Computer simulation shows more job control = less stress
A computer simulation of system dynamics modeling showed that greater job control and lower job demands had the greatest impact on perceived stress among nursing home aides, NIOSH-funded investigators report in the journal BMC Health Services Research. System dynamics modeling is a method for researching complex relationships.
A computer simulation enables investigators to evaluate a system dynamics model depicting interactive relationships, in this case between worker stress and specific workplace conditions. To develop the model, investigators recruited eight volunteer participants with knowledge of work conditions in nursing homes who had participated in a previous large study of U.S. nursing home workers. Through brainstorming sessions, study participants identified work-related influences on stress. The investigators then divided these influences into related groups, which they used to program various workplace scenarios into the computer model.