AN EPIDEMIOLOGIC-STUDY ON WORK AND FAMILY STRESS AMONG CHINESE IN HONG-KONG

Hong Kong, with a population of over six million in a modern city, has been shown to be a very stressful place to live in. However, epidemio logical data from a big-scale study in this regard are lacking. The pr esent territory-wide survey, from a sample representative of the gener al population, was aimed to investigate the work and family stress of Chinese adults in the community with respect to the impact on their ps ychological well-being. The psychosocial context was considered as an important source of stress. The results showed that coping with work d emands and rearing children were reported as the highest stress respon ses. Moreover; workers in Hong Kong took an instrumental attitude, i.e ., one emphasizing material rewards, in order to reduce the job stress arising from interpersonal conflicts in the workplace.