Investigation of Chronic Stress Sources in the Working Population of Karatas County, Adana Province

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the sources of chronic stress in the working environment. Method: After the necessary official permissions were obtained, study was carried out in Adana/Karatas between March and June 2016. Karatas district center has 6580 population over 18 years of age and we reached to 363 people with systematic sampling. Questionnaire and short symptom inventory questionnaires were applied by the researcher using face-to-face interview method. The data were analyzed on computer using the SPSS 19 program. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Findings: Of the 363 participants who participated in the study, 181(49.9%) were male and 182(50.1%) were female. 23(6.3%) were illiterate, 28(7.7%) were literate, 136(37.5%) had primary school, 89(24.5%) had middle school, 67(18.5%) had high school, 20(5.5%) had college-faculty and above education level. 166(45.8%) were housewives, 102(28.1%) were working in the agricultural sector, 48(13.2%) were artisans/self-employed, 35(9,6%) were working in the fishery sector, 7(1.9%) were public personnel, 3(0.8%) were working in the tourism sector and 2(0.6%) were working in the construction sector. 154(42.4%) were working actively while 209(57.6%) were not working. When advanced statistical analysis is performed; those who did not work had more stress than the workers(p=0.049), Workers include: Those who had problems related to environmental factors in the working environment experienced more stress than those who did not(p=0.044) Those who had problems with organizational factors had more stress than those who did not, but this result was not significant(p=0.329) Those who had problems with individual factors in the working environment experienced more stress than those who did not(p = 0.006) Those who had problems with individual differences in the working environment had more stress than those who did not(p = 0.018). Conclusion: Stress sources, which are inherent in the nature of the business, are constantly creating problems for employees. Keywords: Working Environment, Stress, Work Psychology