This research study aims to establish the level of success of a particular stress management programme conducted at Durban Metro Electricity. The study explores the levels of stress experienced by employees before and after attending the stress management programme. This required a pre- and posttest analysis. In addition, a t-test was conducted to ascertain significant statistical or quantitative changes in stress levels. The study also explores qualitative data that reflect the perceived stressors that employees feel they face in the workplace. Five different stressors emerged from the qualitative data: management problems, safety issues at work, staff attitude problems, stressful work tasks, and general job stress. The perceived symptoms of stress are physical, emotional and cognitive in nature. The t-test yielded a fifty percent stress reduction result. Whilst this is commendable, it is important to look at further avenues for stress reduction. It is recommended that a multidimensional approach to stress management be implemented in the organisation. It is maintained that it is not enough to train and equip employees with coping skills. Stress management within the organisation should include support systems and resources to help reduce stress. This refers to a system where managers, supervisors and staff come together to actively consider organisational structure, practice and dynamics so as to find creative solutions to reduce stress. The system should also include individual problem-focused stress 90unselling on a regular basis. By implementing stress management strategies beyond a three-day stress management programme, and by encouraging co-operation of management and employees, Durban Metro Electricity can bring about further reductions in stress levels. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.

Occupational stress of nurses has been widely researched, for example in specific health care units - intensive care, specific conditions - cancer. Personal characteristics like emotional involvement and depersonalisation of patients are also suggested as stressors for nurses. In South Africa the Department of Health has made a number of changes since 1994. One of the changes involved the restructuring of the different departments to unify the fragmented health services. No comparison study was found for professional and enrolled nurses. The objectives of this study were to determine the construct validity and internal consistency of the Nursing Stress Indicator (NSI) and to identify differences between occupational stressors of professional and enrolled nurses. A cross-sectional survey design was used. An random sample of professional nurses (N = 980) and enrolled (N = 800) nurses of seven of the nine provinces of South Africa were used. The NSI was developed as measuring instrument and administrated together with a biographical questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. Five internally consistent factors were extracted. The first factor was labelled Stress: Patient Care. It relates to stress because of the care nursing staff provide to patients. The second factor was labelled Stress: Job Demands, and refer to the demands associated with the work of the nurse. The third factor indicated a lack of support in the organisation as well as from supervisors and colleagues, and was labelled Stress: Lack of Support. The fourth factor was labelled Stress: Staff Issues, because it included item loadings on things like shortage of staff, and fellow workers not doing their job. The fifth factor contains items concerning working hours, especially overtime, and was labelled Stress: Overtime. The results indicated that a difference in stress levels exists between professional and enrolled nurses. Professional nurses' severity for the different stressors are higher on all five the extracted factors than those of the enrolled nurses. The sources of occupational stress for professional and enrolled nurses were almost the same. One source of stress for professional nurses that the enrolled nurses did not experience is management of staff. Professional nurses (compared with enrolled nurses) obtained practically significant higher scores on two stressors, namely stress because of making a mistake when treating a patient and stress because of disagreement with medical practitioners or colleagues concerning the treatment of a patient. Recommendations for future research were made. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.

9th German-Japanese Bridge Symposium, September 10-11, 2012, Kyoto, JAPAN (GJBS09)

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No description available.

<p>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&nbsp / 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.</p>

This empirical double-blind multi-centre empirical study assessed the sources of stress, stress-related symptoms, role of psychosocial moderating variables and the role of micronutrients (specifically the effect of intervention with micronutrient supplementation) on stress levels and symptoms in South Africans. The sample consisted of 300 volunteer, English-speaking South Africans from two centres (KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng) who had predetermined stress levels. The participants were evenly divided between the two centres (N=150 each). The Experimental Group (Active group) who comprised 151 participants received a multivitamin and mineral combination, while the Control Group (Placebo) group received a placebo. The research dealt with perceived stressors, coping resources and outcomes in the general population (both at baseline and after intervention). Outcome was assessed using standardized self-report instruments which examined stress levels and symptoms, perception of stress levels, anxiety, psychological general well-being and neurocognitive functions (verbal and visual memory). Univariate and multivariate correlational analyses were performed to investigate correlations and the predictive value of risk and rescue factors for the outcome variables. The findings indicate that there were no significant differences in the number of stressors between the two groups at baseline, although they differed in respect of two particular stressors (A>P regarding concern over children's future; P>A regarding life decisions). An interaction of stressors and moderating variables (life orientation and perceived coping incapacity) have an important role in predicting stress and stress outcome, and outcomes themselves may function as stressors. The bidirectional, circular interactive effects of stressors, moderators and outcomes are important in the stress and coping process. The study failed to find any effect of stress on the neurocognitive functions assessed. No significant treatment effect for the micronutrient was found, but a number of trends in respect of efficacy were suggested by the findings. The findings also suggested particular patterns of interactions in this regard for predicting pre-post differences (delta). Strengths and limitations of the study are highlighted and implications for intervention in respect of a stress management programme are also discussed. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2005.

