Stressors and Stress Reactions Among University Personnel

A large, ethnically diverse, and representative sample of university workers in administrative, instructional, and blue-collar/clerical support categories were administered a battery of questionnaires designed to assess job and nonwork stress, biopsychosocial reactions to stress, emotionality, medical symptoms and utilization, and perceived social support, among other variables. A total of 831 participants returned questionnaires. The principal results showed that job and nonwork stress correlated positively with behavioral, cognitive, and physiological reactions to stress as well as with negative emotionality. Job and nonwork stress correlated meaningfully with medical symptoms; nonwork stress also correlated at a useful level with reported medical utilization. Social support did not generally modulate reports of stress or reactions to stress. It was also found that support staff reported higher levels of nonwork stress and lower levels of work stress, but that 2 measures of job stress did not differentiate administrative and instructional personnel. Younger staff reported higher levels of job and nonwork stress, and females reported higher levels of nonwork stress, irrespective of job category. The results were discussed in terms of their importance for understanding the nature of stress among personnel on the university campus and in relation to prior research.