Work-related stress: definition, causes, and health consequences

The World Health Organization proposed stress as one of the diseases of the 21st century. From pioneering studies, stress was defined as General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) or a defensive response of the body or psyche to injury or prolonged stress (Selye, 1956).

Subsequently, numerous authors have attempted to define the state of stress. There is no doubt that the most complete conceptualization of stress came from McEwen (2000) who considered it as: “a mental state that arises in response to a real or perceived threat to an individual’s physiological or psychological integrity, and results in a physiological and/or behavioral response” (p. 173).

There are various types of stress depending on several factors such as:

1. Its duration.
2. The stimuli that provoke the initial reaction.
3. The consequences, psychological or physiological, that are triggered along with the stressful event.
4. The context that conditions the stress response.

Combining points two and four, and the fact that the work context is one of those that causes the most stress, this post will be dedicated to work-related stress.

Work-related stress

Work-related stress is a type of stress associated with the workplace that can be acute or chronic, although most cases correspond to the latter (Cavanaugh, Boswell, Roehling and Boudreau, 2000).

It is important to know that work-related stress can be positive or negative (Kung and Chan, 2014).

Positive work-related stress

Positive stress (eustress) refers to when the stress response occurs in an adaptive manner, the consequences of such a response do not harm the individual’s overall health and its duration matches the duration of the stressor stimulus, e.g., the stress response triggered during your first day at work is adaptive (positive stress) because it implies that you need to be alert to attend to new stimuli (tasks, bosses, colleagues, company procedures, etc.).

Negative work-related stress

When does this response stop being adaptive and therefore can become negative stress? Well, if such stress lasts more than a month, the response intensifies over time and begins to interfere with the worker’s health (problems of insomnia, tachycardia, anxiety, depression, among others, appear), it would be a case of negative work-related stress and measures should be taken in this regard (we recommend reading the meta-analysis by Hargrove, Quick, Nelson and Quick, 2011).

Causes of work-related stress

There are numerous studies focused on finding the causes and the immediate consequences of this type of stress, work-related stress. Below, we will cite some of the most notable conclusions:

• It has been shown that being a victim of workplace bullying immediately unleashes an intense and prolonged stress response over time (Balducci, Fraccaroli and Schaufeli, 2011; Hoobler, Rospenda, Lemmon and Rosa, 2010; Neall and Tuckey, 2014). This is especially important considering that 8 out of 10 Spanish workers feel dissatisfied with their job (CepymeNews, 2018).
• It has been shown that work-related stress is due, in most cases, to a work overload in the job and to role ambiguity (Babatunde, 2013; Ganster and Rosen, 2013).
• Additionally, it has been proposed that the low salary is associated with the onset of work-related stress (Raver and Nishii, 2010).
• Others have found that the lack of intrinsic motivation toward the work, as well as the absence of incentives are direct causes of work-related stress (Conley and You, 2014; Karimi and Alipour, 2011).

Factors that influence work-related stress

Furthermore, it has been found that certain factors can influence the onset of work-related stress and its characteristics. These factors are precipitating or conditioning factors of work-related stress. Although there is no consensus list of such factors, some previous research has considered they could be: the age of the person suffering work-related stress, the type of job, having previously suffered another psychological disorder, the length of time the person had been unemployed prior,
some personality traits such as neuroticism and psychoticism, the victim’s gender and family responsibilities, among others (Colligan and Higgins, 2006; Ganster and Rosen, 2013).

Consequences of work-related stress

Finally, the consequences associated with work-related stress should also be highlighted.

Cognitive consequences

Some studies have focused more on the cognitive consequences that involve memory problems (lapses and selective forgetting of work-related information), difficulty focusing the attention on work matters, problems with concentration and a decrease in the ability to perform multiple tasks at once (errors in working memory) (Wiegel, Sattler, Göritz and Diewald, 2014; Rickenbach et al., 2014).

Physical consequences

Other studies have been more interested in the physical consequences of work-related stress and have proposed that the person often complains of insomnia, abnormal cardiovascular indicators, suffering from hypertension and diabetes, thyroid problems, and in a large majority, dermatological conditions arise, as well as headaches and tension-type headaches (Ganster and Rosen, 2013; Heraclides, Chandola, Witte and Brunner, 2012; Kivimäki and Kawachi, 2015; McCraty, Atkinson and Tomasino, 2003).

Emotional consequences

Likewise, a third group of research has focused on the emotional consequences of work-related stress. Among these, mention may be made of emotional lability, panic attacks, anxiety and depressive symptomatology (Tennant, 2001; Brosschot, Verkuil and Thayer, 2016).

