Job stress and psychosomatic health complaints among Dutch truck drivers: a re‐evaluation of Karasek's interactive job demand–control model

Karasek's Job Demand–Control Model (JD‐C Model) assumes that decision latitude (control) moderates the impact of job demands on health and well‐being. It was proposed that lack of evidence for this core ‘interaction hypothesis’ was a consequence of an inadequate conceptualization of decision latitude. Taking this proposition into consideration, we re‐evaluated the JD‐C Model using a sample of 517 Dutch truck drivers. Regression analyses revealed a significant job demands by job control interaction effect as well as significant main effects of the two independent variables on psychosomatic health complaints. However, the magnitude of the interaction effect was very small. Therefore, it was concluded that the interaction hypothesis was not supported in the present study. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Job stress and sleep disorders: findings from the Helsinki Heart Study

Sleep disorders and daytime fatigue are common health problems in middle‐aged and elderly populations, and they vary greatly between occupational groups. There is widespread evidence that working hours and job stress may explain these differences. In this study the relationship of job demands and job control to sleep disorders was investigated. The subjects were 3079 middle‐aged working men. The data were collected with a questionnaire including scales on sleep quality, job stress and lifestyle. The main effects of job demands and job control on insomnia, sleep deprivation and daytime fatigue were highly significant. Some interaction effects of the stressors were also noted. Lifestyle factors were not found as significant mediators or confounders of the effects. The associations between the stressors and sleep disorders were greater in the daytime workers than in the shift workers. The main conclusion is that job stressors have a direct relationship to sleep disorders, independent of working hours and lifestyle. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Occupational stress and gender: a cross‐cultural study

The aim of this study was to examine the interaction of gender and culture in managers' experiences of work stress. Data were collected on sources of occupational stress (stressors), coping and consequences of occupational stress (strains) from male and female managers from four countries—South Africa, the United Kingdom, United States of America and Taiwan. Few significant results were found for the interaction between country and gender on any of the measures. When the sample as a whole was examined, however, there were also virtually no differences in sources of work stress, but there were differences in the consequences of work stress for male and female managers. The implications of finding a lack of differences in sources of work stress for males and females combined with finding differences in strains for male and female managers are discussed. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An occupational study of employees with VDU-associated symptoms: the importance of stress

Health problems associated with work with video display units (VDUs) are a growing public health concern. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the association between the psychosocial work environment and such complaints. We followed 47 white-collar employees with and without VDU-associated skin complaints during one regular work day and a day of leisure in otherwise identical electromagnetic environments. VDU workers with skin symptoms reported higher control over work processes but nevertheless experienced more extreme job stress. We postulate that employees suffering from cognitive failure during VDU work develop ‘techno-stress’. In the future, considerably more attention needs to be directed to the occupational health consequences of new technologies.     

Work‐related dimensions and job stress: the moderating effect of coping strategies

The aim of this paper is to examine the moderating effect of coping strategies on the relationship between work‐related dimensions (i.e. work routinization, role clarity, relationships with others and promotional opportunity) and job stress. For the study, a convenience sample of 385 white‐collar employees, full‐time employed in various types of private sector organizations, belong to different industries and ranked at different levels within the organizations responded. The factor analysis led to identify four broad coping strategies that individuals use, namely, individual positive coping, workplace initiatives, workplace informal support and individual destructive coping. It was found that both individual positive coping and workplace initiatives moderate the relationship between ‘relationships with others’ and job stress. However, none of the coping strategies have moderated the relationship between job stress and the other three work‐related dimensions. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Coping with coping strategies: how distributed teams and their members deal with the stress of distance,time zones and culture

The changing world of work is increasing demands on workers through greater need for flexibility in global collaboration. This multiple‐case study uses a qualitative research approach to study context‐specific job stressors and coping in ten geographically distributed work teams. Results demonstrate the complex and dynamic nature of the stress‐coping process and how coping strategies, adapted to manage stress‐evoking uncertainty and ambiguity in distributed work, created secondary sources of psychological strain to individuals. The main strategies for managing the uncertainty and ambiguity in the studied teams were extensive emailing, travelling to face‐to‐face meetings and extending workdays to collaborate simultaneously across time zones. Continuously used, these coping strategies created work overload and strain. Experienced workers, who had good self‐management skills, succeeded in coping with these secondary sources of strain by prioritizing and setting clear limits for workload. Less‐experienced workers were overloaded and needed more social support from their leaders and teammates. The study proposes that distributed team members rely heavily on individual coping resources, because spatial and temporal distance hinders or even precludes the mobilization of social resources related to emotional, instrumental and informational social support. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The idiosyncratic construction of stress: examples from medical work settings

