Resilience and green spaces: association with stress among contact centre agents in the Philippines

Abstract

The work environment in Philippine contact centres had been shown to expose employees to factors that contribute to work-related stress; health promotion strategies that could mitigate the impacts are needed. With the framework that stress is experienced as a result of the interactions of an individual with the environment, this study examined the relationship of stress with individual resilience and the presence of urban green spaces (UGS) in the environment. The study involved employees (N = 186) from six contact centres in the capital region of the Philippines, where a large number of contact centre service providers are located. A two-stage survey was administered online using standardised instruments to measure stress (10-item Perceived Stress Scale) and resilience (Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale), customised questions to gather demographic information, and open-ended questions to probe on insights of participants. Google Earth Pro was used to conduct satellite mapping of UGS, followed by on-site ocular inspection. This study revealed that the average stress level of participants was high. The percentages of UGS in the vicinity of the study sites were categorised as low. Linear regression revealed that amongst individual and environment factors, resilience, household income, and awareness of UGS in the vicinity were significant predictors of stress levels. Health promotion in Philippine contact centres could consider strategies that include resilience building, enhancing income security, and promoting the awareness of UGS within the workplace vicinity.