Job demands-resources model in an Italian sample of academics

In recent decades, universities in many countries have undergone important changes that have profoundly affected the working life of academics (Winefield et al., 2008), making it more demanding and stressful (Kinman et al., 2006). In Italy, these changes – directly linked to the university reform (Law 240/2010) – are now highly critical (Pellerey, 2011; Sundry Authors, 2010).This study investigates health impairment and motivational outcomes of Italian academics in the theoretical framework of the job demands-resources model (JD-R model; Bakker & Demerouti, 2007; Demerouti, et al., 2001). The robustness of the JD-R model was already tested and demonstrated in different national and occupational contexts (Llorens, et al. 2006), and in the context of academics (Bakker et al., 2010; Boyd et al., 2011).