Introduction

From Richardson and Rothstein’s (2008) paper on Stress management Intervention

programs, we get some revealing statistics. The average work year for prime-age working

couples in the United States increased by nearly 700 hours in the past two decades (Murphy &

Sauter, 2003; U.S. Department of Labor, 1999). From 1997 to 2001, the number of workers

calling in sick because of stress tripled. The American Institute of Stress reported that stress is a

major factor in up to 80% of all work-related injuries and 40% of workplace turnovers

(Atkinson, 2004). This is not solely an American phenomenon. The Confederation of British

Industry reported stress as the second highest cause of absenteeism among nonmanual workers in

the United Kingdom, and the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working

Conditions reported that stress affects a third of the European working population (Giga, Cooper,

& Faragher, 2003). In Australia, most states report an increasing number of annual workers’

compensation claims resulting from workplace stress (Caulfield, Chang, Dollard, & Elshaug,

2004). Organizations provide a major portion of the total stress experienced by a person as a

result of the amount of time spent on the job, the demands for performance, and the interaction

with others in the workplace (DeFrank & Cooper, 1987)

What is stress?

The various definitions of stress are explored below.

Newman and Beehr (1979, p.1) defined job stress as “a situation wherein job-related

factors interact with the worker to change his or her psychological and/or physiological condition

such that the person is forced to deviate from normal functioning.” Implicit in this definition is

the belief that work-related factors are a cause of stress and that the individual outcomes may be

psychological, physiological, or some combination of these.

Stress arises when individuals perceive that they cannot adequately cope with the

demands being made on them or with threats to their well-being.” (Lazarus, 1966).

Psychological stress is defined as a reaction to the environment in which there is (a) the

threat of a net loss of resources, (b) the net loss of resources, or (c) a lack of resource gain

following the investment of resources. Both perceived and actual loss/lack of gain are envisaged

as sufficient for producing stress (Hobfoll, 1989)

Different models of stress

The earliest model of stress was the one adopted by Selye depicted stress as an

orchestrated defense operated by physiological systems designed to protect the body from

environmental challenge to bodily processes. He called this the General Adaptation Syndrome.

Specifically, he felt that there was a common reaction to outside stressors following the sequence

of alerting response, resistance response. There were two main criticisms for this model – first

was the idea that reaction to stress is uniform across humans can be refuted with a large amount

of data available and secondly the approach focuses on the outcome to identify stress and

completely precludes the studying of stressors and the process of stress. (Hobfoll, 1989)

Another model of stress (Stimulus Response Model) is the one proposed by Elliot and

Eisdorfer (1982), where they focused on stressors (that which causes stress). They came with a

typology for stressors:

1. acute, time-limited stressor: such as a visit to the dentist, a wasp entering the car while one is

driving, or a woman's awaiting breast biopsy;

2. stressor sequences: such as divorce, bereave ment, or job loss;

3. chronic, intermittent stressors: such as examinations for students, meetings with business as

sociates one dislikes, or a regimen of visits to a physician for painful treatments; and

4. chronic stressors: such as debilitating illness, prolonged marital discord, or exposure to

occupation-related dangers.

Another method in which stress was looked at was the Event Perception method in which

both the type of stressors appraisal process and differences across individuals where studied.

Some of the examples under this model of stress are - Spielberger (1966, 1972) suggested that

certain events are stressful if they are thought to be threats to the physical self or the

phenomenological self. He called these physical threats and ego-threats, respectively. Although

individuals with different personalities responded somewhat uniformly to physical threats,

people's responses to ego-threats were related to personality traits; Sarason (1972, 1975) has

illustrated that examinations constitute a class of environmental event that are very commonly

found to be stressful. However, he and other test anxiety researchers also have suggested that

relative sensitivity to stress is a product of personality (Hobfoll, 1989).

