D.Comm. / The aim of my study was to attain new insights into the dynamic interactions between the family and the workplace. Furthermore, the aim of this research project is to contribute methodologically, theoretically, practically and scientifically to the theme of workplace and family stress. For the purpose of my study I believe that a qualitative as opposed to a quantitative methodology is more appropriate. Literature reviewed on these methodologies, led me to the opinion that I would be in a position to express myself fully, with my own worldview, which I would probably not have been able to do with quantitative research. A contemporary qualitative research method was used to ultimately develop my substantive model. My unit of analysis was people from an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions provider. I made use of semistandardised interviews to gather my data and paid attention to the considerations for effective qualitative interviewing and preparation as pointed out by Mason (1996). I ended up interviewing six individuals after reaching a point of saturation. This is the point where I ascertained that the interviews could not contribute meaningfully to the information that I had already gathered with regard to the categories. I followed the law as laid down by the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA). The interviews were transcribed and I commenced with the Grounded Theory process. Furthermore, I adhered to the guidelines for assessing the quality of my study as indicated by Lincoln and Guba (1985) and Marshall and Rossman (1999). The results of this Grounded Theory process enabled me in the design of my substantive model. Three core dimensions emerged from the design process, namely, the job, the family and the personality, which I termed the internal environment. These dimensions formed the central part of the substantive model. The substantive model depicted the unidirectional interactions of the core dimensions mentioned. The model also depicts the external environment and the universe as influencing forces on the core dimensions. Even though the external environment and the universe were not part of the scope of the study I felt that it was necessary to include them in the model. In essence the model described my definion of the family setting, namely: “The family setting is a complex, meaningful system of unidirectional interactions between the family, the job, the personalities, the external environment and the universe of all the individuals concerned” (as defined by the author). In closure, I believe that the theoretical, methodological and practical, contributions derived from this study will add significant value to further exploration of this topic.

M.A. / One of the most perturbing factors of South Africa's communal existence is the high rates of violent crime and the high incidence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder JPTSD) amongst all communities. Crime-related PTSD is a problem of epidemic proportions. Therapeutic and mental health services for trauma related counselling are limited and in some communities non-existent. It is therefor essential to develop preventative programmes aimed at equipping individuals with the skills to avoid possible trauma-inducing situations such as vehicle hijacking. It was decided to utilise a vehicle hijacking management and -prevention programme developed especially for the purposes of a "short course" intervention approach. The experimental intervention was performed to provide skill and increase levels of personal competence in handling, or, ideally, avoiding a hijacking. A sample group of 35 was selected out of a white upper middle-class, middle aged population. The subjects were exposed to the intervention. The results indicated that the intervention produced significant positive change in self-efficacy beliefs in the experimental groups. Possible limitations of the study were sample sizes and the inherent nature of the groups. It was not possible to examine the relationship between sex and efficacy beliefs. No non-whites subjects were utilised and thus the relationship between race and efficacy beliefs was also not examined. It is recommended that the intervention programme be refined further and validated scientifically in order to be utilised in future research.

Magister Artium (Psychology) - MA(Psych) / The purpose of the study was to investigate levels of occupational stress experienced by police officers and the strategies used to cope with stress. The study findings are based on a sample of 104 police officers from six police stations within the Cape Town area. The results indicated that participants have been in the police service for an average of 7.72 years, and have worked an average of 4.8 years at their present stations. The majority of participants are between 26-30 years old (31%), male (75%), married(51%), coloured (65%), constables (45%), Afrikaans speaking (47%), and have a matric qualification (70%). The Spielberger Police Stress Survey and the Brief COPE Inventory were used as data collection tools. The findings indicated that police officers were experiencing moderate levels of stress as an outcome of inherent and organisational occupational demands. Secondly, police officers were more likely to use problem-focussed coping strategies to manage occupational stress than maladaptive strategies. The limited use of avoidance coping strategies was surprising, given the elevated prevalence of both physical and psychological disorders within the police context. The results indicated no significant association between levels of distress and avoidance coping strategies. The potential adverse outcomes of severe stress within this group affect society in general more than stress from most other occupational groups. Addressing persistent stress within the organisation is imperative in ensuring a well-functioning police service, and ultimately, a secure and healthy society. / South Africa

