TY - JOUR A1 - Muschalla, Beate A1 - Fay, Doris A1 - Seemann, Anne T1 - Asking for work adjustments or initiating behavioural changes - what study on the reactions towards colleagues with a personality disorder JF - Fundamenta informaticae N2 - People with mental disorders, especially personality disorders, often face low acceptance at work. This is particularly problematic when returning to work after sick leave, because it impedes reintegration into the former workplace. This study explores colleagues’ reactions towards a problematic worker dependent on the returning person’s reintegration strategy: The returning person undertaking changes in their behaviour is compared with the person requesting adjustments of the workplace. In an experimental study, 188 employed persons read one of four vignettes that described a return-to-work-situation of a problematic co-worker. Across all vignettes, the co-worker was depicted as having previously caused problems in the work team. In the first vignette, the co-worker did not change anything (control condition) when she returned to work; in the second, she asked for workplace adjustments; in the third vignette she initiated efforts to change her own behaviour; and the fourth vignette combined both workplace adjustments and behavioural change. Study participants were asked for their reactions towards the problematic co-worker. Vignettes that included a behavioural change evoked more positive reactions towards the co-worker than vignettes without any behavioural change. Asking for workplace adjustments alone did not yield more positive reactions compared to not initiating any change. When preparing employees with interactional problems for their return to work, it is not effective to only instruct them on their statutory entitlement for workplace adjustments. Instead, it is advisable to encourage them to proactively strive for behaviour changes. KW - Workplace KW - personality disorders KW - mental health KW - sick leave KW - acceptance KW - social distance Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/13548506.2015.1109671 SN - 1354-8506 SN - 1465-3966 VL - 21 SP - 856 EP - 862 PB - IOS Press CY - Abingdon 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 -