Now we come to the most widely accepted model of stress which is the transactional

model which is derived mainly from the works of Lazarus(1966). The standard model by

Lazarus and Folkman(1984) is shown in Figure 1. As shown the model has five major

components – occurrence of a potentially stressful event, primary cognitive appraisal of the

event, secondary cognitive appraisal of the event, the implementation of the coping strategy,

physical and mental outcomes. This model is interactive and cyclical in nature

Figure 1

The next model which was proposed as an improvement over the transaction model

was the Conservation of resources model by Hobfoll(1989). Based on Freud’s pleasure principle

this model defines stress as a reaction to the environment in which there is (a) the threat of a net

loss of resources, (b) the net loss of resources, or (c) a lack of resource gain following the

investment of resources. Both perceived and actual loss/ lack of gain are envisaged as sufficient

for producing stress. Here the resources are defined as those objects, personal characteristics,

conditions, or energies that are valued by the individual or that serve as a means for attainment of

these objects, personal characteristics, conditions, or energies. Environmental circumstances

often threaten or cause a depletion of people's resources. They may threaten resources like

people's status, position, economic stability, loved ones.

From the transaction model we move on to the models specific to organizations. We

start with the Demand Control Model (DCM Model). The model is depicted in Figure 2. The

figure shows the types of jobs that might result from different combinations of job demands and

job decision latitude. The labeled diagonals actually represent two interactions: situations where

job demands and job decision latitude diverge ("A"), and situations where they are matched

("B"). The first situation, when demands are relatively greater than decision latitude, is of

primary importance in predicting mental strain (Karasek Jr, 1979)

Figure 2

The next model is the Effort-reward imbalance (ERI) model. As seen from Figure 3,

Effort at work is spent as part of a socially organized exchange process to which society at large

contributes in terms of rewards. Societal rewards are distributed by three transmitter systems to

the working population: money, esteem, and status control. two different sources of high effort at

work, an extrinsic source, the demands on the job, and an intrinsic source, the motivations of the

individual worker in a demanding situation The model of effort-reward imbalance claims that

lack of reciprocity between costs and gains (i.e., high-cost/low-gain conditions), define a state of

emotional distress with special propensity to autonomic arousal and associated strain reactions.

(Siegrist, 1996)

Figure 3

The last model is the Job Demand Resources (JD-R) Model. The model is shown in

figure 4. At the heart of the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model lies the assumption that

whereas every occupation may have its own specific risk factors associated with job stress, these

factors can be classified in two general categories (i.e. job demands and job resources). Job

demands refer to those physical, psychological, social, or organizational aspects of the job that

require sustained physical and/or psychological (cognitive and emotional) effort or skills and are

therefore associated with certain physiological and/or psychological costs. Although job

demands are not necessarily negative, they may turn into job stressors when meeting those

demands requires high effort from which the employee has not adequately recovered. Job

resources refer to those physical, psychological, social, or organizational aspects of the job that

are either/or - Functional in achieving work goals, Reduce job demands and the associated

physiological and psychological costs, Stimulate personal growth, learning, and development.

They also proposed two underlying psychological processes in play here – health impairment

process and motivational process. They further add that the interaction between job demands and

job resources is important for the development of job strain and motivation as well. More

specifically, it is proposed that job resources may buffer the impact of job demands on job strain,

including burnout. Also job resources gain their motivational potential particularly when

employees are confronted with high job demands (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007)

Figure 4

Types of stress

Eustress Distress

From the American Psychological Association there are mainly three types of Stress

(“Stress: The different kinds of stress”, n.d.), they are:

1. Acute Stress: Acute stress is the most common form of stress. It comes from demands

and pressures of the recent past and anticipated demands and pressures of the near

future. Acute stress is thrilling and exciting in small doses, but too much is

exhausting. Some common consequences are psychological distress, tension

headaches, upset stomach and other symptoms

2. Episodic acute stress: This is when people suffer from acute stress frequently. This is

similar to a cardiac prone Type A personality or a worry wart who is extremely

pessimistic. Some of the symptoms include persistent tension headaches, migraines,

hypertension, chest pain and heart disease.

3. Chronic Stress: Chronic stress destroys bodies, minds and lives. It wreaks havoc

through long-term attrition. It's the stress of unrelenting demands and pressures for

seemingly interminable periods of time. Chronic stress kills through suicide, violence,

heart attack, stroke and, perhaps, even cancer.

Another classification of stress was found with respect to organizational context from

the paper by Parker and DeCotiis (1983). They are:

1. Time Stress: It is uniquely determined by autonomy (work itself), the perception that

there is a limit on the relationship between pay and performance (work itself), the

openness of communication (structure, climate, and information), support from the

boss (relationships), and cohesiveness (relationships).