Magister Commercii - MCom / The acceptance into university is particularly more challenging than gaining admission into primary and secondary institutions of learning. This is due to inter alia the limited amount of enrolment positions available at universities in relation to the number of students who complete their studies at secondary institutions. First year students experience a great change in curriculum from secondary school to tertiary education. These students experience a great deal of stress in terms of dealing with their new academic demands and their personal physiological developmental milestones. It is at this time that the students are fighting for the autonomy from the control of their parents or guardians as they strive to be independent. It is also at this stage that most students drop-out of tertiary education institutions. It is therefore important to understand how the demographic factors assist these students in dealing with stress. The purpose of the study was to answer the questionnaire, "Are there gender, age, home language, faculty and socioeconomic differences in the experience of stress among students at a selected tertiary institution in the Western Cape province of South Africa?" The research study was conducted using students from a university in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. The total number of respondents who completed the questionnaire was 306 (n= 306). The respondents comprised of only first year university students from various faculties. The participants in the study completed the SASS which comprised of 50 questions. In addition, they also completed a biographical section which comprised of the respondents' age, gender, home language, socio-economic status and faculty. An item analysis was conducted on the all of the SASS subscales (Affective, Behavioural, Cognitive and Physiological) using SPSS version 23. Subsequently, an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was performed on the subscales to ensure the uni-dimensionality of the subscales. A Pearson correlational test was performed to determine the relationship between age and stress since age was defined as a continuous variable. An independent samples t-test was conducted to determine if differences in mean scoresexist between gender and stress. An Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to assess stress differences in terms of home language, socio-economic status and faculty. The analyses were performed using SPSS version 23. Based on the result we were able to conclude that there is no statistical significance between gender and stress; stress and language; socio-economic status and stress; as well as between faculty and stress. Furthermore, it was found that there is no significant relationship between age and stress. The practical implications of the study and limitations are discussed as well as the direction for future studies.

The objective of this study was to identify the strategies (primary, secondary and tertiary) that can be employed to manage work related stress. A questionnaire, was designed based on the strategies found in a literature study on the topic and used to gather inputs from academic head of department and lecturers. The questionnaire was delivered by hand to 18 potential respondents. All 16 questionnaires returned could be used. These were processed and analysed using Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. In general support was found for primary stress management strategies pertaining to work schedule, work load and work pace, job content, career development, the home-work relationship and work environment. Lifestyle management in terms of physical activities and a healthy diet were regarded as the preferred secondary stress management strategies. The strategies related to lifestyle management which were identified from the literature study were physical activities, healthy diet, relaxation techniques such as meditation and yoga. Support was found for tertiary stress management strategies but most of the respondents were not sure if their organisation offered any wellness, employee assistance or stress management programmes. Wellness programmes were indicated as a strategy that will have the most impact on reducing work related stress and employee assistance programmes (EAPs) ranked there after. Overall respondents indicated that they did not perceive their work as very stressful.

The purpose of this study was to explore the nature of the influential factors of teacher stress in the special education settings: specifically, some cognitive aspects of the coping process. The importance of the study was summarized in terms of the reported incidence of teacher stress and the need to develop more effective stress intervention and prevention programs. A two-part study was designed to determine the differences in the coping processes of high- and low-stressed teachers in terms of particular cognitive variables. In the first part, high- and low-stressed teachers were differentiated on the basis of the responses of approximately 150 teachers to the Teacher Stress Inventory. In the second part, eleven subjects from each of the low- and high-stressed groups were interviewed. The interviews involved the recollection and report of stressful teaching-related incidents. Teachers were asked to rate each of their incidents in terms of self-evaluation, self-efficacy, outcome evaluation, and incident resolution. As well, they were asked to describe their coping behaviours and to explain what the consequences of the situations meant to them. Statistical and descriptive comparisons were made to determine if there were differences in the responses of the high- and low-stressed teachers. The most significant results of the study were that low-stressed teachers attributed more positive meaning to the consequences of stressful incidents, and that the responses of the low-stressed teachers reflected established philosophies and attitudes. These results have implications for counsellors who are interested in developing intervention and prevention programs and for individuals who conduct teacher-training programs. As well, teachers who feel ineffective at coping with stress are encouraged to seek guidance and to gain awareness of how they contribute to their experience of stress. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

