Using lifestyle and coping to reduce job stress and improve health in ‘at risk’ office workers
✍ Scribed by Lindquist, Thalina L. ;Cooper, Cary L.
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1999
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 117 KB
- Volume
- 15
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0748-8386
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
This study assessed the eectiveness of an intervention programme which employed previously identi®ed lifestyle and coping strategies to reduce the subjective experience and eects of work-related stress. Employees (104) working in a government tax oce with identi®ed stress-related symptoms were randomized to enter an intervention group (52) or a control group (52). Pre-and post-programme questionnaire assessments of work-related stress, coping strategies, physical health and lifestyle as well as physiological assessments (blood pressure and body mass index) were used to evaluate changes following an 8-week programme implementation phase. The programme comprised four weekly workshops on stress and lifestyle education as well as stress-coping skills training, followed by individual counselling sessions and a personalized action plan. Control group members were oered the same programme after postprogramme assessment. There were no statistically signi®cant dierences between the intervention and control groups for stress and health indicators at post-programme. A 12-week post-intervention follow-up showed reductions in perceived workplace ( p 5 0.01) and home/work ( p 0.05) stress. The data suggest that relatively short interventions with individual follow-up can reduce perceptions of stress even where workplace stressors have not changed.