An assessment of perceived stress, stressors, coping strategies, and stress mindsets among La Crosse County, Wisconsin employees

Abstract

With the average American working full-time and spending more than one-third of their day, five days per week, at the workplace, employers have a professional responsibility to improve the health and well-being of their employees. This can include offering worksite wellness stress management programs. The purpose of this cross-sectional descriptive study was to assess perceived stress, stressors, coping strategies, and stress mindsets among La Crosse County, Wisconsin employees. An electronic survey was issued to La Crosse County employees who had access to a work email account. The survey yielded a 29.5% (n = 335) response rate. Results revealed a mean perceived stress score of 16.17 out of 40, indicating a moderate level of perceived stress and a mean stress mindset score of 1.59 out of 4, indicating a debilitating stress mindset. The most prevalent stressors were work and poor communication in the organization. The most prevalent coping strategy utilized to manage stress during the last month was watching television or movies. No statistically significant differences existed in perceived stress scores between different demographic groups. Results from this study may be utilized to guide the development and implementation of interventions to address workplace stress of La Crosse County employees.