2. Anxiety stress: It is uniquely determined by formalization (structure, climate,

information) and role conflict (role).

Coping mechanisms

Coping mechanisms are one of the most widely studied aspects in the domain of

stress. In a stressful situation, an individual attempts to evaluate the problem, to appraise and

implement possible courses of action, and to regulate his or her emotional responses. Thus,

individual qualities and capacities and the constellation of coping skills, which Rosenbaum

(1983) referred to as "learned resourcefulness," influence the strategies available for managing a

particular stressful episode. The environment, both psychosocial and physical, has significant

implications for behavior and affect (Parkes, 1986).

According to the Transactional model for stress, which is the most popular and

accepted models of stress. Specific stressful events and the way that individuals perceive and

respond to them, rather than generalized perceptions of stress, are what is understood to be

coping methods. (Lazarus, 1966; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). According to this model there are

mainly two major types of coping efforts –

1. Problem focused coping

2. Emotion focused coping

With this as the basis a Ways of Coping Checklist (WCCL) was developed in which

the emotional focused coping was further divided into four more. So the final classification of

coping methods according to the WCCL (Vitaliano, Russo, Carr, Maiuro & Becker, 1985) are:

1. Problem focused coping: Made a plan of action and followed it

2. Wishful Thinking: Wished you could change the situation

3. Blamed Self: Felt responsible for the problem

4. Seeks social Support: Talked to others and accepted their sympathy

5. Avoidance: Refused to believe it had happened

Classification of coping methods into individual and organizational heads is adopted

(Luthans, 1995).We proceed by exploring the various coping methods that are widely used and

researched under these heads.

Individual Coping Strategies

1. Social Support or Networking:

This is one of the most researched coping methods in the domain of stress. There is

evidence that social support is a causal contributor to wellbeing. In addition to this

social support has been found to act as a buffer which protects the person from

pathogenic influence of stressful events. Social support results in the reappraisal,

inhibition of maladjustive responses or facilitation of adjustive counter responses.

The social support can be said to be obtained from four sources namely – Esteem

support (is information that a person is esteemed and accepted), informational support

(is help in defining, understanding, and coping with problematic events), social

companionship (is spending time with others in leisure and recreational activities) and

instrumental support (reduce stress by direct resolution of instrumental problems or

by providing the recipient with increased time for activities such as relaxation or

entertainment) (Cohen & Wills, 1985).

Bringing in the gender variable in the social support perspective, the relationship

between work stress and burnout was moderated by support in life for women and by

support in work for men (Etzion, 1984).

But there is a dark side also to the social support mechanism (Brewin & Holmes,

2003). A negative social environment is a better indicator of Post-Traumatic Stress

Disorder (PTSD) symptomatology than lack of positive support (Ullman & Filipas,

2001; Zoellner, Foa, & Bartholomew, 1999). Negative social support by partners has

also been found to predict a poorer response to treatment for PTSD (Tarrier,

Sommerfield, & Pilgrim, 1999). Negative appraisal of others’ support attempts at

initial assessment predicted PTSD symptoms 6 and 9 months later (Dunmore et al.,

2001)

2. Relaxation

Whether a person simply takes it easy once in a while or uses specific relaxation

techniques, the intent is to eliminate the immediate stressful situation or manage a

prolonged stressful situation more effectively. Relaxation training developed by

Jacobson (Progressive Relaxation) and popularized by Wolpe in 1958 has been found

to be very effective in reducing stress (Goldfried & Trier, 1974).

Another relaxation method is Mindfulness meditation or Mindfulness Based Stress

Reduction (MBSR), it consists of the development of a particular kind of attention,

characterized by a nonjudgmental awareness, openness, curiosity, and acceptance of

internal and external present experiences, which allows practitioners to act more

reflectively rather than impulsively. A direct comparison study between MBSR and

standard relaxation training found that both treatments were equally able to reduce

stress. Furthermore, MBSR was able to reduce ruminative thinking and trait anxiety,

as well as to increase empathy and self-compassion (Chiesa & Serretti, 2009).

