Introduction: Telework is increasing in working life, especially in knowledge intense organizations as academic institutions. Managers are found crucial for performance and wellbeing outcomes in telework, but managers' perspective on leading teleworkers lacks attention.

Methods: This study aimed to investigate academic managers' experiences of leading teleworkers prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic, and their expectations for future leadership in telework. A qualitative study based on interviews with 16 academic middle managers was performed. Findings were analyzed inductively by a phenomenographic research approach.

Findings: The findings show that leading teleworkers was characterized by demands posed by remote and digital communication; regulation and policies; occupational health and safety management; and new norms for leadership.

Discussion: In conclusion, academic institutions need to improve organizational resources for managers' leading teleworkers to facilitate successful leadership and to secure sustainable work conditions for managers as well as for teleworking employees.

Background and aim

Common mental disorders are common reasons for long-term sick leave, especially among women. Return to work is often complex and unsuccessful, why more knowledge is needed regarding women’s health and psychological well-being in the return-to-work process. Therefore, the aim was to describe women’s health and psychological well-being in the return-to-work process, from women’s and first-line managers’ perspectives.

Methods

Individual interviews were conducted with 17 women and 16 first-line managers. Qualitative content analysis was performed based on the content areas “Women’s health (i.e. overall well-being, both physical and psychological) throughout the whole RTW process” and “Women’s psychological well-being (happiness, meaning and a sense of being significant) at work after work resumption” Themes and categories were created.

Results

Women and managers had similar descriptions, i.e. that women’s health and psychological well-being depend on the individual characteristics of women themselves, their private life, work and other stakeholders. However, women described relational work tasks (e.g. meeting patients) as beneficial for health, and highlighted small stressors in the work environment, which the managers did not. Having work that was compatible with private life, being in good health, having stimulating work tasks and strengthening relationships at work were important for the women’s psychological well-being.

Conclusions

Based on women’s and first-line managers experiences, promotion of women’s health and psychological well-being during the return-to-work process requires individually adapted assessments and actions involving women’s entire life situation. First-line managers should know that relational work tasks (e.g., meeting patients) can be beneficial for women’s health as well as that minor stressor in the work environment can put their health at risk.

Background: Common mental disorders (CMDs) are currently a major cause of long-term sick leave, with women being the most affected.Objective: Using the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), we aimed to describe the development and psychometric evaluation of a new questionnaire to measure women's beliefs about return to work (RTW) after long-term sick leave for CMDs.Methods: Data were collected in central Sweden from women on long-term sick leave(2–24 months) for CMDs. The questionnaire was developed by conducting an elicitation study with 20 women and included direct and indirect measures. Subsequently, 282 women participated in a psychometric evaluation and 35 of them in a test-retest procedure. Psychometric properties were evaluated by determining reliability (internal consistency [Cronbach’s alpha] and test-retest stability [intraclasscorrelation coefficient]), construct validity (exploratory factor analysis) and content validity. Results: The development resulted in 60 questionnaire items. Content validity assessment showed that the women overall found it easy to complete the questionnaire. Reliability analyses showed satisfactory results for direct and indirect measures, with a few exceptions. Factor analyses of the indirect scales showed that items were generally in line with the TPB, but that items related to life as a whole/personal life and items related to work separated into two different factors. Conclusions: The questionnaire, called the RTW Beliefs Questionnaire, showed promising results and can among women with CMDs considered useful, especially scales for direct measures. This questionnaire gives the opportunity to identify new potential predictors for RTW.

Background

Autonomy is recognized as important for individual well-being and constitutes one dimension in the KIDSCREEN-instrument measuring health related quality of life (HRQoL) in children and adolescents. However, the autonomy questions in KIDSCREEN are restricted to opportunities to influence leisure time activities, which is a form of autonomy as volition. Yet, there are other aspects of autonomy that might be related to adolescent’s HRQoL. The aims of the present study were first to investigate the psychometric properties of a scale measuring autonomy in adolescence from a control perspective (AAC) including its relation to the autonomy dimension in KIDSCREEN, and second; to investigate AACs ability to predict each of the 10 dimensions constituting KIDSCREEN.

Methods

Students (n = 154) aged 15–16 years who were recruited from schools located in both low (two schools) and high (two schools) socioeconomic status (SES) areas in Sweden participated in a cross-sectional study. The adolescents answered a questionnaire including a new 6-item scale measuring perceived autonomy and HRQoL assessed by the KIDSCREEN-52 instrument. A factor analyses was computed to investigate the relation between the items in the AAC scale and the autonomy items in the KIDSCREEN instrument. Hierarchical regression analyses were computed to investigate if the AAC scale predicted HRQoL in any of the 10 dimensions in KIDSCREEN after controlling for gender, SES and the original autonomy scale included in KIDSCREEN.

Results

The factor analysis showed that all the items from the autonomy scale loaded in one factor and that all the items from the AAC scale loaded in another dimension. The hierarchical regression models showed that the AAC scale uniquely predicted HRQoL in all dimensions of the KIDSCREEN instrument after controlling for gender, SES and the original autonomy scale included in KIDSCREEN-52. A high level of perceived autonomy was associated with a high level of HRQoL for both scales.

Conclusion

A new scale for measuring autonomy from a control perspective has been presented and shown to differ from autonomy as volition. Both forms of autonomy are positively related to HRQoL in adolescence 15–16 years old.

