Perceptions of stress at work

Abstract

This article reviews previous research on the scale of perceived stress at work and describes results from the 'Bristol Stress and Health at Work' study (Smith et al, 2000a, 2000b). This study had three main aims: first, to determine the scale of perceived stress at work in a random population sample; secondly, to distinguish the effects of stress at work from those of stress in life as a whole; and, finally, to determine whether objective measures of health status and performance efficiency were related to reports of stress at work. These objectives were investigated by conducting an epidemiological survey of 17,000 randomly selected people from the Bristol electoral register, a follow‐up survey 12 months later and detailed investigation of a cohort from the original sample. The results revealed that approximately 20 per cent of the sample reported very high or extremely high levels of stress at work. This effect was reliable over time, related to potentially stressful working conditions and associated with impaired physical and mental health. The effects of stress at work could not be attributed to life stress or negative affectivity. The cohort study also suggested that high levels of stress at work may influence physiology and mental performance. The prevalence rate obtained in this study suggests that five million workers in the UK may have very high levels of stress at work.