[en] The topic of employee health and well-being is of significant interest to occupational health researchers and practitioners alike. In the present study, we assess the interrelationships between occupational stressors, measured as an index of various independent stressors (e.g., bullying, role ambiguity, workplace changes), lifestyle behaviors (i.e., sleep quality, healthy diet, and physical activity), and three types of stress complaints (i.e., emotional, physical, and cognitive). In doing so, we extend the debate about the buffering impact of job resources to include personal resources in the form of lifestyle behaviors, and ascertain whether the inclusion of such resourceful behavior explains employee stress complaints in an additive (main effects only) or interactive way. Data were collected from a large sample of employees from 10 organizations in Belgium (N = 2,251). Results from latent moderated structural equation modeling revealed that occupational stressors (positive effect) and lifestyle behaviors (negative effect) significantly explain the presence of emotional, physical, and cognitive stress complaints. However, these relationships were mainly additive as opposed to interactive. These results signify that there are two independent pathways associated with employee health and well-being, one under the direct control of the organization (occupational stressors) and one under the direct control of the person (healthy lifestyle behaviors). Moreover, both need to be separately attended to in order to attain the best outcomes in terms of reducing stress complaints.
Research center :
LENTIC - Laboratoire d'Études sur les Nouvelles Formes de Travail, l'Innovation et le Changement - ULiège
Disciplines :
Human resources management
Author, co-author :
Vleugels, Wouter ; Université de Liège - ULiège > HEC Liège : UER > UER Management : Strategic and Sustainable Human Resource Management ; Deakin Business School, Deakin University, Australia
Kilroy, Steven; Trinity Business School, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
De Witte, Hans ; Research Group Work, Organisational, and Personnel Psychology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium ; Optentia Research Focus Area, North-West University, South Africa
Language :
English
Title :
The Combined Influence of Occupational Stressors and Individual Lifestyle Behaviors on Employee Stress Complaints: Additive or Interactive Effects?
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