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The Society for Occupational Health Psychology (SOHP) is a learned society with as focal point the "generation, dissemination, and application of scientific knowledge in order to improve worker health and well-being."[1] The goals of the society are threefold. First, SOHP promotes psychological research on important questions pertaining to occupational health. Second, SOHP encourages the application of research to improve the health and safety of people who work. Third, the society works to enhance undergraduate and graduate training in the field of occupational health psychology.
SOHP, together with the American Psychological Association (APA) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), organizes every two years an international conference dedicated to research and practice in occupational health psychology. The organization also provides resources that are useful in research,[2] teaching,[3] and practice.[4] SOHP and APA sponsor an online listserv to promote discussion and information sharing regarding occupational health psychology.[5] SOHP also publishes a newsletter at least twice per year in order to keep members abreast of organizational developments.[6] Through an arrangement SOHP has with APA, members of the Society receive a subscription to the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology. Beginning with an agreement in 2008, the Society coordinates member benefits and international conferences with the European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology (EA-OHP).[7][8]
SOHP is the first organization in the United States to be devoted to occupational health psychology. The development of OHP as a discipline within psychology and the origins of the society are closely linked.
The term "occupational health psychology" first appeared in print when, in 1986, George Everly, Jr. used the expression in a book chapter[9] in which he showed that it is possible to integrate psychology and occupational health. The field of OHP advanced with the advent of its first journal, Work & Stress, in 1987.
The development of the society owed a great deal to APA and NIOSH. APA and NIOSH jointly organized an International Conference on Work, Stress, and Health in Washington, DC in 1990. At the conference, the individuals who would form the core of SOHP got to know each other. Beginning with the conference in 1990, APA and NIOSH arranged a series of Work, Stress, and Health conferences in two- to three-year cycles (now two-year cycles).
In 1996, with the help of some of the conference organizers, APA began publication of the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, which added momentum to the advance of the field, particularly in North America. EA-OHP was established in 1999, which helped to further OHP in Europe. In the US, veteran occupational health psychologists arrived at the idea that the best way to train the next generation was to create graduate programs in OHP. Beginning in the mid-1990’s, APA and NIOSH began to furnish seed money to support graduate training in OHP. By 2001, there were OHP graduate programs at 11 US universities.
With momentum growing, the first organizational meeting devoted to the creation of a society was held at the University of South Florida in 2001. Over the next four years a series of organizational meetings took place that helped establish the society. In 2005, the Society for Occupational Health Psychology was formally founded, with Leslie Hammer of Portland State University as president. In 2006, the society began to play a role, although a small one, in organizing the Work, Stress, and Health conference held that year. Two years later, the society became a full partner with APA and NIOSH in organizing the Work, Stress, and Health conferences. In 2008, the society began to coordinate activities, including conference scheduling, with its European counterpart, EA-OHP.[10][11] More detailed descriptions of the historical development of the society have been published in 2007[12] and 2009.[13]