This paper is concerned with the subjective understanding of the work context and how it becomes stressful for an individual. It seeks to establish the individual dimensions of each person's situation in terms of the factors that are perceived to be stressful and also the ideas that underlie the meaning of stress for each person. Five case studies from medical work settings are used in this idiographic analysis of work stress. The situational elements relevant to each person were identified for a psychiatrist, theatre nurse, paediatrician, neurologist and optometry assistant. Repertory grid analysis was then used to extract the underlying constructs that gave meaning to stress for each person. Results indicated completely idiosyncratic perceptions of the meaning of stress and diverse situational determinants. It is argued that current approaches to theorising about stress in terms of general elements and common perceptions are challenged by these findings. Five separate cluster analyses of constructs and situations emphasised the vastly different situations or circumstances for each individual. In contrast to the findings of nomothetic research, a theoretical perspective evolving from the personal construction of the situation may be the significant determinant of anxiety and stressful reactions for each person. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stress in the offshore oil and gas exploration and production industries: An organizational approach to stress control

Many researchers have pointed out the limitations of stress management strategies which aim solely to help the individual employee cope with stress in the work environment. In this study a stress audit approach to stress control was used to identify sources of stress which might be either reduced or eliminated by organizational change strategies. Three hundred and ten males (92 per cent British) on 97 installations working in the UK offshore oil and gas exploration and production industries took part in a stress audit. By using interview (N = 50) and questionnaire techniques, personnel were monitored over an 18-month period. Factor analysis and multiple regression analyses were used to identify sources of negative stress in the offshore environment. In this article, some of the stressors associated with job dissatisfaction are discussed and a variety of methods, including work redesign, are recommended as stress control strategies.     

Job stress and work attitudes between temporary and permanently employed nurses

The authors examine job stress and work attitudes among temporary (i.e. fixed‐term) and permanently employed nurses, using data collected via a structured questionnaire filled out by 249 nurses in two hospitals in northern Taiwan. Temporary nurses in the sample were generally younger, less experienced, unmarried, or married without children. Questionnaire responses also indicate that they suffer from greater job stress and lower affective organizational and occupational commitments compared to their permanent counterparts. A positive correlation was found between perceived contract breaches and job stress and a negative correlation was identified between perceived contract breaches and affective occupational commitment. In both cases the effects were more intense among full‐time, permanently employed nurses. The paper ends with a discussion of implications for decision makers and researchers of non‐standard work arrangements. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Job stress and employee well‐being: a cross‐cultural empirical study

This study examined the relationship between job stress and employee well‐being among teachers in Canada and Pakistan. Job stress was operationalized in terms of perceived experiences at the job which were chronic in nature. Employee well‐being was operationalized in terms of burnout and its three dimensions (emotional exhaustion, lack of accomplishment and depersonalization), intrinsic motivation, job involvement and turnover intention. Data were collected by means of a structured questionnaire from teachers in metropolitan cities in Canada (N=420) and Pakistan (N=335). Pearson correlation and moderated multiple regression were used to analyze the data. In both countries, job stress was significantly related to a number of well‐being variables. Moderated multiple regression did not support the role of gender as a moderator of the stress–well‐being relationship. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stress in teaching: a study of occupational stress and its determinants among Italian schoolteachers

This paper presents the findings of an investigation into stress among Italian teachers conducted by means of the Teacher Stress Questionnaire elaborated by Travers and Cooper. The questionnaire was submitted to 320 southern Italy teachers drawn from a cross‐section of school types. Data were discussed in order to highlight some features of teacher stress peculiar to the Italian sample with respect to those that emerged in the British validation of the questionnaire. In this perspective a comparison was drawn between the intensity and quality of mental ill‐health, the sources of job pressure, the intensity and quality of job satisfaction and the coping strategies adopted by teachers as emerged in this study and in the British study; and between the most predictive dimensions of mental ill‐health highlighted from the present study with respect to the British study. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How time‐flexible work policies can reduce stress,improve health,and save money

