occupational stress

Determining the job (occupational or work-related) stress of dental school faculty members is necessary for planning to improve the quality of dental education and the health and oral health status of people in society. This study aimed to determine the job stress of dental school faculty members in Tehran.

In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 167 faculty members of Islamic Azad, Tehran, Shahed, and Shahid Beheshti dental schools were selected by convenience sampling, and using Osipow’s Occupational Stress Inventory, their job stress in six fields was evaluated. Osipow’s Occupational Stress Inventory was scored on a 5-point Likert scale from 1 to 5. Each phrase was rated on a scale from 1 to 5, with 1 indicating 'never' and 5 indicating 'most of the time.' The data were analyzed using t-test, Kruskal-Wallis, and ANOVA.

Most faculty members of dental schools in Tehran experienced low to moderate job stress across various fields. 60% had low-moderate job stress in the role workload, 75.3% in the role inadequacy,42.6% had low-moderate job stress in the role dichotomy, 59.4% had low-moderate job stress in the range of the job,73.2% had low-moderate job stress in the responsibility and 45% ad low-moderate job stress in all fields. A significant difference was between the age of faculty members and job stress in the range of jobs; with increasing age, job stress in this field was reduced. No significant difference was found in job stress scores according to gender and marital status, academic rank, or department of activity among faculty members of dental schools in Tehran.

Most faculty members of dental schools in Tehran reported low-moderate job stress in most fields. The highest job stress was observed in the role workload, and the lowest was in the physical environment.

Work-related stress, as described in the literature on occupations, refers to the negative response of individuals when faced with high levels of pressure or other demands in the workplace.  The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of training in coping with occupational stress on emotion regulation, anxiety sensitivity, and resilience among Bank Mellat employees. The research conducted was a quasi-experimental study that included a pretest-posttest design with a control group. A total of 670 employees at Bank Mellat in District 2 of Tehran participated in the study, selected from 53 branches using cluster random sampling during the spring of 2022. Out of the total participants, 36 employees were randomly chosen and assigned equally to two groups: an experimental group and a control group, each consisting of 18 participants. The experimental group underwent weekly training sessions for ten weeks, with each session lasting 120 minutes, aimed at managing occupational stress. The tools utilized in the study were the Job Stress Questionnaire, the Anxiety Sensitivity Index, and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale. Data analysis was carried out using SPSS software version 21, utilizing the multivariate analysis of covariance technique.  The study on coping with occupational stress at a 95% confidence level indicated a positive impact on the emotion regulation (P<0.05), anxiety sensitivity (P<0.05), and resilience (P<0.05) of Bank Mellat employees.  Therefore, it can be concluded that training in coping with occupational stress had a significant positive effect on improving emotion regulation and resilience and reducing anxiety sensitivity in employees

The construction industry creates various health risks to workers, affecting their physical and mental well-being. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between sleep quality and job satisfaction in construction workers, focusing on the mediating role of job stress.

This cross-sectional study assesses 100 construction workers in Tehran City, Iran, in 2020. The study data were collected through a demographic questionnaire, the health and safety executive occupational stress, the Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI), and Herzberg’s job satisfaction questionnaire. Structural equation modeling and path analysis were used for data analysis.

Among 100 randomly selected construction workers, the Mean±SD scores for job stress, sleep quality, and job satisfaction were determined to be 3.43±0.59, 7.38±3.48, and 363.41±53.78, respectively. Sleep quality showed negative and positive correlations with job stress (r=-0.165, P<0.05) and job satisfaction (r=0.333, P<0.01), respectively. The direct effect of sleep quality on job satisfaction was not significant (0.136, P=0.257), while the direct effect of job stress on job satisfaction was significant (0.318, P=0.007). The indirect effect of sleep quality on job satisfaction through job stress was also not significant (-0.123, P=0.257). 

Construction workers experience moderate job stress and sleep quality but low job satisfaction. A significant negative correlation was observed between sleep quality, job stress, and job satisfaction. While job stress directly and significantly impacts job satisfaction, the direct effect of sleep quality on job satisfaction is not significant. Improving sleep quality may indirectly enhance job satisfaction by mitigating the adverse effects of job stress.

Nurses are exposed to higher stress, anxiety, and depression due to the nature of their work. Considering the differences between specialized and general hospital units, this article focuses on comparing the levels of stress, anxiety, and depression among nurses in these two types of units.

This descriptive‑analytical study was conducted in 2023 on 135 nurses in specialized units and 219 nurses in general units selected through stratified random sampling out of 1681 nurses. For this study, 6 public hospitals in the West Azerbaijan province of Iran were selected. Data were collected through a demographic questionnaire and the Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scales‑21 (DASS‑21) and analyzed using SPSS software. A significance level of 0.05 was considered for this study.

