Suchergebnisse

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to examine specific stressors and demands, perceived control, received support and stress management strategies of crisis managers (i.e. executives and supervisors of organizations involved in disaster response) in the context of large-scale missions.


Design/methodology/approach
– Totally, 31 semi-structured interviews with crisis managers were conducted in five European countries and analyzed with the qualitative text analysis method GABEK®.


Findings
– The sample reported high demands and various sources of stress, including event-specific stressors as well as group specific, occupational stressors such as responsibility for decision making, justification of failures or dealing with press and media. While possibilities for control were perceived as limited during large-scale missions, organizational and peer support played an important role in mitigating mission-related stress. Effective stress management strategies were reported as crucial to ensure successful crisis management, and a need for more comprehensive stress management trainings was emphasized.


Originality/value
– While stressors and coping strategies in first responders and emergency services personnel have been previously examined, corresponding research regarding the professional group of crisis management leaders remains scarce. Therefore, this study makes an important contribution by examining influential stressors within the work environment of crisis managers and by identifying starting points and requirements for stress management trainings and psychosocial support programs.

Im Rahmen der Studie BundeswehrEinsatz und STress (BEST) wurde die Entstehung von Desoxyribonukleinsäure (DNA)-Strangbrüchen durch mentalen Stress in Vollblutproben von Soldaten (Stichprobengröße n = 72) mithilfe des Comet Assay untersucht. Mentalen Stress erfuhren die Probanden im Trierer Social Stress Test for Groups (TSST-G), bei dem die Vollblutproben vor, direkt nach Stressexposition und nach anschließender Ruhephase entnommen wurden und währendessen wurden von den Probanden der Multidimensionale Befindlichkeitsfragebogen (MDBF), der Fragebogen für Zustandsangst des State-Trait-Angstinventars (STAI-S) und der Fragebogen für Primary Appraisal Secondary Apprasial (PASA) zur Erhebung des subjektiven Stress ausgefüllt. Das kardiovaskuläre Risiko der Probanden wurde durch den Risikoscore der Prospective Cardiovascular Munster (PROCAM) Studie berechnet. Es konnte ein Anstieg der DNA-Strangbrüche unter mentalem Stress sowie ein Abfall der Schäden während der Ruhephase festgestellt werden. Geschlechterspezifische Unterschiede fanden sich nicht. Die Probandengruppe mit kardiovaskulärem Risiko zeigte eine signifikant höhere Menge an DNA-Strangbrüchen unter mentalem Stress gegenüber den Probanden ohne positivem Risikoscore. Dabei zeigten die Parameter positive Familienanamnese sowie die Blutfettwerte (High density Lipoprotein (HDL)-Cholesterin, Low density Lipoprotein (LDL)-Cholesterin und Triglyceride) den größten Zusammenhang zu der Anzahl an DNA-Strangbrüchen. Die Fragebögen zum subjektiven Stress korrelierten nicht mit der Menge an DNA-Strangbrüchen.

This study aims to document the nature and extent of occupational stress in farming. A postal survey of farmers in the South West of England, was undertaken and results indicate high levels of occupational stress in farming families. 35% of respondents scored positively on the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) with female respondents showing significantly higher scores than males. A significant proportion of respondents also showed elevated levels of anxiety and depression as measured by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD). indices of psychological distress were correlated with ill health and family problems though the most common sources of perceived stress were coping with new legislation, the amount of paper work and media criticism. People who reported a greater number of stressors scored higher on all 3 measure of psychological distress.

The present study analyzed experimentally the association between the experience of psychological stress and the physiological stress response of prospective teachers. The experienced stress was assessed by self-reported data. Cortisol concentrations via saliva samples reflected the physiological response. The results show no difference between the stress and the control group in the experience of psychological stress. However, the stress group had significantly increased cortisol concentrations compared to the control group. The study could not show any correlation between the two stress parameters. The results suggest that a stress response should be validated based not only on the experience of psychological stress but also on the physiological stress response. This is particularly crucial in light of the fact that the majority of studies concerning stress in teachers are limited to experiences of psychological stress so far. Due to this, the results may provide a first important contribution to a more comprehensive stress assessment for teachers.