Work Stress and Employee Health

TLDR

Work stress research has expanded over two decades, with physiological stress studies advancing and the Allostatic Load model emerging as a key framework for linking workplace stress to health outcomes. The article reviews how workplace psychosocial stressors affect health using the Allostatic Load framework and proposes future research directions on primary stress mechanisms. The review synthesizes evidence from management, psychology, epidemiology, biology, neuroendocrinology, and physiology, examining primary, secondary, and tertiary mediators of workplace stress.

Abstract

Research examining the relationship between work stress and well-being has flourished over the past 20 years. At the same time, research on physiological stress processes has also advanced significantly. One of the major advances in this literature has been the emergence of the Allostatic Load model as a central organizing theory for understanding the physiology of stress. In this article, the Allostatic Load model is used as an organizing framework for reviewing the vast literature that has considered health outcomes that are associated with exposure to psychosocial stressors at work. This review spans multiple disciplines and includes a critical discussion of management and applied psychology research, epidemiological studies, and recent developments in biology, neuroendocrinology, and physiology that provide insight into how workplace experiences affect well-being. The authors critically review the literature within an Allostatic Load framework, with a focus on primary (e.g., stress hormones, anxiety and tension) and secondary (e.g., resting blood pressure, cholesterol, body mass index) mediators, as well as tertiary disease end points (e.g., cardiovascular disease, depression, mortality). Recommendations are provided for how future research can offer deeper insight into primary Allostatic Load processes that explain the effects of workplace experiences on mental and physical well-being.