The purpose of this research was to establish what the major stressors of black High school teachers in the Kimberley Area, Northern Cape, were. At the same time the research had to establish whether gender and number of years teaching made any difference to the stress experienced. A list of 16 stressors had to be rank ordered, too. Finally, the researcher wanted to know why, if teaching is so stressful, were the teachers still doing it. This information would then be used to advise education administrators as to what to attend to in order to reduce the stressful effect of these stressors, thereby enabling the teacher to do a better job. The literature confirms the need for stress, saying that a life without stress is death. We need an amount of stress that will motivate us to achieve. When this amount becomes too much, and the stressed person feels that he/she is being stressed beyond his/her ability to cope, then distress takes over. If the person cannot cope then the person is at risk. This would be manifested physiologically, psychologically or emotionally. It is critical that coping skills are given to teachers to enable them to handle their stress well. It is very important to remember that any stressor is neutral - it depends on how the person perceives the stress. This gives rise to the fact that the same stressor will affect different people differently at different times of their life. However, stress is manageable! A survey was conducted wherein questionnaires were sent to High Schools in the Kimberley Area, some were mailed and others were hand delivered, depending on the school's geographic proximity to the researcher. The returns were analysed question by question, separating the responses of the male from the female teachers as well as the responses from each experience group. An average per question combining all experience groups but separating the male and female groups, was computed. Rank ordering of the stressors was made taking the average responses per group of questions per stressor. Finally, the main reasons for staying in teaching were also rank ordered. The key findings, guided by the research questions, were the following: (a) the top ranking stressors were not significantly different between the genders nor between the groups of experience in teaching; (b) teachers are still teaching because they "love to teach". Some suspected stressors investigated were found not to be stressors at all. The areas that will need to be addressed by the authorities so as to reduce the harmful stress effects on the teachers are: teacher unions, students' involvement in politics, time management, class composition, parent/teacher relations and promotions. When these are addressed, the teachers will be less stressed and thus able to do a good job. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1996.

Extensive evidence linking exercise with stress reduction has prompted many organisations to implement exercise stress management interventions in order to combat employee stress. These interventions however, have generally yielded low levels of effectiveness. Determining factors that can enhance the effectiveness of exercise stress management interventions is important for organisations implementing such interventions. The main purpose of the present study was to investigate the role that outcome expectancy has in the relationship between exercise and stress. Stress perceptions and exercise behaviours were assessed in 54 university students over the 4 weeks leading up to final examinations. Outcome expectancy was assessed once during this period. Heart rate was also assessed in 20 students on two occasions, including the exam. In contrast to the majority of research linking exercise with lower stress, individuals who exercised more than their own average during the study period had higher levels of exam stress over time, whilst variance in exercise levels from the group average was not significantly related to exam stress over time. Conversely, there was a significant difference in physiological exam stress (heart rate) between high and low exercise groups overtime for the overall heart rate average, but not the sleep or exam period heart rate averages. More specifically, it was found that the low exercise group had a stronger negative physiological reaction to the exam overall. No significant moderation effects of outcome expectancy on the relationship between exercise and stress were found. The results indicate that exercise is related to both self-reported and physiological indicators of stress, and that exercise at different levels (within-person and between-person) have differing effects on exam stress.

Tidigare forskning beskriver att stress är en riskfaktor för ohälsa och det är ett arbetsmiljöproblem. Ohälsa bland unga kvinnor ökar i dagens samhälle. Syftet med studien var att finna olika kvalité i stresskänsla hos unga kvinnor och hur deras arbetssituation kan inverka på deras arbetsrelaterade stressupplevelse. För att få mer kunskap kring ämnet stress, har det undersökts hur kvinnor berörs av stress i deras arbetssituation och hur kvinnorna hanterar sin stressupplevelse på deras arbetsplats. Åtta kvinnor som dagligen upplevde arbetsrelaterad stress samt arbetat minst i sex månader, intervjuades. Kravet för att delta i studien var att de hade arbetat minst i sex månader.  Analysen resulterade i temana känslor, ohälsa, känsla av tidsbrist och hanteringsstrategier. Magknip, ångest, hög arbetsbörda och tidsbrist kunde vara orsaker till stressupplevelse. Med hjälp av planering, strukturering, ventilera med kollegor och listor kunde kvinnorna hantera sin stresskänsla. Stress som uppstår på arbetet kan beröra kvinnornas hälsa negativt.