Research Details

Psychosocial Risk Factors for Work-Related Stress Among Teachers of Mariano Marcos State University

Cheryll Didi Nellie N. Obra

Brief Description

This paper posits that a high level of work-related stress among MMSU employees affects their performance that could affect the organization's productivity. For this study, the variables that will be studied are the socio-demographic characteristics such as age, sex, civil status, nature of work, and tenure of employment; the psychosocial working conditions such as job demand, job control, job roles, managerial and peer support, work relationships, and organizational change; and level of work-related stress. Comparisons in psychosocial working conditions and stressfulness between groups of respondents will be analyzed.

A descriptive-comparative research design will be used. It will describe the personal characteristics, psychosocial working conditions, and work-related stress of MMSU employees. It will compare the psychosocial working conditions and work-related stress of the respondents as to personal characteristics. Quantitative data will be collected thru survey questionnaire while qualitative data will be collected thru focus group discussion.

The study will be conducted in all MMSU campuses in Batac City, Laoag City, Currimao, Paoay and Dingras. For the descriptive survey, purposive sampling will be used involving the educators in the eight campuses will be included. For a survey of this type, a response rate of over 50% could be considered adequate. For the focus group discussion, there will be random sampling of two (2) educators from each college totalling to 14 educators.

The study will adopt the full Indicator Tool developed by Health and Safety Executive (HSE, 2006).

Quantitative data will be collected thru survey questionnaire. The survey questionnaire will be personally handed to the respondents. The respondents will be given a period of one month to return the accomplished questionnaire to the researcher. Qualitative data will be collected thru focus group discussion where 14 educators will serve as key informants.

Prior to the analysis, all filled questionnaires will be reviewed for accuracy. Frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation will be used for descriptive analysis. ANOVA will be used to compare the groups. All data analysis will be performed using SPSS for Windows 13.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL). Statistical significance is set at p value

Expected Output

The expected results of this study will enable the researcher to document more precisely the psychosocial risk factors for work-related stress among the employees. It contributed in identifying employees who are at risk. Hence, it could guide in developing appropriate solutions and timely interventions to prevent stress in the workplace.

Abstract

The study was able to establish current baseline data on the presence and sources of work-related stress among teachers of Mariano Marcos State University. Recruited to participate in the survey were 134 teachers from its six colleges in Laoag and Batac sites. Quantitative data were collected using a three-part structured questionnaire that focused on personal characteristics, work-related stress, and psychosocial risk factors (items were adopted from the Indicator Tool developed by the Health and Safety Executive based on the Management Standards framework). The HSE Analysis Tool was used to analyze responses on the psychosocial risk factors. Descriptive statistics and Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient with statistical significance based on p-value < 0.05.

Teacher stress stemmed from multifaceted factors. Highly ranked psychosocial risk factors for elevated stress were working very intensively, working very fast, tasks being demanded by others, strained relationships, and insufficient opportunities to question managers about work changes. The teachers perceived teaching to be moderately stressful caused by 'stressors' demands, manager support, and organizational changes with demands registered as the main stressor of the university teachers.

Work-related stress significantly correlated with demands (r=.441), relationships (r=.353), control (r=.243), manager support (r=.254), peer support (r=.288), role (r=.351), change (r=.196), and designation (r=-.225). The identified sources of stressors should be considered and addressed thoroughly and not to be disregarded as unnecessary. The university has to take action to reduce the presence of stressors in the workplace and to adopt reasonably practical measures to manage the stress being experienced by its teachers.

Keywords: psychosocial risk factors, teachers, work-related stress