TY  - JOUR
A1  - Muschalla, Beate
A1  - Fay, Doris
A1  - Linden, M.
T1  - Self-reported workplace perception as indicators of work anxieties
JF  - Occupational medicine
N2  - Work anxiety is a potentially disabling mental health problem, which can cause (long-term) sickness absence. In many cases patients do not openly report their anxieties and tend to give externalizing explanations of inner problems. Therefore people with work anxiety may perceive their workplace more negatively than those without such anxiety. To investigate the relation between subjective work description and work anxiety. There were 148 inpatient participants and 8015 general population controls. Patients with work anxiety described their workplace significantly more negatively than patients without work anxiety and employees in the general population, with no differences in workplace descriptions between psychosomatic patients without work anxiety and the general population sample. The type of complaint about work conditions was related to the specific type of work anxiety. Reports about workplace burdens can be indicative of work anxiety and should prompt further in-depth assessments. The content of complaints about work conditions may point to the type of underlying work anxiety.
KW  - Anxiety
KW  - diagnostic
KW  - sickness absence
KW  - work anxiety
KW  - workplace
Y1  - 2016
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kqv160
SN  - 0962-7480
SN  - 1471-8405
VL  - 66
SP  - 168
EP  - 170
PB  - Oxford Univ. Press
CY  - Oxford
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Muschalla, Beate
T1  - Negative work perception not changed in a short work-anxiety-coping group therapy intervention
JF  - International journal of occupational and environmental health
N2  - Background: Work anxiety is often associated with long-term sick leave and requires early intervention. Work anxieties are associated with negative work perception. Therefore, one aim in early intervention is a cognitive reframing of dysfunctional perceptions of workplace characteristics. Methods: A psychotherapeutic specialist conducted two group programs of four sessions each. One hundred twenty-three rehabilitation in-patients with work anxieties were randomly assigned either to a work anxiety-coping group or to a recreational group. The Short Questionnaire for Work Analysis (KFZA) was administered before and after the group treatment to measure perceptions of working conditions. Results: Participants from the work anxiety-coping group did not see their work in a significantly more positive light at the end of the intervention compared to participants from the recreational group. Conclusions: A short work anxiety-coping group did not initiate a consistent positive re-appraisal of work. Employers and occupational physicians should not expect positive changes of work perception when an employee returns from short medical rehabilitation including work-directed treatment. Additional support from the workplace must be considered, e.g. employer-physician-employee conversation preceding return to work, or (temporary) work adjustment.
KW  - Workplace
KW  - Mental health
KW  - Anxiety
KW  - Sick leave
KW  - Work-oriented interventions
KW  - Work perception
KW  - Return to work
KW  - Mental disorders
Y1  - 2016
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1080/10773525.2016.1238663
SN  - 1077-3525
SN  - 2049-3967
VL  - 22
SP  - 321
EP  - 324
PB  - Frontiers Research Foundation
CY  - Abingdon
ER  -