TECHNOLOGICAL STRESS - PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL SYMPTOMS IN MODERN OFFICES

Increasingly, employees in modern office environments report suffering from psychosomatic symptoms. Studies of employees in high-technology industries suggest that psychosomatic symptoms are related in part to high perceived mental demands in combination with lack of sufficient s kills. Employees with symptoms more commonly report that they are not sufficiently recognized by their employer, as compared with nonsymptom atic peers. Low perceived organizational efficiency correlates with hi gh mental stress among employees. In a controlled stress management pr ogram, we observed lower mental stress levels among participants, as c ompared with controls, and lower physiological arousal, measured as ci rculating levels of prolactin. It is suggested that organizational ree ngineering and the introduction of information technologies constitute potential stressors challenging employees' cognitive resources. It is predicted that psychosomatic syndromes in the workplace will most lik ely increase in the foreseeable future due to the rapid changes curren tly transcending working life. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Inc.