JOB STRESS AND HEALTH PROFILES OF SMOKERS, EX-SMOKERS AND NONSMOKERS

This article provides an empirical perspective on the relationship bet ween work stress and job satisfaction for physical well-being in a sen ior police population when physical factors such as smoking are consid ered. The subjects were 533 superintending police officers, predominan tly male (>97 per cent), from Great Britain. Forty-two per cent of sen ior police officers were non-smokers (N = 220) and an almost equal pro portion, 40 per cent (N = 209), were ex-smokers, the remaining 18 per cent (N = 93) being regular smokers (12 per cent smoking in excess of 10 cigarettes per day). The Occupational Stress Indicator was used as the measure of overall stress levels and its components. Mean scores o f smokers, ex-smokers and non-smokers on the OSI were compared using u nivariate F-tests and discriminant function analysis. Smokers per se w ere inclined to exhibit higher job stress scores than either ex-smoker s or non-smokers and report the worst physical health scores. The non- smokers yielded the greatest level of work satisfaction and psychologi cal well-being in contrast to the ex-smokers, who were most distressed psychologically and least satisfied with their work. Group profiles w ere not statistically different from each other with the exception of the physical health and one 'coping' subscale. Job-related pressure wa s predictive of lack of job satisfaction (F(1,432) = 40.09, p < 0.001) and both physical and mental ill-health (F(4,461) = 41.05, p < 0.001 and F(4,454) = 69.76, p < 0.001 respectively) across the groups of non -smokers, ex-smokers and the three smoking groups. There was no eviden ce of a direct relationship between smoking behaviour and job satisfac tion, physical and mental health. A comparison showed the average numb er of days off from work to be lowest for non-smokers (M 2.37, SD 8.25 ) followed by ex-smokers (M 3.4, SD 15.91) and then smokers (M 4.94, S D 17.33). The variance of these groups increased but the mean differen ces did not reach statistical significance (F(2,519) = 1.24, p > 0.05) . The results of this study argue for tentative links between stress, smoking, absenteeism and other health factors in this senior police oc cupational sample. They also lend support for the utility of a general ized measure of stress components in medical and occupational settings .