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BACKGROUND: Work capacity demands are a concept to describe which psychological capacities are required in a job. Assessing psychological work capacity demands is of specific importance when mental health problems at work endanger work ability. Exploring psychological work capacity demands is the basis for mental hazard analysis or rehabilitative action, e.g. in terms of work adjustment. OBJECTIVE: This is the first study investigating psychological work capacity demands in rehabilitation patients with and without mental disorders. METHODS: A structured interview on psychological work capacity demands (Mini-ICF-Work; Muschalla, 2015; Linden et al., 2015) was done with 166 rehabilitation patients of working age. All interviews were done by a state-licensed socio-medically trained psychotherapist. Inter-rater-reliability was assessed by determining agreement in independent co-rating in 65 interviews. For discriminant validity purposes, participants filled in the Short Questionnaire for Work Analysis (KFZA, Prumper et al., 1994). RESULTS: In different professional fields, different psychological work capacity demands were of importance. The Mini-ICF-Work capacity dimensions reflect different aspects than the KFZA. Patients with mental disorders were longer on sick leave and had worse work ability prognosis than patients without mental disorders, although both groups reported similar work capacity demands. CONCLUSIONS: Psychological work demands - which are highly relevant for work ability prognosis and work adjustment processes - can be explored and differentiated in terms of psychological capacity demands.
Negative work perception not changed in a short work-anxiety-coping group therapy intervention
(2016)
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.
Purpose Persons with work-anxieties are especially endangered for work capacity impairment and sick leave. Work capacity impairment is not directly due to symptoms but due to illness-related capacity disorders. Work capacity impairments can be described on different dimensions (e.g., social interaction, decision making and judgment, endurance, mobility). Understanding the type of work capacity impairment is important for reintegration interventions. This is the first study to investigate work capacity impairment in risk patients with different work-anxieties. Results Patients with different work-anxieties were impaired in different capacity dimensions: Work-related social anxiety went along with clinically relevant impairment in capacity of assertiveness (M = 2.40), anxiety of insufficiency went along with impaired capacity of endurance (M = 2.20), and work-related generalized worrying was accompanied by impairment in the capacity for decision making (M = 1.82). Specific capacity impairment dimensions were related to sick leave duration, while a global work ability prognosis was not. Conclusions The capacity approach is useful to describe work impairment more precisely and beyond symptoms. On this basis, reintegration-focusing interventions such as capacity training (e.g., social interaction training) or work adjustment (e.g., reducing exposure with interactional work tasks) can be initiated.
Capacity-Oriented Behavior Therapy in Mental Disorders Mental disorders come along with the impairment of activities and capacities of daily live. Behavior therapy often uses capacity trainings for improving compensatory behavior, beside symptom reduction as such. This article gives an overview on how behavior therapy techniques can be used to improve compensatory behavior in different capacity domains that were conceptually derived from the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) and which are often impaired in mental disorders.