Orientador: Sandra Leal Calais / Banca: Maria de Lourdes Merighi Tabaquim / Banca: Carmen Maria Bueno Neme / Resumo: O tema estresse tem sido amplamente estudado e o ambiente de trabalho tem se tornado um espaço de grande incidência deste fenômeno. Os profissionais que atuam em Serviços de Atendimento Móvel de Urgência (SAMU) estão expostos diariamente a situações emergenciais e a diferentes eventos estressores que têm reflexo em seu desempenho laboral e na vida pessoal e familiar. O desenvolvimento de alternativas que visem a diminuição do sofrimento físico e emocional e que promovam melhorias no ambiente organizacional e na qualidade de vida do trabalhador faz-se necessário. É neste contexto que se insere o objetivo deste trabalho, que buscou identificar os efeitos de um programa de intervenção sobre a vulnerabilidade ao estresse e as estratégias de enfrentamento em profissionais de um Serviço de Atendimento Móvel de Urgência. Participaram 26 profissionais que fazem parte do SAMU de uma cidade do interior paulista, sendo: um médico, seis técnicos de enfermagem, cinco enfermeiros, cinco condutores socorristas, quatro auxiliares de serviços gerais, quatro técnicos auxiliares de regulação médica e um auxiliar administrativo. O programa foi composto por oito encontros desenvolvidos com base em discussões teóricas e atividades práticas, que abordaram temas relacionados ao estresse. As reuniões ocorreram no local de trabalho, durante o horário de expediente dos participantes e foram estruturadas de forma a fornecer informações e estimular a aprendizagem de novas habilidades comportamentais e pr... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Stress is a topic that has been widely studied, and the workplace has become a setting where its incidence is very high. Mobile Urgent Care staff is daily exposed to emergency situations and different stressor events that impact on job performance as well on personal and family life. The development of alternatives aimed at reducing physical and emotional suffering to improve the working environment and the worker's quality of life is necessary. Within this framework, the objective of this study was to assess the effects of a stress vulnerability intervention program and coping strategies on the staff of a Mobile Urgent Care Unit (SAMU). Twenty-six SAMU staff members working in a town in São Paulo state, Brazil, participated in the study. Participants included a physician, six orderlies, five nurses, five urgent care drivers, four caretakers, four auxiliary medical regulatory technicians, and one administrative assistant. The program consisted of eight meetings that included stress-related discussions and practical activities. The meetings, held at the participants' workplace during working hours, were designed to be informative and to stimulate the learning of new behavioral skills and coping practices. The assessment of the intervention was enabled by dedicating the first and the last meeting to data collection. An identification questionnaire, the Work Stress Vulnerability Scale (EVENT), and the Coping Inventory developed by Folkman and Lazarus were used. The study group ... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