This study reported that stress, anxiety, and depression affected 72.04%, 46.33%, and 53.68% of nurses, respectively, with mild to extremely-severe intensity levels. No significant differences were observed in stress, anxiety, and depression between specialized and general units (p > 0.05). Among specialized units (ICU, CCU, and dialysis ward), dialysis unit nurses had significantly lower depression scores (p < 0.05). Additionally, a significant correlation existed between demographic variables and DASS‑21 constructs (p > 0.05).

The similarities among nurses in specialized and general units outweigh the observed differences. Given the high prevalence of stress, anxiety, and depression among nurses and the negative correlation with job satisfaction, managers should improve job satisfaction to support nurses’ mental health.

Nurses face a significant burden of occupational stress, which can have detrimental effects on their physical and mental health. This is exacerbated by factors such as long working hours, heavy workloads, patient acuity, and exposure to traumatic events.

The present study aimed to investigate the mediating role of job satisfaction in the relationship between occupational stress and life satisfaction among nurses.

This investigation employed a correlational design utilizing structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the relationships between variables. A convenience sample of 182 nurses completed self-report questionnaires assessing life satisfaction, job satisfaction, and occupational stress. The collected data were subsequently analyzed using SEM techniques with SPSS-25 and AMOS-24 software.

A significant and negative relationship was found between occupational stress and job satisfaction (β = -0.47, P < 0.001). The relationship between job satisfaction and life satisfaction was also positive and significant (β = 0.40, P < 0.001). The results indicated that the relationship between occupational stress and life satisfaction was not significant (β = -0.08, P = 0.311). Additionally, job satisfaction mediated the relationship between occupational stress and life satisfaction (P < 0.001). The model fit indices were satisfactory, indicating a good fit to the data: IFI = 0.95, CFI = 0.99, NFI = 0.98, GFI = 0.99, and RMSEA = 0.06.

The findings of this study underscore the importance of creating supportive work environments for nurses. Job satisfaction plays a critical role in mitigating the negative effects of occupational stress, highlighting the need for organizations to implement effective stress management programs, promote work-life balance, encourage open communication, and invest in professional development.

A growing body of systematic reviews focused on interventions that help workers to overcome job burnout. This overview aimed to synthesize the results of the job burnout interventions. 

Systematic reviews were searched in databases) PubMed, Web of Science, CINAHL, Embase, Google Scholar, and Scopus) from inception to 2023, and included if they mentioned the results of at least one intervention, provided the details of the reviewed articles, received high scores in the quality assessment stage, and their full-text in English were available. 

Ten systematic reviews were identified that reviewed around 303 unique articles. At least 29 types of interventions were identified and categorized using narrative synthesis and thematic analysis methods. The interventions could be categorized into three main themes: precipitating-focused, emotional state-focused, and consequence-focused intervention. Each theme is further divided into change or acceptance-based interventions. 

Findings show that most interventions focused on changing the situations that cause or lead to job burnout. However, the interventions that focused on accepting emotional aspects of job burnout were the most effective programs. There are still some inconclusive results about several interventions, and some research gaps that need attention were discussed.

 Today, one of the most important factors threatening everyone is stress.

 Considering the problems caused by stress in people’s careers and the fact that dentistry has been introduced as a stressful profession, the purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between occupational stress and demographic variables among dentists in Khorramabad, Iran, in 2022.

 The current research is a cross-sectional analytical study. Of the 120 working dentists, 92 were enrolled in the study according to the inclusion criteria. Of these, 28.3% were women and 71.7% were men. The data collection instrument was Osipow’s Occupational Stress Inventory. The researcher completed the questionnaires by referring to dentists’ offices. All statistical tests were performed using SPSS version 25, with P < 0.05 as the significance level.

 The findings showed that the average occupational stress in dentists was 184.01 ± 9.88, showing that 89.1% of dentists had moderate to severe stress and 10.9% had severe stress. The average occupational stress was 180.42 ± 6.35 in women and 185.42 ± 10.68 in men. Thus, the level of occupational stress in men was significantly higher than that of women (P = 0.007). In addition, 2 variables (age and workplace) had a significant relationship with the level of occupational stress of dentists (P < 0.05).

 Since most dentists participating in this study had moderate to severe stress, knowing the sources of stress and ways to deal with them can help reduce fatigue and increase job performance among dentists.

The aim of this study was to investigate if listening to music can help reduce stress for women who work in an electric car parts factory in Mashhad.  Out of 200 people in this study, 32 were chosen at random and split into two groups: one for the experiment and one for comparison. To gather information, we used a job stress questionnaire and a music therapy plan that consisted of 30 sessions, which lasted for one month. In this study, we played the music that the participants liked 4 times during each session. Each time, we played the music for 15 minutes, while they were taking a break or before they started working. There were 16 participants in the group we tested. The people in the control group followed their normal way of doing things and did not use this procedure. The research found that music intervention helps decrease the occupational stress in women more than the traditional work schedule method. The effect size of the music intervention was 0.809, which means it had approximately an 81% impact on reducing stress.  The results of the pre-tests and post-tests indicated that the stress levels of women in the experiment group decreased significantly after listening to music. Based on these findings, it can be concluded that listening to music while taking breaks at work helps to lower job stress.

