A large number of papers have been published on the topic of human stress. There is a need to organise this knowledge under a unifying framework, linking and analysing it in mutual combinations so that new knowledge can emerge. Ontology is an enriched conceptual model for representing domain knowledge. An ontology can be designed to provide a framework for knowledge about human stress. This agreed knowledge model will facilitate knowledge sharing and communications. Additionally, ontologies are machine-readable and can enable automated programs such as data mining to intelligently access and analyse information. The purpose of this paper is to discuss and explain some of the common stress-related terms, their definitions, classifications and possible interrelations between them. A top-layer of the human stress ontology (HSO) model is presented, which will continue to evolve as more research contributions and knowledge become available. It is believed that this framework can be used to build powerful tools to assist researchers and therapists in evaluating stress and facilitating their communication in both research and clinical spaces.

A large number of articles exist that discuss and define various concepts, terms, and theories relating to human stress. The heterogeneous and dynamic nature of this knowledge, and the growing research, highlight the need and significance of designing a coherent and sharable ontology framework for human stress domain. In response to this need, we design Human Stress Ontology (HSO) to capture stress-related concepts and their relationships in an agreed and machine readable framework. This ontology is organized according to the following five sub-ontologies: causes, mediators, effects, treatments and measurements. Development of an ontology in this field will facilitate interoperability between different information systems and enable the design of ontology-driven software programs tools and semantic web engines for intelligent access, management, retrieval and analysis of stress-related information. The derived knowledge will help identify important relationships between different concepts, and facilitate invention of more valid and consensual psychological tests and development of effective prevention and treatment strategies.