An increasing number of academic institutions offer their staff the option to work from other places than the conventional office, i.e., telework. Academic teaching and research staff are recognized as some of the most frequent teleworkers, and this seems to affect their well-being, work performance, and recovery in different ways. This study aimed to investigate academics’ experiences and perceptions of telework within the academic context. For this, we interviewed 26 academics from different Swedish universities. Interviews were analyzed with a phenomenographic approach, which showed that telework was perceived as a natural part of academic work and a necessary resource for coping with, and recovering from, high work demands. Telework was mostly self-regulated but the opportunity could be determined by work tasks, professional culture, and management. Telework could facilitate the individual’s work but could contribute to challenges for the workgroup. Formal regulations of telework were considered a threat to academics’ work autonomy and to their possibility to cope with the high work demands. The findings provide insight into academics’ working conditions during teleworking, which may be important for maintaining a sustainable work environment when academic institutions offer telework options.

Common mental disorders are associated with long-term sick leave, especially among women. There is a lack of theory-based research regarding the impact of personal factors on return to work and psychological well-being. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine whether return-to-work beliefs and perceived health were predictors of return to work and psychological well-being among women during or after long-term sick leave for common mental disorders, based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour. This was a prospective cohort study with a 1-year follow-up. At baseline, women (n = 282) had been on full- or part-time sick leave for common mental disorders for 2–24 months. Data were collected in October 2019–January 2020 and October 2020–January 2021 in Sweden. The Social Insurance Agency identified the women at baseline. The Return-To-Work Beliefs Questionnaire, EuroQol Visual Analogue Scale and General Health Questionnaire-12 were used. Multiple logistic and linear regression analyses were conducted. The women were divided into two groups: full-time sick leave or part-time sick leave at baseline. The results showed that stronger return-to-work intention significantly predicted return to work among women on full-time sick leave at baseline. No significant predictors of return to work were found among women on part-time sick leave at baseline. Psychological well-being was predicted by stronger social pressure to return to work (full-time group) and a more positive attitude toward returning to work and better perceived health (part-time group). We concluded that the Theory of Planned Behaviour can be useful for understanding return to work among women on full-time sick leave, and what underlies psychological well-being in both groups. However, return to work and psychological well-being were predicted by different factors, indicating that a multifactorial approach should be used in supporting women to return to work after long-term sick leave for common mental disorders.

Background: Long-term sick leave due to common mental disorders (CMDs) is a great burden in several countries. Women are more likely to be affected by CMDs. A strong intention to return to work (RTW) as well as symptom relief may facilitate RTW in this group. However, there is a lack of knowledge regarding what constitutes a strong intention. The Theory of Planned Behaviour is well-suited to identifying underlying beliefs about intentions to perform a behaviour. By including psychological well-being and perceived health, a more comprehensive picture of determinants of RTW intention might be achieved. Thus, the aim of the present study was to identify associations between RTW beliefs, psychological well-being, perceived health and RTW intentions among women on long-term sick leave due to CMDs, and to do so based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour.

Methods: The study was cross-sectional. Between October 2019 and January 2020, 282 women on long-term sick leave (>2 months) due to CMDs were included in the study. The questionnaires for data collection were: “RTW Beliefs Among Women-Questionnaire”, the “General Health Questionnaire -12” and the “EuroQol Visual Analogue Scale”. Standard multiple regression analysis was performed both with and without adjustment for potential confounders.

Results: The results showed that more positive attitude towards RTW, stronger social pressure to RTW, higher perceived control over RTW and higher psychological well-being were associated with stronger RTW intention. The adjusted analysis eliminated the importance of psychological well-being for RTW intention, but showed that women who reported that their employer had taken actions to facilitate their RTW had stronger RTW intention. 

Conclusion: The RTW beliefs, derived from the Theory of Planned Behaviour, were all important for a strong RTW intention, while psychological well-being and perceived health showed weaker associations. Furthermore, having an employer that take actions for facilitating RTW was associated with stronger RTW intentions. Though some caution is warranted regarding the representativeness of the sample, the results do improve our understanding of some important determinants of RTW intention among women on long-term sick leave for CMDs. 

Purpose: Long-term sick leave due to common mental disorders (CMDs) is an increasing problem, especially among women. To help these women return to work (RTW) sustainably, we need to know more about their own beliefs about RTW. One applicable theory is the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Thus, the present study aimed to describe, based on the TPB, women's beliefs about RTW during or after long-term sick leave for a CMD.

Methods: A qualitative approach was used. Twenty women were included during a long-term sick leave period due to a CMD. A deductive content analysis was conducted using predetermined factors from the TPB: behavioural beliefs (advantages – disadvantages of RTW), normative beliefs (supporters and non-supporters of RTW), and control beliefs (facilitators of – barriers to RTW).

Results: The women believed that RTW would give them meaning and balance in life, but also that it would be challenging to maintain balance after RTW. They believed they had several supporters of RTW, but that the support was sometimes perceived as stressful rather than encouraging. Furthermore, individual adaptation and high demands were the most mentioned facilitator and barrier, respectively. Workplace conditions and personal strategies were thought to be important aspects.

Conclusions: By using the TPB, the present study was able to offer new findings on women’s beliefs about RTW after long-term sick leave for a CMD. Based on the findings, we suggest that various RTW stakeholders should focus on striving to provide the tasks and work pace women need so they can maintain their professional competence and sense of meaning.