Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40512694›Full record

ArticlePloS one2025

Supervisor support and virtual leadership moderate the association between technostress creators and strain in remote work: Evidence based on hair cortisol and occupational physician's hetero-evaluations.

Damiano Girardi, Sebastiano Rapisarda, Elvira Arcucci, Laura Dal Corso, René Riedl, Isabella Pividori, Alessandra Falco

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In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Damiano GirardiDepartment of Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Applied Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1326-9215
Sebastiano RapisardaDepartment of Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Applied Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy.
Elvira ArcucciDepartment of Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Applied Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy.
Laura Dal CorsoDepartment of Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Applied Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy.
René RiedlDigital Business Institute, University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria, Campus Steyr, Steyr, Austria.
Isabella PividoriDepartment of Agricultural, Environmental and Animal Sciences, University of Udine, Udine, Italy.
Alessandra FalcoDepartment of Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Applied Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

We investigated the association between technostress creators (TCs) and the strain response among smart workers, who are defined as individuals who make extensive use of information and communication technologies for work-related tasks and in interpersonal relationships with colleagues and supervisors. The moderating role of supervisor support and virtual leadership was a specific focus of our study. We conducted two studies, in each of which we complemented the self-report measures on the TCs and supervisor support and virtual leadership with more objective measures of stress and strain. In Study 1, we investigated the association between perceived TCs and hair cortisol concentration (HCC) as a biomarker of stress. In Study 2, we examined the association between perceived TCs and stress-related psychophysical symptoms (i.e., psychophysical strain) as assessed by the occupational physician (i.e., hetero-evaluation). In Study 1, 102 smart workers from different organizations completed a self-report questionnaire and we collected a strand of hair. Study 1 provided little support for the association between TCs and HCC, but supervisor support did affect the association between techno-uncertainty (one of five TCs) and HCC, which was positive when support was low, but negative-albeit marginally significant-when support was high. In Study 2, 105 smart workers from a company in the service sector completed a self-report questionnaire and underwent an occupational health examination. Techno-invasion (another TC) was positively related to psychophysical strain as assessed by the occupational physician. In addition, virtual leadership attenuated the association between three TCs (techno-overload, techno-invasion, techno-insecurity) and psychophysical strain. Based on these nuanced pattern of results, our studies suggest that TCs lead to a strain response among smart workers, and that positive relationships with one's supervisor-in terms of supervisor support and virtual leadership-can attenuate the negative consequences of technostress.

Indexed as

HairHydrocortisoneLeadershipOccupational StressStress, PsychologicalAdultFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedSurveys and QuestionnairesHydrocortisone

Identifiers

PMID40512694
PMCPMC12165403

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.