Job burnout is more frequent in stressful and high-risk jobs. Healthcare workers, especially Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) workers and therapists, are more exposed to job burnout. This study aimed to compare the burnout rate among the staff and therapists working in behavioral disease counseling centers and health centers in 9 provinces of Iran.

This cross-sectional study was conducted in 9 provinces of Iran from January 2020 to March 2020. For this research, 94 VCT workers as the experimental group, and 103 public clinic workers participated as the available sampling group. To collect the data, the Meslesh questionnaire was used and descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, mean, etc.) and inferential methods were applied for statistical analysis (t-test, one-way analysis of variance and Tukey post hoc test, chi - square test and Spearman correlation test). (P< 0.05)

Our finding showed that 33% of health center workers and 32% of VCT workers had burnout, but the difference was not statistically significant. Most Health Center (HC) workers who showed burnout were working in the southern province of Iran (Bushehr and Bandar Abbas), and the most VCT workers who showed burnout were working in the western province of Iran (Kermanshah and Kurdistan).

Although the rate of burnout in the staff of these two centers is very similar, it can be concluded that due to the small number of people referred to AIDS centers compared to the large number of patients in health centers, working with people with HIV/AIDS is so difficult.

The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between stress and temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) by quantification of occupational stress using the Dental Environment Stress (DES) questionnaire as well as measuring the stress markers in the saliva, including cortisol and immunoglobulin A (IgA), in fourth to sixth-year dental students of Qom Dental School.

In the present study, 60 students were included. A clinical examination was first performed using the Research Diagnostic Criteria/Temporomandibular Disorder (RDC/TMD) criteria in order to determine the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) status, and then the DES questionnaire was completed in order to determine the occupational stress level of dental students. Finally, saliva samples were obtained from the students, and the levels of salivary cortisol and IgA were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Independent t-test, ANOVA, Chi-square test, and Pearson's correlation coefficient were used for data analysis (alpha=0.05).

The mean salivary levels of cortisol and IgA were found to be 4.74 ± 2.80 ng/mL and 220.26 ± 121.22 µg/mL, respectively. The mean DES score was 2.48 ± 0.58. Of all students, 24 (40%) suffered from TMDs. There was no correlation between cortisol and IgA levels and the DES score (P>0.05). No significant relationship was found between TMD and salivary cortisol, salivary IgA, or DES score (P>0.05).

Stress is one of the most important causes of TMDs. Although salivary biomarkers are known as useful markers for detection of stress in patients with TMDs, this issue was not confirmed in the present study.

The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating and estimating the relationship between anxiety and occupational stress with the self-efficacy of therapists in rehabilitation centers in Tehran in 2022.

This research was applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-survey in terms of execution. The statistical population including 122 therapists of rehabilitation centers was done by multi-stage classification method. The research tools included standard questionnaires: Beck’s anxiety questionnaire (1991), Osipow’s job stress questionnaire (1987) and Riggs and Knight’s job self-efficacy questionnaire (1994).Their analysis was done by SPSS software, version 26 at two descriptive and analytical levels.

The results showed that there is a significant inverse effect between anxiety and self-efficacy, as well as occupational stress and self-efficacy of therapists (P<0.001). There is also a significant relationship between job stress, anxiety, self-efficacy and demographic characteristics.

The results of this study showed that anxiety increases the level of occupational stress and has a negative effect on therapists’ self-efficacy.

One of the global challenges in the management of infectious diseases has been the management of the coronavirus, which has put considerable pressure on health care and medical systems.  Nurses have borne the brunt of these pressures as the most important human resource in these organizations. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the relationship between occupational stress and the general health among nurses affiliated to Shahid Sadoughi as the teaching hospital of Yazd city during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022.

The current investigation is a descriptive-correlational study conducted on 160 nurses working at Shahid Sadoughi hospital of Yazd city. Two standard questionnaires were utilized to collect data, including the Parker and DeCotiis Occupational Stress Questionnaire and the Goldberger and Hiller General Health Questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using T-test, Mann-Whitney, and Pearson correlation tests in SPSS26 software .

There was a positive correlation between job stress and the general health of nurses (r=0.515, P-Value=0.001). The findings revealed a significant and positive correlation between occupational stress and general health dimensions in nurses. Additionally, the results proved a significant positive correlation between time pressure and anxiety in the Occupational Stress Questionnaire with physical symptoms, anxiety and insomnia, and depression dimensions in the General Health Questionnaire.

The results of this research suggest that an increase in occupational stress scores leads to a rise in general health scores. Therefore, the findings indicate that higher levels of occupational stress in nurses result in a less favorable general health status. Consequently, several nurses might struggle to provide effective and high-quality care to patients, which can endanger the overall health of the community.