The evaluation of work stress through an integrated approach: The role of organizational and individual variables.

This study takes the move from the perspective of the integration of work stress evaluation methods, needed in order to contain the common method variance and the effect of individual variables in subjective measures. The aim of this study is to detect the antecedents of psycho-physical symptoms of work stress, in terms of both individual and organizational characteristics, through an integrated approach based on a new scale of mental and physical strain specifically developed by physicians. The study was conducted on health care workers of an Italian organization (n = 410), to whom the scale mentioned above and a subjective assessment instrument were administered. The analyses show how the presence of prior pathology is a risk factor in relation to the psychological and physical strain. Furthermore, some specific individual characteristics, such as gender, as well as some organizational ones, such as a pathological work/life conflict and workload, are also risk factors in relation to the psychological and physical strain. The analyses also show how other factors such as the age, the consumption of alcohol between meals, the quality of the relations with colleagues, and the characteristics of the workplace are relevant as protective factors. The adoption of an integrated approach allows one to enrich and deepen the evaluation of work stress, highlighting the importance of the inclusion of a specific evaluation carried out by the physician in the broader process of work stress assessment.