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This study investigates and compares the earnings management strategies of financially distressed and non-distressed banks.

Using a regression analysis, this study examines a sample of banks operating in the MENA region. We focus on real earnings management strategies via commission and fee income (CF) and accrual-based earnings management strategies via loan loss provisions (LLP). A subsample analysis was performed, lagged dependent variables and additional control variables were included as a robustness check.

The findings consistently reveal a more extensive use of real earnings management strategies via CF among distressed banks than among non-distressed ones. Specifically, banks smooth their income via CF under distress conditions. However, LLP-based earnings management strategies are only implemented in healthy banks. These behaviors persist in banks that operate under different monitoring systems and institutional settings.

This study marks its entry into the literature debate on accounting and non-accounting decisions that influence bank financial reporting. It argues that, in the presence of financial difficulties, bank managers define earnings management strategies based on the probability of being detected, rather than looking at their costs.

From a prudential perspective, the findings suggest the need for prudential rules to supervise the reporting of CF income associated with high fees or discount incentives used intentionally by bank managers to convince clients to delay or accelerate payments and, consequently, affect reported earnings.

This study adds to the literature by investigating the effect of bank financial distress on both real and accrual-based earnings management to provide a comprehensive analysis of bank earnings management strategies in the presence of financial difficulties.

This study aims to develop a robust predictive model for anticipating financial distress within Pakistani companies, providing a crucial tool for proactive economic turbulence management.

To achieve this objective, the study examines a comprehensive data set comprising nonfinancial firms listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange from 2005 to 2022. It investigates 23 financial ratios categorized under profitability, liquidity, leverage, asset efficiency, size and growth.

The study reveals that financial ratio indices are more effective in forecasting financial distress compared to individual ratios. These indices achieve impressive accuracy rates, ranging from a robust 93.90% in the first year leading up to bankruptcy to a commendable 73.71% in the fifth year. Furthermore, the research identifies profitability, liquidity, leverage, asset efficiency, size and growth as pivotal indicators for financial distress prediction.

This research underscores the utility and practicality of financial ratio indices, offering a comprehensive perspective on risk assessment and management. In conclusion, this pioneering study provides valuable insights into financial distress prediction, highlighting the enhanced information capture made possible by financial ratio indices. It equips stakeholders in the Pakistan Stock Exchange with an effective means to proactively address financial risks.

Earlier research found that firms with the highest distress risk have low book‐to‐market (B/M) ratios and low returns. This paper aims to examine the robustness of those's results and provide further evidence that high distress‐risk firms do not enjoy the same high returns earned by high B/M firms and that distress risk is unlikely to explain the Fama and French high‐minus‐low (HML) B/M factor.

A distress‐risk measure, distressed‐minus‐solvent (DMS), is calculated and a range of zero investment distress‐risk trading strategies is investigated. Value‐ and equal‐weighted portfolios are examined both with negative book‐equity firms and without. These most distressed firms have low or negative B/M values and would either not be included in the Fama and French sample or included in the low B/M portfolio.

The paper finds that the DMS factor is negative and significant, and none of the zero investment strategies earns significantly positive returns.

The findings suggest that exposure to distress risk does not earns investors a positive risk premium. It appears that over the period examined, market inefficiencies drive the market value and returns of high distress‐risk firms.

The distress‐risk premium is shown to be negative and, therefore, cannot be driven by bankruptcy risk alone. The negative premium is not consistent with a financial distress explanation for the Fama and French HML factor.

The psycho-oncology and social work services recognised that a cancer diagnosis and treatment can result in considerable emotional consequences for patients, yet the referral rate to both services was extremely low. Only very visibly distressed patients were being referred to the service. The “Distress Thermometer” (DT), a distress screening tool, was introduced as a pilot project with day care and inpatient oncology patients of St Vincent ' s University Hospital, Dublin, in an effort to improve the identification, management and treatment of psychological distress in oncology patients. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of this new intervention.

