The influence of psychosocial factors on distress expression

Background
Psychosocial stress is a cause of illness and can lead to behavioral changes that tend to be harmful to health. Stress at work can cause burnout and damage workers’ well-being and health. Timely diagnosis of distress symptoms can help ensure the quality of a worker’s life.

Objectives
The aim of the study was to identify the stress prevalence and its expression and to reveal the influence of psychosocial factors.

Material and methods
A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in a sample of 606 current workers of Klaipeda, Lithuania, who had no history of clinical diagnosed disease. The General Symptoms Distress Scale (GSDS) was used for distress evaluation.

Results
Overall stress intensity in the study group was moderate. Anxiety, fatigue, pain, sleep difficulties, and concentration difficulties are the most common distress symptoms depending on workers’ gender, education, work experience, nature of work, insufficient rest, and some work related stress factors. Occupation, working hours per day, and health-related behavioral factors have no correlation with the distress symptoms.

Conclusions
Overall stress intensity in the study group was 6 (out of 10). According to the GSDS, the mean number of distress symptoms was 3,8 (out of 13), the intensity of these was 4,6 (out of 10), and management was 6,1 (out of 10). Female gender, education, less work experience, sedentary nature of work, and insufficient rest are the factors positively associated with having more distress symptoms. Hazardous environmental conditions, competition and career growth, deadlines, meeting the public, hazards encountered, and physical demands influence the expression of distress symptoms.