The TUC identifies four main causes:
Loss of self-esteem and a lack of control are
two very common themes.
Sources within the person
Illness itself can produce stress. The
ability of the body to fight disease normally improves in childhood and
declines in old age (Rogers et al, 1979). Children have a limited understanding
of disease and death. When ill, children tend to focus on the current rather
than future concerns (La Greca & Stone, 1985). Patients worry about being
disabled or possibly dying from their illness.
Another source of stress is when conflict
exists. The conflicts do not have to concern the choice between two negative outcomes.
Making a choice between which of two houses to buy can produce stress.
Approach/approach conflict
This is the conflict produced when the choice
is between two good strategies. For example needing to follow a diet and
wanting to eat a fattening cake. These conflicts are easily resolved but the
more important the decision seems to be, the more difficult it is for the
person to solve the conflict.
Avoidance/Avoidance conflict
This is the conflict produced when the choice
is between two bad strategies. For example, the choice between two equally
harrowing treatments for an illness. Patients often delay making a choice and
might easily change their minds repeatedly. Patients might even change their
doctor in the hope that they will be given an easier choice. They might even
get somebody else to make the decision for them. This conflict is difficult to
resolve and very stressful.
Approach/Avoidance conflict
This is when a single goal has good points
and bad points. For example giving up smoking might mean a gain in weight.
Sources in the family
Interpersonal conflict can arise from
financial problems, from inconsiderate behaviour, and from opposing goals.
Overcrowded conditions increases conflict over privacy and the use of family
resources, such as the Bathroom. Major sources of stress in the family are the
addition of a new family member, illness, infirmity, and death in the family.
An addition to the family
Obviously the mother will experience much
stress during pregnancy and after the birth. But the father may also worry over
money, or his wife's and baby's health, or fear that his relationship with his
wife may deteriorate.
Parents may experience stress from their
relationship with the baby. Each baby comes into the world with certain
personality dispositions, which are called temperaments (Buss & Plomin,
1975). There are easy babies and difficult ones. Babies react differently to
feeding, cuddling, bathing, and dressing.
Difficult babies tend to cry a great deal.
They resist new foods, routines, and people, and their patterns of Sleep,
hunger, and bowel movements are hard to predict. About 10% of babies are
classified as difficult displaying most of these traits fairly consistently,
many others show some of these traits occasionally. Longitudinal studies have
shown that children's temperaments are stable across time. Many traits continue
for many years, although many difficult children show changes toward the
development of easy traits (Carey & McDevitt, 1978).
The arrival of a new baby can also be
stressful to other children in the family (Honig, 1987). Much stress can be
experienced in children aged two or three years old who do not want to share
their parents with the new brother or sister. These children often show
increased clinging to the mother and their sleeping and toileting problems also
increase. Older children experience stress from the changes in the pattern of
family interaction, such as when the parents introduce new rules.
Family illness, disability, and death
A working mother with a sick child will
experience much stress. When children have a serious chronic illness, their
families have to cope with stress over a long period. The amount of time needed
to care for the child conflicts with other activities. The family also needs to
make difficult decisions. They need to learn about the illness and how to care
for their child. There is much expense and other children begin to feel left
out.
Adult sickness can also produce much stress
in the family. If a principal breadwinner is ill there will be a strain on the
family's financial resources. The family's time and personal freedom are
curtailed producing changes in interpersonal relationships.
If an elderly person who is ill or disabled must
live with and be careful by relatives, the stress for those in the household
can be severe, especially if the person requires constant care and shows mental
deterioration (Robinson & Thurner, 1986).
If a parent dies children under about five
years of age seem to grieve for the lost parent less strongly and for a shorter
time than older children and adolescents do (Garmezy, 1983). Children's concept
of death changes between four and eight years of age (Lonetto, 1980). Young
children think death is reversible: the person will come back eventually.
An adult whose child or spouse dies suffers a
tremendous loss. Bereaved mothers reported that they had lost important hopes
and expectations for the future (Edelstein, 1984). A mother who loses her only
child loses her identity and role as a mother too. The loss of a spouse is
especially stressful in early adult (Ball, 1976-77).
