Gender and regional differences in perceived job stress across Europe

Smet, Patrick De; Sans, Susana; Dramaix, M.; Boulenguez, C; Backer, Guy De; Ferrario, Marco; Cesana, Giancarlo; Houtman, I.L.D.; Isacsson, SO; Kittel, F.; Östergren, Per-Olof; Peres, I; Pelfrene, Edwin; Romon, Monique; Rosengren, Annika; Wilhelmsen, Lars; Kornitzer, Marcel

doi:10.1093/eurpub/cki028

Cited by 74 publications

(69 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Moreover, quantitative demands and low job control appeared as important factors, consistent with studies demonstrating lower levels of job control among women (34). Previous studies on the importance of mechanical factors in explaining gender differences in sick leave have reported mixed findings (10,23).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Work-related gender differences in physician-certified sick leave: a prospective study of the general working population in Norway

Sterud¹

2014

Scand J Work Environ Health

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The gender-segregated labor market may contribute to the gender difference in sick leave observed in many European countries, but working conditions have rarely been studied as a cause of this difference. This nationwide study provides evidence of a substantial relationship between work-related psychosocial factors and excess risk of physician-certified sick leave among women. Mechanical exposure had a small overall impact.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Work-related gender differences in physician-certified sick leave: a prospective study of the general working population in Norway

Sterud¹

2014

Scand J Work Environ Health

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Section: Possible Causes Of Stress In Higher Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The deficit of job control in females, however, increased towards less qualified occupations. Job strain was less prevalent in men than in women, without apparent regional heterogeneity (de Smet et al, 2005).Age has been shown in some studies to have a curvilinear relationship; the older employees being more satisfied than the younger ones (Punnett et al, 2007). In a study conducted in Australia by Dua (1994), younger staff reported more job stress than older staff.…”

mentioning

confidence: 93%

Factors Associated with Occupational Stress and Their Effects on Organizational Performance in a Sudanese University

Shikieri¹,

Musa²

2012

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Occupational stress has a significant impact on student learning and thereby on the contribution that such institutions can make to society. This affects organizational performance by reducing productivity and efficiency which affect the organization negatively. The aim of the current study was to determine the factors associated with occupational stress and their relationship with organizational performance at one of the private universities in Sudan. A total of 150 male and female employees from different departments and with various educational levels in the main building of the university were randomly selected. Data was collected using a questionnaire with background questions, job stressors such as role conflict and ambiguity, lack of participation in decision making, lack of authority, workload, unsatisfactory working conditions and interpersonal relationships, and statements about the effect on organisational performance. Questions were based on three-and four-point scale. Responses were grouped in terms of scores to show the level of job stress. Descriptive statistics was carried out using SPSS programme. Results indicated that on average the employees experienced high degree of job stress. Job stressors affected the general physical health of employees, their job satisfaction and performance as well as their commitment negatively. Similar findings were reported in other studies. The study recommended that the university needs to elevate the situation and resolve all the factors affecting the employees by for example increasing the number of staff needed to perform the tasks and/or decreasing the number of students enrolled.Keywords: Higher Education; Occupational Stress; Organizational Performance; Sudan IntroductionStress is a prevalent problem in modern life (Smith, 2000;Chang & Lu, 2007). In 1964, Selye was the first to use the term "stress" to describe a set of physical and psychological responses to adverse conditions or influences (cited from Fevre et al., 2003). Occupational stress can be defined as a disruption of the emotional stability of the individual that induces a state of disorganization in personality and behaviour (Nwadiani, 2006). A stressor may be defined as any "demand made by the internal or external environment that upsets a person's balance and for which restoration is needed" (Herbert, 1997;Larson, 2004). Job stressors may refer to any characteristic of the workplace that poses a threat to the individual (Bridger et al., 2007). They affect organizational performance by reducing productivity and efficiency which affect the organization negatively (Dua, 1994;Brown & Uehara, 2008;Reskin, 2008). Theories of Occupational StressThere are several theories of occupation stress, in this section, the "person-environment fit theory, the "demand-control" theory and the "cybernetic and systems" theory will be the selected theories since they are prevalent and central to the literature on occupational stress (Fevre et al., 2003). Moreover, they are representative of the range of theories in t...

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“…In an analysis of a stratified representative sample of 2387 adults, Cohen and Williamson 15 found no meaningful sex differences in the perceived stress scale. A large-scale multicountry European study by de Smet et al, 16 consisting of 34 972 subjects, found little support for differences in job strain between men and women. There were sex differences in the sense of control but not in the ratings of strain.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Sex, trauma, stress hormones and depression

2009

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Although few studies dispute that there are gender differences in depression, the etiology is still unknown. In this review, we cover a number of proposed factors and the evidences for and against these factors that may account for gender differences in depression. These include the possible role of estrogens at puberty, differences in exposure to childhood trauma, differences in stress perception between men and women and the biological differences in stress response. None of these factors seem to explain gender differences in depression. Finally, we do know that when depressed, women show greater hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activation than men and that menopause with loss of estrogens show the greatest HPA axis dysregulation. It may be the constantly changing steroid milieu that contributes to these phenomena and vulnerability to depression.

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Gender and regional differences in perceived job stress across Europe

Cited by 74 publications

References 30 publications

Work-related gender differences in physician-certified sick leave: a prospective study of the general working population in Norway

Work-related gender differences in physician-certified sick leave: a prospective study of the general working population in Norway

Factors Associated with Occupational Stress and Their Effects on Organizational Performance in a Sudanese University

Sex, trauma, stress hormones and depression

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