TY - JOUR

T1 - Longitudinal studies in organizational stress research

T2 - a review of the literature with reference to methodological issues.

AU - Zapf, Dieter

AU - Dormann, Christian

AU - Frese, Michael

PY - 1996/4

Y1 - 1996/4

N2 - Demonstrating causal relationships has been of particular importance in organizational stress research. Longitudinal studies are typically suggested to overcome problems of reversed causation and third variables (e.g., social desirability and negative affectivity). This article reviews the empirical longitudinal literature and discusses designs and statistical methods used in these studies. Forty-three longitudinal field reports on organizational stress were identified. Most of the investigations used a 2-wave panel design and a hierarchical multiple regression approach. Six studies with 3 and more waves were found. About 50% of the studies analyzed potential strain-stressor (reversed causation) relationships. In about 33% of the studies there was some evidence of reverse causation. The power of longitudinal studies to rule out third variable explanations was not realized in many studies. Procedures of how to analyze longitudinal data are suggested.

AB - Demonstrating causal relationships has been of particular importance in organizational stress research. Longitudinal studies are typically suggested to overcome problems of reversed causation and third variables (e.g., social desirability and negative affectivity). This article reviews the empirical longitudinal literature and discusses designs and statistical methods used in these studies. Forty-three longitudinal field reports on organizational stress were identified. Most of the investigations used a 2-wave panel design and a hierarchical multiple regression approach. Six studies with 3 and more waves were found. About 50% of the studies analyzed potential strain-stressor (reversed causation) relationships. In about 33% of the studies there was some evidence of reverse causation. The power of longitudinal studies to rule out third variable explanations was not realized in many studies. Procedures of how to analyze longitudinal data are suggested.

KW - Business psychology

KW - Humans

KW - Longitudinal Studies

KW - Occupational Health

KW - Psychology, Industrial

KW - Research Design

KW - Stress, Psychological

KW - Workload

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0030112193&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/ba33a226-88a1-3ab0-b2a4-b8cab7cc54ec/

U2 - 10.1037/1076-8998.1.2.145

DO - 10.1037/1076-8998.1.2.145

M3 - Journal articles

C2 - 9547043

AN - SCOPUS:0030112193

VL - 1

SP - 145

EP - 169

JO - Journal of Occupational Health Psychology

JF - Journal of Occupational Health Psychology

SN - 1076-8998

IS - 2

ER -