Research has also found that indicate listening to self-select or classical music, after

exposure to a stressor, significantly reduces negative emotional states and

physiological arousal compared to listening to heavy metal music or sitting in silence

(Labbé, Schmidt, Babin & Pharr, 2007)

3. Behavioral Self Control

This comes under the problem solving approach. In this aspect the individual tries to

deliberately manage the antecedents and consequences of their behavior so as to

achieve self-control (Luthans, 1995). Examples of this could be a manager delegating

non important work to subordinates to reduce his workload (possible stressor). The

self-control method follows from the transactional Stress model. In the model during

the appraisal stage if the stressor is identified to be a controllable event and if the

individual perceives it to be challenging then the stress is reduced. And if the event is

considered uncontrollable and the individual considers the change in the positive light

which offers opportunity (abandon old goals and adopt new ones) again stress is

reduced (Folkman, 1984)

Time management is another method which stress can be reduced. Starving for time

is one of the most common stressors. Some ways are suggested by which time can be

managed by asking the following questions (Vanderkam, 2010)

a. How do you spend your time?

b. What things do you do that you are good at?

c. What things do others do better than you?

d. When do you tend to waste time?

e. What brings you meaning in life?

f. Is your time focused on what you value most (and are best at)?

Some methods to manage time after identifying the answers to the above is Learning

to say no to things that are not important and to use the SMART(Specific,

Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time Based) goals setting and monitoring the

progress (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984).

4. Cognitive Therapy

A defining feature of cognitive-behavioral therapy is the proposition that symptoms

and dysfunctional behaviors are often cognitively mediated and, hence, improvement

can be produced by modifying dysfunctional thinking and beliefs (Dobson, 2001).

The procedure of conducting this therapy was obtained and is described. Participants

were taught that much of their experienced strain (anxiety, tension, etc.) is caused by

their cognitions ("self-talks"). This part of the treatment program, then, consisted of

lectures and interactive discussions designed to help participants (a) recognize events

at work and what cognitions they elicit; (b) become aware of the effects of such

cognitions on their physiological and emotional responses; (c) systematically evaluate

the objective consequences of events at work; and (d) replace self-defeating

cognitions that unnecessarily arouse strain (e.g., "I'm an incompetent worker who

cannot handle the workload") with more adaptive appraisals (e.g., "I handle this

workload as well as anyone else," or "the workload is too high and I should approach

my supervisor"). This is followed by few sessions of simple relaxation techniques like

progressive relaxation, mindfulness meditation etc. (Ganster, Mayes, Sime & Tharp,

1982).

5. Exercise

Organizational Coping Strategies

1. Supportive Organizational Climate

2. Task Design

3. Reduce role conflict or ambiguity

4. Plan career paths and provide counselling

Conclusion

References

Atkinson, W. (2004). Stress: Risk management's most serious challenge? Risk Management,

51(6), 20.

Bakker, A. B., & Demerouti, E. (2007). The job demands-resources model: State of the art.

Journal of managerial psychology, 22(3), 309-328.

Brewin, C. R., & Holmes, E. A. (2003). Psychological theories of posttraumatic stress disorder.

Clinical psychology review, 23(3), 339-376.

Caulfield, N., Chang, D., Dollard, M. F., & Elshaug, C. (2004). A Review of Occupational Stress

Interventions in Australia. International Journal of Stress Management, 11(2), 149.

Chiesa, A., & Serretti, A. (2009). Mindfulness-based stress reduction for stress management in

healthy people: a review and meta-analysis. The journal of alternative and

complementary medicine, 15(5), 593-600.

Cohen, S., & Wills, T. A. (1985). Stress, social support, and the buffering hypothesis.

Psychological bulletin, 98(2), 310.

DeFrank, R. S., & Cooper, C. L. (1987). Worksite stress management interventions: Their

effectiveness and conceptualisation. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 2(1), 4-10.

Dobson, K. S. (Ed.). (2009). Handbook of cognitive-behavioral therapies. Guilford Press.

Dunmore, E., Clark, D. M., & Ehlers, A. (2001). A prospective investigation of the role of

cognitive factors in persistent posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after physical or

sexual assault. Behaviour research and therapy, 39(9), 1063-1084.