Data from the US National Study of the Changing Workforce (a nationally representative sample of working adults) were used to test the hypothesis that employees with time‐flexible work policies reported less stress, higher levels of commitment to their employer, and reduced costs to the organization because of fewer absences, fewer days late, and fewer missed deadlines. The model provides persuasive findings for the hypothesized relationship and offers important suggestions to employers who can translate reduced illness into savings and increased commitment into better employees. Contrary to expectations, there were no gender differences in how employees responded to flexible work policies, showing that gender‐neutral work policies make financial sense. By showing that time‐flexible work policies provide employer benefits, we can hasten the change to a new worker model—one that is family and employer friendly. The business case for family‐friendly work policies may prove to be the best tool we have in changing how we live and work. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A study of occupational stress,job satisfaction and quitting intention in Hong Kong firms: the role of locus of control and organizational commitment

The authors investigated the direct and moderating effects of locus of control and organizational commitment on the relationship of sources of stress with psychological distress, job satisfaction and quitting intention of 122 employees (66 males, 54 females, two unclassified) working in Hong Kong firms. The instruments included parts of Occupational Stress Indicator-2 measuring sources of stress and job satisfaction, Work Locus of Control and the nine-item Organizational Commitment Questionnaire. In addition, 10 items measuring psychological distress and two items measuring quitting intention were constructed by the first author. A series of validation procedures were conducted, and the authors concluded that the instruments used were valid to be used on Chinese employees in Hong Kong. The results of the study suggested that locus of control and organizational commitment had strong direct effects (externals were dissatisfied with the job itself and thought of quitting the job quite often; employees who had a high commitment had higher job satisfaction) and moderating effects (the stressor–strain relationships were significant in externals, and commitment buffered most of the stressor–strain relationships). © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Job Stress in the United Kingdom: Are Small and Medium‐Sized Enterprises and Large Enterprises Different?

This paper examines the relationships between firm size and employees' experience of work stress. We used a matched employer–employee dataset (Workplace Employment Relations Survey 2011) that comprises of 7182 employees from 1210 private organizations in the United Kingdom. Initially, we find that employees in small and medium‐sized enterprises experience lower level of overall job stress than those in large enterprises, although the effect disappears when we control for individual and organizational characteristics in the model. We also find that quantitative work overload, job insecurity and poor promotion opportunities, good work relationships and poor communication are strongly associated with job stress in the small and medium‐sized enterprises, whereas qualitative work overload, poor job autonomy and employee engagements are more related with larger enterprises. Hence, our estimates show that the association and magnitude of estimated effects differ significantly by enterprise size. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Longitudinal relations between psychosocial work environment,stress and the development of musculoskeletal pain

Exposure to psychosocial stressors at work is hypothesized to be related to the development of musculoskeletal pain through the mechanism of work‐related stress. This hypothesis has received support in cross‐sectional studies. Few longitudinal studies that specifically address this hypothesized mediating mechanism are however reported in the literature. The aim of the present study was to test this hypothesis in a longitudinal process model. A 3‐wave mixed occupations cohort‐study was performed with a baseline questionnaire survey in 2004; and with 2‐year follow‐ups in 2006 and 2008. A latent variable process model was tested using structural equation modeling. Since focus of the study was on the process of pain development, only those participants considered pain free at baseline were included (n = 1 133). The results indicate that exposure to high work demands may cause long‐term work‐related stress. The hypotheses that work demands and control influence the development of pain, and that this relation is mediated by work‐related stress were not supported. No indications of reversed causality were found. In order to further elucidate the hypothesized stress mechanism, future research needs to focus on the development of site‐specific musculoskeletal pain in longitudinal studies including repeated measures with shorter lags between measurement waves. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Job stress and satisfaction among nurses: individual differences

