Introduction. In a constantly changing economic and social environment, university employees are often faced with significant organizational changes, like internationalization and an increase in the number of students. These changes can have a negative impact on their psychosocial well-being and lead to an increase in work-related stress (W-RS). The Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) theory is applicable to different work environments and provides a valuable framework for examining job demands and job resources - risks and protective factors, respectively - associated with well-being and W-RS in academia.
Purpose. In response to both legal requirements (Italian Legislative Decree 81/2008) and the growing need for objective measures of W-RS, we introduce a new tool designed to objectively assess W-RS risk in academia. Based on a review of the literature and existing instruments, the tool - developed by psychologists from the Italian Association of Psychology (Quality of life at work) - examines context-specific risk and protective factors, as well as potential outcomes of W-RS (i.e., sentinel events) among academics.
Methods. In line with national guidelines and the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA), the tool includes three core areas designed to assess: (a) sentinel events as potential organizational indicators W-RS (e.g., formal complaints to the Head of Department, number of visits to university clinical and psychological services); (b) job content factors, which pertain to intrinsic job characteristics, including qualitative and quantitative workload, working conditions and equipment; (c) job context factors, encompassing organizational culture, interpersonal relationships, and roles in organization.
Discussion. After initial applications and validation across homogeneous groups of workers (e.g., assistant, associate, and full professors), the tool will provide a theoretically grounded instrument for a multi-method assessment of W-RS in academia (e.g., combined with self-report questionnaires). This approach has potentially significant implications for multi-level, evidence-based interventions aimed at promoting health and well-being in academia.