The Psycho-oncology service in conjunction with the Medical Social Work Department and Nursing Management at St Vincent ' s University Hospital, Dublin, initiated a Distress Education Management and Training Programme (DEMP). The initiative involved providing a training programme for oncology nursing staff and the introduction of a distress-screening tool for patients. In 1998, the DT was developed and validated for evaluation of distress (and depression) in cancer. It was adopted into recommendations made by the US National Comprehensive Cancer Network. The DT is a simple, self-report, pencil and paper measure consisting of a line with a 0-10 scale anchored at the zero point with “No distress” and at scale point ten with “Extreme distress”. Patients are given the instruction, “How distressed have you been during the past week on a scale of 0-10”? Patients indicated their level of distress with a mark on the scale. Patients scoring 4 or above were regarded as requiring intervention. The DT includes a problem checklist. The patient is asked to identify those problems from the checklist which are contributing to their score. The use of the DT was evaluated through interviews with patients and professionals.

Patients who scored four or above (38 per cent of patients), were seen by the Oncology Social Worker for psychosocial assessment and mental health triage. Patients who scored above a certain level (usually above 12/20) in the clinical range on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (3 per cent) were referred to Psycho-oncology. That 38 per cent of oncology patients required intervention from a specialist service accurately reflects international findings on the rate of distress among cancer patients.

Assessment of cancer patients ' distress levels in a structured and planned manner with a Distress Thermometer, as recommended by best international practice, works very effectively and should be considered for all cancer out-patients This will have implications in terms of staff that will be required to manage such a service.

This was the first time that this internationally recognised tool was used to such an extent and to positive effect in an Irish context.

This study investigates the impact of temporary employment on various forms of financial distress for firms during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The authors apply a logit model to evaluate the differences in the probabilities of experiencing financial distress for firms with or without temporary reemployment and for firms with different intensities of temporary workers. As an additional test, an ordinal logistic model is applied to reflect different degrees of financial distress.

Our main results indicate that firms with temporary employment are more likely to experience financial distress than firms without temporary employment, regardless of the severity of financial distress. Among firms with temporary employment, our analysis suggests that a firm’s likelihood of experiencing financial distress depends on its relative share (quantile) of temporary workers.

Our findings provide valuable insights for evaluating the impact of temporary employment on firms’ vulnerability during the COVID-19 crisis and suggest strategies for firms to enhance resilience to similar future crises.

Our study is the first one that explores the relationship between temporary employment and financial distress. Firms around the world have been pursuing flexible labor to improve resilience and firm performance. The pandemic may further ramify this trend, creating a future “new normal” regarding employment relationships, job segmentation and gender equality in the job market. This article adds a new dimension to the evaluation of the new normal, which may help firms evaluate the consequences of temporary employment, especially in times of crisis.

Utilizing the theoretical foundation of the stimulus-organism-response framework, the present work developed and investigated a conceptual model. The work explores the effects of perceived risk of COVID-19 on tourists' choice hesitation and choice confidence. Furthermore, it examines the impacts of choice hesitation and choice confidence on psychological distress, which, in turn, influences purchase intentions and risk-protective behavior. Additionally, the study assesses the boundary effects of vulnerability on the association between choice hesitation, choice confidence, and psychological distress.

An online survey was administered in China during COVID-19 to assess the postulated hypotheses. We collected 491 responses using purposive sampling, and covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) was performed to investigate the relationships.

Results show that the perceived risk of COVID-19 positively influences the choice hesitation and negatively impact choice confidence. It was also found that choice hesitation and choice confidence positively developed psychological distress, which, in turn, negatively triggered purchase intentions and positively developed risk-protective behavior. Additionally, perceived vulnerability had a significant moderating impact on the proposed relationships, strengthening psychological distress.

In the current context, this study measures bipolar behavioral outcomes using the S-O-R model. Because cognitive processes influence participation in health preventative behavior during the spread of diseases, we highlighted how the perception of risk and vulnerability to a pandemic serves as a reliable indicator of certain behaviors. This study advances understanding of how the psychological mindset of tourists copes with such circumstances. Due to the pandemic, tourists face limitations in their choices and are placing greater emphasis on adopting protective measures to mitigate associated risks.

This preliminary investigation aims to examine the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patients and staff within a high secure service.

To discern the connection between COVID-19-related distress and multiple factors, the study involved 31 patients and 34 staff who completed assessments evaluating coping strategies, resilience, emotional reactivity, ward atmosphere and work-related aspects.

