Managing occupational stress in a high-risk industry - Measuring the job demands of correctional officers

Occupational stress is an increasing health problem for the high-risk industries. The occupation of correctional officers has received relatively scant attention, contributing to a recent increase in formal occupational stress claims. This research evaluates the ability of the Job Demand-Control-Support (JDCS) model to predict strain in 132 Australian correctional officers. A specific measure of job demands predicts the psychological outcome (job satisfaction) to a greater extent than the generic (JDCS) demands measure. The ability of supervisor support to moderate the consequences of these job demands is also demonstrated and has implications for the training of correctional supervisors. Arguments for including sample-specific measures of job demands are discussed.