Bakgrund: Arbetsrelaterad stress förekommer inom sjuksköterskans arbete. Vårdkvalitén riskerar att försämras när sjuksköterskan upplever stress i sitt arbete. Sjuksköterskans kärnkompetenser innebär bland annat att sjuksköterskan ska ge god omvårdnad samt mäta och följa upp vårdkvalitén. Den teoretiska referensramen som speglar litteraturstudien är det vårdvetenskapliga begreppet vårdande möten utifrån Dahlberg och Segesten (2010). Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva hur sjuksköterskors arbetsrelaterade stress påverkar patientsäkerheten inom slutenvård. Metod: Litteraturstudien baserades på tio artiklar, kvalitativa, kvantitativa och mixad metod. Databaserna Cinahl och Pubmed användes för att söka artiklar. Kvalitetsgranskning av artiklar utfördes med Carlsson och Eimans kvalitetsgranskningsmall. En integrerad analys användes i dataanalysen enligt Kristenssons metod. Resultat: Litteraturstudiens resultat redovisades i fem kategorier: ”konsekvenser av tidsbrist”, ”konsekvenser av arbetsbelastning”, ”konsekvenser av sjuksköterskans stressupplevelse”, ”bristande kommunikation” och ”misstag inom omvårdnad och kliniskt arbete”. Slutsats: Sjuksköterskor inom slutenvården upplever arbetsrelaterad stress på grund av olika orsaker. Arbetsrelaterad stress påverkar patientsäkerheten. Hög arbetsbelastning ligger till grund för sjuksköterskan tidsbrist. Konsekvenser av hög arbetsbelastning och tidsbrist kan vara vårdskador. Mötet mellan sjuksköterska och patient uteblir vilket försämrar vårdkvalitén för patienterna. Författarna anser att orsakerna till sjuksköterskors arbetsrelaterade stress ska uppmärksammas för att främja patientsäkerhet inom sjuksköterskans arbete.

MEd (Teacher Education) / Department of Professional Education / See the attached abstract below

This thesis set out to investigate how heat stress may affect the oxidative balance and influence the activity patterns of animals. The use of wild animals has been scarce in testing the effects of heat stress on the oxidative balance of animals, especially under a simulated heat wave condition. Animals are expected to differ in their oxidative stress in response to heat stress, depending on their thermotolerance and the life history trait of activity is tested here as an indirect measure of thermotolerance. Therefore, two rodent species within the same family were used for experiments, one with a nocturnal activity rhythm and the other with a crepuscular/diurnal activity rhythm. Animals were tested firstly in a laboratory whole-body hyperthermia experiment, followed by a 3-day heat stress test with extreme temperatures. Following these experiments, animals were subjected to a simulated heat wave to determine how ecologically relevant temperatures may influence not just the oxidative balance of individuals, but also their activity patterns and water drinking in the absence of a microclimate. In order to determine the oxidative balance of individuals under control and heat treatment conditions, markers of oxidative damage and antioxidant defense were used. Markers for lipid and protein oxidation and a marker of enzymatic antioxidant activity and total non-enzymatic antioxidant activity were investigated in the liver, kidney, brain and heart. During the simulated heat wave, activity was measured with video recordings, with the videos analysed for water drinking behaviour as counts and time spent drinking water. During the whole-body hyperthermia experiment without the extreme temperatures, both species demonstrated no significant changes in liver oxidative markers except for high oxidative damage in the kidney for R. dilectus and high oxidative damage in the brain for M. namaquensis. During the 3-day acclimation experiment with extreme temperatures, both species were oxidatively stressed in the heart, with significant oxidative damage in the kidney for R. dilectus and significant oxidative damage in the liver for M. namaquensis. During the simulated heat wave, both species showed no significant changes in liver oxidative balance. The kidney was oxidatively stressed for M. namaquensis, with both species exhibiting signs of oxidative stress in the brain. Animals did not shift their activity during the heat wave, but rhythms demonstrated signs of disruption during the simulated heat wave. Activity increased during the day for both species during the heat wave. This was due to animals being uncomfortable and drinking more water. For the nocturnal species, the frequency of drinking water increased during the day and during the night during the simulated heat wave. The crepuscular species only increased in the amount of time spent drinking water during the day during the simulated heat wave. Overall, the nocturnal species was more susceptible to heat stress inducing either increased oxidative damage or reduced antioxidant defense compared to the crepuscular species, but this was tissue specific and also dependant on the experimental condition. It is recommended that future studies directly measure the reduced: oxidised state of individuals in addition to markers of defense and damage. / Thesis (PhD (Zoology))--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Zoology and Entomology / PhD (Zoology) / Unrestricted