreas Moses Appel, Master of Public Health student
“In summary, my internship at the section represented a unique possibility to experience many of the aspects of working in a research department. The people in the research group, and the section in general, were very welcoming and supportive during my entire stay, which made the experience even more enjoyable.”

You can see the poster that Andreas presented at an international symposium on Working hours In the Nordic Country here.