Verification of a Predictive Model of Psychological Health at Work in Canada and France

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to test the invariance of a predictive model of psychological health at work (PHW) in Canada and France. The model a) defines PHW as an integrative second-order variable (low distress, high well-being) and b) includes three categories of PHW inductors (job demands, personal resources and social-organizational resources) and one psychological intermediate variable (needs satisfaction) that were found to be directly or indirectly related to PHW in a previous study on a sample of French teachers (Boudrias, Desrumaux, Gaudreau, Nelson, Savoie and Brunet, 2011). To test if this model is invariant across countries, these data from French teachers (N = 391) were reanalyzed and compared with data from a sample of Canadian teachers (N = 480) who completed the same set of questionnaires. Results from structural equation modeling analyses indicated that the model is completely invariant across the two samples. Therefore, pathways to PHW appeared to generalize across these samples of teachers without the addition of other cultural variables. This PHW model suggests that personal resources exert considerable influence directly and indirectly on psychological health through multiple mediators. Research implications and study limitations are discussed.ψ

The impact of job demands, climate, and optimism on well-being and distress at work: What are the mediating effects of basic psychological need satisfaction?

“…This approach should allow us to test for the respective effects of each type of health predictor (personal and organizational) and each mediator (satisfaction of competence, relatedness, and autonomy) on psychological well-being and distress. In this respect, our study stands apart from those that take only one particular predictor into account (a personal variable or an organizational variable) or those that study BPN satisfaction via an overall score (Boudrias et al, 2014;Gagné, 2003;Gilbert et al, 2008;Van den Broeck et al, 2008). We test the relevance of these determinants of psychological health on a sample of teachers, a profession known to have higher rates of poor psychological health than other occupations (Kovess-Masféty, 2003;Houtman, 2005) and also known for being prone to a series of stress-related disorders (Janot-Bergugnat & Rascle, 2008) such as burnout (Chang, 2009;Ponnelle, 2008).…”

“…Several authors (Keyes, 2003;Massé et al, 1998b) have pointed out the limitations of the numerous studies on psychological health at work that look mainly at distress and its many derivatives (stress, anxiety, burnout). In Diener's (1994) model, the two axes are distinct but contribute together to form a higher-level variable: psychological health (Boudrias et al, 2014).…”

Effects of Perceived Organizational Support on Objective and Subjective Career Success via Need Satisfaction: A Study Among French Psychologists

“…Need satisfaction and motivation are thought to depend partly upon organizational factors (Gagné & Deci, ). Satisfaction of the three BPNs is known to be positively correlated with organizational climate (Boudrias et al, , ; Desrumaux et al, ; Schultz, Ryan, Niemiec, Legate, & Williams, ) and with POS (Gillet, Fouquereau, Huyghebaert, & Colombat, ). For example, a supportive job climate is positively related to BPN satisfaction (Gagné et al, ).…”

“…This approach should allow us to test the effects of POS via psychological need satisfaction (satisfaction of the needs for competence, relatedness, and autonomy) on objective and subjective career success. In this respect, our study stands apart from studies on need satisfaction that use an overall score (Boudrias et al, ; Gagné, Ryan, & Bargmann, ; Van den Broeck, Vansteenkiste, De Witte, & Lens, ) or that measure only one kind of success. Our second purpose was to test the model on French vocational psychologists.…”

What makes happy counselors? From self-esteem and leader-member exchange to well-being at work: The mediating role of need satisfaction

“…The relationship between need satisfaction and well-being at work has been established in many studies (Boudrias et al, 2011(Boudrias et al, , 2014Desrumaux et al, 2015;Gillet, Fouquereau, Forest, Brunault, & Colombat, 2012).…”