Elliot, G. R., & Eisdorfer, C. (1982). Stress and human health: An analysis and implications of

research. A study by the Institute of Medicine. National Academy of Sciences, 11-24.

Etzion, D. (1984). Moderating effect of social support on the stress–burnout relationship. Journal

of applied psychology, 69(4), 615.

Folkman, S. (1984). Personal control and stress and coping processes: a theoretical analysis.

Journal of personality and social psychology, 46(4), 839.

Ganster, D. C., Mayes, B. T., Sime, W. E., & Tharp, G. D. (1982). Managing organizational

stress: a field experiment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 67(5), 533.

Giga, S. I., Cooper, C. L., & Faragher, B. (2003). The development of a framework for a

comprehensive approach to stress management interventions at work. International

Journal of Stress Management, 10(4), 280.

Goldfried, M. R., & Trier, C. S. (1974). Effectiveness of relaxation as an active coping skill.

Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 83(4), 348.

Hobfoll, S. E. (1989). Conservation of resources: A new attempt at conceptualizing stress.

American psychologist, 44(3), 513.

Karasek Jr, R. A. (1979). Job demands, job decision latitude, and mental strain: Implications for

job redesign. Administrative science quarterly, 285-308.

Labbé, E., Schmidt, N., Babin, J., & Pharr, M. (2007). Coping with stress: the effectiveness of

different types of music. Applied psychophysiology and biofeedback, 32(3-4), 163-168.

Lazarus, R. S. (1966). Psychological stress and the coping process.

Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress. Appraisal, and coping, 725.

Luthans (1995). Organizational Behavior seventh edition. Singapore: McGraw-Hill. 310-314

Murphy, L. R., & Sauter, S. L. (2003). The USA perspective: Current issues and trends in the

management of work stress. Australian Psychologist, 38(2), 151-157.

Newman, J. E., & Beehr, T. A. (1979). Personal and organizational strategies for handling job

stress: A review of research and opinion. Personnel Psychology, 32(1), 1-43.

Parker, D. F., & DeCotiis, T. A. (1983). Organizational determinants of job stress.

Organizational behavior and human performance, 32(2), 160-177.

Parkes, K. R. (1986). Coping in stressful episodes: The role of individual differences,

environmental factors, and situational characteristics. Journal of personality and social

psychology, 51(6), 1277.

Sarason, I. G. (1972). Experimental approaches to test anxiety: Attention and the uses of

information. Anxiety: Current trends in theory and research, 2, 383-403.

Sarason, I. G. (1975). Test anxiety, attention, and the general problem of anxiety. In C. D.

Spielberger & I. G. Sarason (Eds.), Stress and anxiety (Vol. 1, pp. 165-187). Washington

DC: Hemisphere.

Siegrist, J. (1996). Adverse health effects of high-effort/low-reward conditions. Journal of

occupational health psychology, 1(1), 27.

Stress: The different kinds of stress (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/stress-

kinds.aspx

Tarrier, N., Pilgrim, H., Sommerfield, C., Faragher, B., Reynolds, M., Graham, E., &

Barrowclough, C. (1999). A randomized trial of cognitive therapy and imaginal exposure

in the treatment of chronic posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of consulting and

clinical psychology, 67(1), 13.

Richardson, K. M., & Rothstein, H. R. (2008). Effects of occupational stress management

intervention programs: a meta-analysis. Journal of occupational health psychology,

13(1), 69.

Spielberger, C. D. (1966). The effects of anxiety on complex learning and academic

achievement. Anxiety and behavior, 361-398.

Spielberger, C. D. (1972). Anxiety as an emotional state. Anxiety-Current trends and theory.

Ullman, S. E., & Filipas, H. H. (2001). Predictors of PTSD symptom severity and social

reactions in sexual assault victims. Journal of traumatic stress, 14(2), 369-389.

Vitaliano, P. P., Russo, J., Carr, J. E., Maiuro, R. D., & Becker, J. (1985). The ways of coping

checklist: Revision and psychometric properties. Multivariate behavioral research, 20(1),

3-26.

Zoellner, L. A., Foa, E. B., & Brigidi, B. D. (1999). Interpersonal friction and PTSD in female

victims of sexual and nonsexual assault. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 12(4), 689-700.