Child abuse
The stress caused by long-lasting psychological effects of sexual abuse in childhood has been found to increase the likelihood of certain diseases in old age. Women who were assaulted in their teens appeared to run greater risk of developing arthritis and breast cancer in later life, while Male victims are more likely to develop diseases of the thyroid than men who were not abused as children. 1,300 elderly middle-class participants were studied 12% of the women and 5% of the men reported unwanted sexual contact for childhood. Breast cancer and arthritis were relatively common amongst participants who had suffered sexual abuse; the more sustained the abuse the higher the risk of developing the diseases. However those abused were less likely to suffer from hypertension, but this was probably due to survivor bias, in other words, people with hypertension tend to die younger, so do not feature in studies of elderly people. Stein and Barrett-Connor (2000).
Sources in the community and society
Children experience stress at school and in
competitive events, such as in sports and band performances (Passer, 1982).
Jobs and stress
Demands of the task
Excessive workloads are associated with
increased rates of accidents and health problems (Mackay & Cox, 1978). The
workload for mothers is particularly heavy because not only do they work
outside of the home but also do most of the chores at home (Frankenhaeuser,
1991). Repetitive jobs that under utilise the workers abilities can produce
stress. The evaluation of an employee's job or performance is also particularly
stressful for both the supervisor and the employee (Quick and Quick, 1984).
Responsibility for people's lives
People working in the health professions need
to take many life and death decisions instantly and experience appalling
things, this leads to feelings of emotional exhaustion (Maslach & Jackson,
1982). The same applies to the police and fire fighters.
Stress can result from other aspects of jobs:
Retirement can be stressful because retired
people have lost opportunities for social interaction and an important part of
their identity. They may miss the power and influence they once hand, the
structure and routines of a job, and the feeling of being useful and competent
(Bohm & Rodin, 1985). In addition retired people often live on low incomes,
which again produces stress.
Environmental stress
Crowded conditions can be stressful for three
reasons:
People exposed to hazardous substances in
their environment worry for years about what will happen to them (Baum, 1988).
People who lived near the three mile Island
power plant in Pennsylvania, where a nuclear accident had happened suffered
more stress more than a year after the accident than other residents near a
similar facility (Fleming et al., 1982).
Adapted from Health Psychology, Edward Sarafino, Wiley, 1994, pages
84-91.
Stressors - produce stress
Source of stressors can be Family (as when trying to cope with a newborn baby
or when looking after a sick relative), Work or the Environment.
Stress response - response to stresssor
Stressors - external - e.g. heat, crowding, noise, difficulties with a loved one or contact with a hated one.
internal - e.g. pain, thoughts, feelings.
But not straightforward - heat can be relaxing and crowds can be exciting.
Individual differences.
-
Lundberg (1976)
Using urine samples
Commuters on crowded trains more stressed than in empty trains
but those that had been on the train since the start, showed less stress, even though they had been exposed to the crowded condition longer.
Being able to choose seat, control the situation, reduced the stress.
Hodgkinson and Stewart (1991)
PTSD -described in DSM-III (1980)
Most of the children reported intrusive thoughts and some experienced full-blown flashbacks.
Detached from others
Avoided not only ferry travel, but also the sea.
Immediate aftermath - avoided shower or bath.
Cyclical - reappear and disappear.
Onset can be several months later.
Just as severe.
Therapy or counselling - not that useful.
These people who found the counselling as 'unhelpful', fared no worse than people who reported that it was 'helpful'.
The diagram below shows the relationship between stress and arousal as
determined by a factor analytic technique (Mackay et al 1978)
Due to individual differences, pinpointing specific workplace activities that are likely to cause stress, does not go beyond the obvious. What may be seen as a challenge by one individual may be an impossible task or boring and repetitious to another.
Our background, motivation, experience, skills and knowledge on the one hand and the support and encouragement from managers, supervisors and colleagues on the other, all play an important role.
While it may be beyond the employer's responsibility, it is necessary to take into consideration the fact that not everyone comes to work with a cheerful disposition to start with. A death or sickness in the family, a temporary setback or other personal problems will influence the way in which we cope with the pressures of work. Good employers are aware of this and encourage their employees to address the problems that persist and work through them.
Levels of stress that become harmful are likely to occur when there is:
Those not in supervisory or management positions may have a heightened sense of these situations.
They can be started or made worse by:
Some occupations are, by their nature, stressful. They include those dealing with violent and aggressive behaviour or the threat of it occurring, or dealing with injury, disease and death, and having continuous contact with people and human suffering.
Workplace physical conditions can themselves create stress. Excessive noise with no control over sound levels can cause severe physical and behavioural problems. Severe vibration can have similar effects. Hot, humid conditions and the constant presence of hazardous substances or other hazards will also create stress.