Digital Stress-Preventive Management Competencies: Definition, Identification and Tool Development for Research and...

Area of Science:

• Occupational health science
• Digital transformation
• Remote work dynamics

Background:

• Growing interest in remote work necessitates understanding managers' impact on employee well-being.
• Limited research exists on specific managerial competencies for mitigating digital stress in remote work environments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To define and explore Digital Stress-Preventive Management Competencies (DMCs).
• To develop and validate an indicator tool for assessing DMCs.
• To investigate the relationship between DMCs and psychosocial factors in remote work.

Main Methods:

• Three-phase study: literature review, expert interviews, item generation, content analysis, tool validation (EFA, CFA), and concurrent validity testing (SEM, polynomial regression).
• Data collected from 247 remote workers and 50 manager-team dyads (218 remote workers).

Main Results:

• Identified two key DMCs: supportive ICT-mediated interaction (SIMI) and avoidance of abusive ICT adoption (AAIA).
• Developed a nine-item tool with a two-factor structure and good psychometric properties.
• SIMI positively correlated with perceived support and role clarity; AAIA related to demands and control.

Conclusions:

• The identified DMCs and validated tool offer practical applications for organizational interventions.
• Findings contribute to occupational health science by providing measurable competencies for managing remote worker well-being.
• This research supports the development of healthier digital work environments through targeted management strategies.