Managing Stress in Occupational Settings : A Selective Review of Current Research and Theory

The intent here is to present a representative, though not exhaustive, review of some recent empirical and theoretical literature on stress and the management of stress in occupational settings. The paper begins with a synopsis of the financial cost to the employer of unchecked excessive levels of employee stress. The next section reviews some examples of empirically‐based research supporting the clinical and cost effectiveness of current Occupational Stress Management (OSM) programmes. This is followed by a discussion of recent evidence showing that the “traditional” (corporate) approach to OSM is incomplete and insufficient. Towards the end of the article, an idealised, comprehensive, biopsychosocioecological transactional model of OSM is outlined. Finally, methodological limitations of traditional OSM programmes are discussed, and it is suggested that future studies might consider utilising a multilevel‐multimethod “triangulation” measurement approach.