Workload, stress and family life in British Members of Parliament and the psychological impact of reforms to their working hours

Demands on Britain's Members of Parliament (MPs) have grown steadily over t he last 15 years, resulting in parliamentary recommendations of working hou rs reform. This study was the first psychological research on national poli ticians and comprised two stages. Initially baseline data were gathered via questionnaire on the psychological impact of the job - 124 out of 651 MPs (20 percent) responded. Results revealed long working hours, higher mean sc ores on physical stress and Type A behaviour scales compared to British man agers, as well as greatly reduced levels of perceived control. Type A behav iour was linked to the ages of MPs and their children, while perceived cont rol was altered significantly by political party membership and constituenc y location. At stage two, following a 9-month trial of reforms to MPs' work ing hours, a follow-up questionnaire was circulated. One hundred and ten ou t of 200 MPs responded. Results indicated increases approaching significanc e in both physical and emotional symptoms of stress and in difficulties at the home-work interface. MPs highlighted the stressful role of time pressur es, family and constituency problems and job insecurity. Stress levels were significantly affected by the MP's age, their children's ages, constituenc y distance from Westminster, weekly travel time and extra work roles outsid e politics. Copyright (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.