In a study involving 276 nurses in a large hospital in Northern Ireland, a comprehensive set of questionnaires was administered to assess multiple job‐related variables. Nurses in general appeared to display high scores on the stresses related to confidence and competency in role, home–work conflict, and organisational involvement (subscales which are themselves closely associated with demands in social interaction at work). These are stresses which were related to psychological well‐being. There were no gender differences on occupational stress or the health outcome variables. Age did emerge as significantly related to total stress and mental health (older nurses reporting more stress, and the younger nurses experiencing better psychological health). Grade of nursing was unrelated to job stress and outcome health variables, including work satisfaction. Although no differences were observed between wards/specialism and stress, differences were revealed along satisfaction, with maternity nurses (and intensive care nurses) displaying the highest level of satisfaction at work, and surgical (and medical) nurses showing the lowest. Finally, Type A emerged as a significant determinant of physical health, in contrast to internal locus of control, which was more related to mental health, (lower) occupational stress, and job satisfaction. No significant Type A×locus of control interactions were observed. The implications of these findings for nursing care are discussed. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Does loyalty protect Chinese workers from stress? The role of affective organizational commitment in the Greater China Region

The aim of this research was to test the direct and moderating effects of affective organizational commitment (AOC) on the work stressors—job satisfaction relationship among employees in the Greater China Region. A self‐administered survey was conducted to collect data from three major cities in the region, namely Beijing, Hong Kong and Taipei (n = 380). Three most important work stressors were assessed: heavy workload, lack of work autonomy and interpersonal conflict. We found that both work stressors and AOC were related to job satisfaction. Specifically, heavy workload, lack of autonomy and interpersonal conflict were negatively related to job satisfaction; whereas, AOC had a positive relation with job satisfaction. Furthermore, AOC moderated the interpersonal conflict—job satisfaction and the lack of autonomy—job satisfaction relationships. The present study thus found joint effects of work stressors and AOC (as buffers) on work attitudes among Chinese employees in the Greater China Region, encompassing three sub‐societies of mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Predictive validity of the strain components of the occupational stress indicator

This study analysed the intercorrelations between questionnaire data on job satisfaction, mental and physical health and objective data on incidence of, and days lost due to, sickness absence for 236 managers and 377 shopfloor workers. Analysis of all respondents showed significant correlations between the strain scales and sickness absence data, confirming the predictive validity of the scales. For managers, the strain scales correlated well with incidence of sickness absence, but not with days lost. For shopfloor workers, the strain scales correlated well, but the relationship with sickness absence data was more complex. The results suggested important differences between managers and shopfloor workers in their experiences of stress.     

The Relative Salience of Daily and Enduring Influences on Off‐Job Reactions to Work Stress

Work stress is an important determinant of employee health and wellness. The occupational health community is recognizing that one contributor to these relationships may be the presence of negative off‐job reactivity to work, which we argue involves continued thoughts directed towards work (cognitive reactivity), continued negative mood stemming from work (affective reactivity), and the alteration of post‐work behaviours in response to work factors (behavioural reactivity). We explored the relative contributions of daily work stressors, affective traits, and subjective job stress perceptions to negative off‐job reactivity. These relationships were evaluated in a study of hospital nurses (n = 75), who completed trait measures and then provided self‐assessments of daily work stress and off‐job reactions for four work days. The results of several multilevel analyses indicated that a main‐effects model best described the data when predicting cognitive, affective, and behavioural reactivity from daily work stressors, affective traits, and subjective job stress perceptions. A series of multilevel dominance analyses revealed that subjective job stress perceptions dominated the prediction of behavioural reactivity, while trait negative affect dominated the prediction of affective reactivity. Theoretical implications and the relative salience of daily and enduring contributors to negative off‐job reactivity are discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Work locus of control and its relationship to health and job satisfaction from a gender perspective

With its focus on gender, the aim of this study was to investigate the role of work locus of control (WLC) for job satisfaction and health in the context of occupational stress. Data were collected from 281 women and men at both managerial and non‐managerial level in a Swedish telecom company. As hypothesized, external WLC was positively related to stressors and symptoms of ill‐health, whereas it was negatively related to job satisfaction. These results applied for both women and men. Even though ANOVAs did not show a gender difference in WLC, the results of the hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that WLC was a significant predictor of both symptoms of ill‐health and job satisfaction, but only for women. Besides these main effects WLC also acted as a moderator in the stress–health relationship for women. This indicates that separate analyses for women and men are needed in order to investigate potential gender differences that might otherwise go unnoticed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.