Conclusion

In general, it can be concluded that work-related stress is not always negative but depends on the intensity, the duration and the adaptive function of the stress response itself. In addition, there is a large body of research on this topic so we can proactively use current knowledge of its causes, symptomatology and consequences in order to intervene early and prevent work-related stress from interfering with our physical and psychological health.

Signed: AMUNE (Murcian Neuroscience Association)

Bibliography

• Babatunde, A. (2013). Occupational Stress: A Review on Conceptualisations, Causes and Cure. Economic Insights-Trends & Challenges, 65(3).
• Balducci, C., Fraccaroli, F. y Schaufeli, W. B. (2011). Workplace bullying and its relation with work characteristics, personality, and post-traumatic stress symptoms: An integrated model. Anxiety, Stress & Coping, 24(5), 499-513.
• Brosschot, J. F., Verkuil, B. y Thayer, J. F. (2016). The default response to uncertainty and the importance of perceived safety in anxiety and stress: An evolution-theoretical perspective. Journal of anxiety disorders, 41, 22-34.
• Cavanaugh, M. A., Boswell, W. R., Roehling, M. V. y Boudreau, J. W. (2000). An empirical examination of self-reported work stress among US managers. Journal of applied psychology, 85(1), 65.
• CepymeNews. (2018). España es el país europeo con más estrés laboral. Recuperado el 25 de Septiembre de 2018 de: https://cepymenews.es/espana-es-el-pais-europeo-con-mas-estres-laboral/
• Colligan, T. W. y Higgins, E. M. (2006). Workplace stress: Etiology and consequences. Journal of workplace behavioral health, 21(2), 89-97.
• Conley, S. y You, S. (2014). Role stress revisited: Job structuring antecedents, work outcomes, and moderating effects of locus of control. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 42(2), 184-206

More references : 

• Ganster, D. C. y Rosen, C. C. (2013). Work stress and employee health: A multidisciplinary review. Journal of Management, 39(5), 1085-1122.
• Hargrove, M. B., Quick, J. C., Nelson, D. L. y Quick, J. D. (2011). The theory of preventive stress management: a 33‐year review and evaluation. Stress and Health, 27(3), 182-193.
• Heraclides, A. M., Chandola, T., Witte, D. R. y Brunner, E. J. (2012). Work stress, obesity and the risk of type 2 diabetes: gender‐specific bidirectional effect in the whitehall II study. Obesity, 20(2), 428-433.
• Hoobler, J. M., Rospenda, K. M., Lemmon, G. y Rosa, J. A. (2010). A within-subject longitudinal study of the effects of positive job experiences and generalized workplace harassment on well-being. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 15(4), 434.
• Karimi, R. y Alipour, F. (2011). Reduce job stress in organizations: Role of locus of control. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 2(18), 232-236.
• Kivimäki, M. y Kawachi, I. (2015). Work stress as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Current cardiology reports, 17(9), 74.
• Kung, C. S. y Chan, C. K. (2014). Differential roles of positive and negative perfectionism in predicting occupational eustress and distress. Personality and Individual Differences, 58, 76-81.
• McCraty, R., Atkinson, M. y Tomasino, D. (2003). Impact of a workplace stress reduction program on blood pressure and emotional health in hypertensive employees. The Journal of Alternative & Complementary Medicine, 9(3), 355-369.

Bibliography 

• McEwen, B. S. (2000). The neurobiology of stress: from serendipity to clinical relevance1. Brain research, 886(1-2), 172-189.
• Neall, A. M. y Tuckey, M. R. (2014). A methodological review of research on the antecedents and consequences of workplace harassment. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 87(2), 225-257.
• Raver, J. L. y Nishii, L. H. (2010). Once, twice, or three times as harmful? Ethnic harassment, gender harassment, and generalized workplace harassment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95(2), 236.
• Rickenbach, E. H., Almeida, D. M., Seeman, T. E. y Lachman, M. E. (2014). Daily stress magnifies the association between cognitive decline and everyday memory problems: An integration of longitudinal and diary methods. Psychology and aging, 29(4), 852.
• Selye, H. (1956). The stress of life. Nueva York: McGraw-Hill Book Company
• Tennant, C. (2001). Work-related stress and depressive disorders. Journal of psychosomatic research, 51(5), 697-704.
• Wiegel, C., Sattler, S., Göritz, A. S. y Diewald, M. (2016). Work-related stress and cognitive enhancement among university teachers. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 29(1), 100-117.

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“This article has been translated. Link to the original article in Spanish:”
El estrés laboral: definición, causas y consecuencias para la salud