This study used university-based statistics of performance and self-rated employee productivity to examine the relationship between stress levels, organizational commitment, health, and performance. The authors conducted a secondary analysis of data from staff in 13 higher education institutions. In common with earlier research, the authors found that stressors had a negative linear relationship with all the performance measures used. However, this relationship was also influenced by physical health, psychological well-being, and organizational commitment, and by the measure of performance used. In addition, the authors found variations in the relationship between performance and stress by category of staff, which suggests the influence of job factors. These findings are discussed in relation to previous research and their implications for English academic institutions.

Current theories of educational motivation need to be extended to account for the difference between subject-related and generic motives.

In May 2002, a national benchmarking exercise of occupational stress in English Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) was carried out using the ASSET (an organisational stress screening tool), with a stratified random sample of all categories of staff. This paper presents a secondary analysis of these data by gender for full-time, permanent staff only. Results show that when differences in age and job exposure (i.e. type of university; category of employee; salary level; hours worked per week; and additional responsibilities) were accounted for, men and women reported similar levels of stress for work relationships, work-life balance, overload, job security, control, resources and communication, and job overall. They also reported similar levels of commitment. In contrast, however, men were more troubled by pay and benefits and women reported higher levels of physical and psychological (ill) health outcomes of stress. Interpreted in accordance with the differential vulnerability and exposure hypotheses, our results show that men are more vulnerable to the negative effects of stressors associated with pay and benefits, and women are more vulnerable to the negative outcomes of health, and not by differential exposure to them.En mai 2002, on a réalisé une évaluation nationale du stress professionnel dans les institutions britanniques d'enseignement de haut niveau (HEI) en utilisant l'ASSET (un outil de dépistage du stress professionnel), avec un échantillon stratifié aléatoire de toutes les catégories d'équipes. On expose dans cet article une analyse secondaire par genre des données recueillies, uniquement pour les groupes permanents travaillant à plein-temps. Il est apparu que si l'on tenait compte des différences d'âge et de situations professionnelles (type d'université, catégorie de salarié, niveau de revenu, nombre d'heures travaillées par semaine et autres responsabilités), les deux sexes faisaient part de niveaux analogues de stress en ce qui concerne les relations de travail, l'équilibre entre les vies de travail-hors travail, le surmenage, la sécurité professionnelle, la maîtrise des situations, les ressources et la communication, et le travail en général. Ils ont aussi manifesté des niveaux d'implication comparables. Par contre, les hommes étaient davantage indisposés par le salaire et autres avantages, et les femmes rapportaient des retombées plus fréquentes du stress sur leur santé physique et mentale. Interprétés à partir des hypothèses d'exposition et de vulnérabilité différentielles, nos résultats montrent que les hommes sont plus vulnérables à l'impact négatif des facteurs de stress liés au salaire et autres avantages matériels, tandis que les femmes sont plus sensibles aux éléments nuisant à leur santé indépendamment des différences d'exposition.

Objectives. To determine whether quality of life (QOL) changes during the menopause as a function of menopausal status and other medical and lifestyle variables. Design. A postal questionnaire sent to three different samples of women. Method. A total of 1188 questionnaires were received from (a) two samples recruited from two Family Health Service Association (FHSA) lists and (b) one sample recruited through an advertisement in a women's magazine. The questionnaires consisted of (a) a seven domain, 48‐item, condition‐specific QOL questionnaire which was developed for this study (MQOL), (b) a single item global QOL questionnaire (GQOL), (c) questions about medical history, (d) questions about work status, (e) questions assessing menopausal status using two different techniques. Results. Both the MQOL and GQOL indicated a relationship with menopausal status. GQOL and MQOL showed a U‐shaped relationship with menopausal status, with lowest scoresassociated with the middle of the menopause. However, domain scores of Sleep and Energy failed to reach the levels reported by women who perceive themselves to be pre‐menopausal, and domain scores of Symptom Impact and Social Interaction indicate steady decline during the menopausal transition. Women who experienced the menopause long ago reported the highest GQOL, feelings and cognition domain scores. Medical history and work outside the home play an important role in determining MQOL‐womenwho had undergone hysterectomy, those who had tried but discontinued HRT while still in the middle of the climacteric, and those with greater co‐morbidity had poorer QOL. Those who worked outside the home reported better MQOL, and those recruited through the magazine reported poorer QOL. Conclusions. QOL is affected by the menopause, but the way it is affected depends on the measure of QOL used. QOL during the menopause is also affected by medical and lifestyle variables. QOL during the menopause is a complex interaction of several different kinds of variable.

The quality of life (QOL) benefits of salmeterol versus placebo were compared in a double-blind, multicentre study using the Living with Asthma Questionnaire (LWAQ) which was scored in three different ways. First, the overall LWAQ score showed that salmeterol enhanced QOL compared to placebo. Second, when the LWAQ was analysed in terms of its two construct subscales we found, as predicted previously, that the Problem construct was more sensitive to longitudinal change compared with the Evaluation construct. Third, when the LWAQ was analysed in terms of its 11 domain subscales we found a significant improvement for salmeterol compared with placebo on three domains, Sport, Sleep, and Work and other activities. Analysing clinical trial results in terms of construct subscales and domain subscales provides different kinds of information each of which is useful. Analysis in terms of overall QOL scores is less informative.