title: Negative work perception not changed in a short work-anxiety-coping group therapy intervention.
abstract: 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.
  
  
  
  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.
  
  
  
  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.
  
  
  
  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.
authors.affiliation: a Work and Organizational Psychology , University of Potsdam, Brandenburgklinik Bernau , Germany.
authors.forename: Beate
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Muschalla
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D004651:Employment; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D008875:Middle Aged; D010465:Perception; D011615:Psychotherapy, Group; D018582:Sick Leave; D017132:Workplace / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Anxiety; Mental disorders; Mental health; Return to work; Sick leave; Work perception; Work-oriented interventions; Workplace