Results demonstrated that around a third of staff (31.2%) experienced COVID-19-related distress levels that met the clinical cut-off for possible post-traumatic stress disorder. Emotional reactivity, staff shortages, secondary traumatic stress and coping strategies were all positively correlated with COVID-19-related-distress. Resilience was negatively associated with distress, thus acting as a potential mitigating factor. In comparison, the prevalence of distress among patients was low (3.2%).

The authors postulate that increased staff burdens during the pandemic may have led to long-term distress, while their efforts to maintain minimal service disruption potentially shielded patients from psychological impacts, possibly lead to staff “problem-focused coping burnout”. This highlights the need for in-depth research on the enduring impacts of pandemics, focusing on mechanisms that intensify or alleviate distress. Future studies should focus on identifying effective coping strategies for crisis situations, such as staff shortages, and strategies for post-crisis staff support.

The authors postulate that the added burdens on staff during the pandemic might have contributed to their distress. Nonetheless, staff might have inadvertently safeguarded patients from the pandemic’s psychological ramifications by providing a “service of little disruption”, potentially leading to “problem-focused coping burnout”. These findings underscore the imperative for further research capturing the enduring impacts of pandemics, particularly scrutinising factors that illuminate the mechanisms through which distress is either intensified or alleviated across different groups. An avenue worth exploring is identifying effective coping styles for pandemics.

A small number of studies have suggested that parental divorce may manifest during adulthood as low-level emotional distress characterized by painful feelings such as sadness or self-blame. In light of the paucity of existing research on distress, the current study was designed to assess the presence of distress among a sample of young adults with divorced parents and to ascertain whether painful feelings accurately describe the primary ongoing consequences of parental divorce.

Semi-structured interviews with a sample of university students were conducted to investigate the concept of distress after parental divorce. Interview guides were designed to elicit responses about ways that parental divorce continues to influence the lives of young adults.

The study identified a set of ongoing stressors that do not overlap substantially with previous measures of post-divorce distress and that are often rooted in logistical difficulties. Three specific sources of distress are discussed: family coordination difficulties, struggles balancing the politics of parental expectations about time with their children, and perceptions of family fragmentation. These sources of distress frequently originate in the physical separation of parents’ households. Interviewees reported spending extra time and energy arranging family visits. Their choices about visiting parents frequently led to both feelings of guilt about the allocation of family time and a reduced sense of family cohesion. Ongoing logistical difficulties were much more commonly cited by young adults than painful feelings.

This qualitative investigation of distress suggests a significant re-orientation toward our understanding of the consequences of parental divorce is needed.

This chapter proposes a more holistic approach to understanding work stress by incorporating eustress, the positive response to stressors. We begin by casting the study of eustress as part of a contemporary movement in both psychology and organizational behavior that accentuates the positive aspects of human adaptation and functioning. We discuss the development of the concept of eustress, and provide extensive evidence, both psychological and physiological, for the purpose of developing an explicit construct definition. An exploratory study of hospital nurses is presented as an initial test of our holistic model of stress. We conclude by asserting that there must exist a complement to coping with distress such that rather than preventing or resolving the negative side of stress, individuals savor the positive side of stress.

Organizational approaches to racial inequality have provided contextual insight into a host of traditional stratification outcomes (e.g., hiring, earnings, authority). This chapter extends the organizational approach by drawing on the health-stress framework to explore how organizational context affects experiential and health-related outcomes – discrimination, social support, and psychological distress. Drawing on a sample of Black workers in the United States, we examine the relationship between workplace racial composition and psychological distress, as well as two potential mediators – racial discrimination and workplace social support. Our findings reveal that psychological distress is similar for Black workers in token (<25% Black coworkers), tilted other race (25–49.99% Black coworkers), and tilted same race (50–74.99% Black coworkers) job contexts. Workers in Black-dominated jobs (>75% Black coworkers), however, experience significantly less psychological distress than other compositional thresholds, net of individual, job, and workplace characteristics. This relationship is not explained by either racial discrimination experiences or supervisor and coworker social support. This finding suggests that researchers need to theorize and examine other protective factors stemming from coworker racial similarity.