OCCUPATIONAL STRESS, CLINICAL TREATMENT AND CHANGES IN JOB PERCEPTIONS

As part of a larger study looking at the processes and outcomes of psychological treatments for white-collar workers suffering from stress at work, changes in job perceptions and symptoms which took place over the course of psychotherapy were assessed in order to explore the relationship over time between changes in clinical state and changes in job perceptions. Following psychological treatment, clients showed both a reduction in symptomatology and anxiety, and viewed their jobs more positively. Moreover, there were significant relationships between changes in symptom levels and changes in job satisfaction and in attitudes towards opportunity for control, skill use, feeling valued and interpersonal contact. Other attitude change, such as perceptions of variety and clarity in the job, showed little relationship with clinical improvement. This suggests that while some job perceptions may be related to the levels of stress or clinical symptoms suffered by individuals, other perceptions are more independent and are likely to reflect the influence of organizations on individual health. This supports the need for stress management to be targeted at both the individual and organizational level.