IMPROVING STRESS ASSESSMENT - TOWARD AN EVIDENCE-BASED APPROACH TO ORGANIZATIONAL STRESS INTERVENTIONS

There is little evidence to suggest that the stress management interve ntions (SMIs) used in organizations are necessarily effective nor is i t clear why, in principle, they should be. Why then do organizations i ntroduce SMIs? A wide variety of reasons is apparent, many focusing on reducing the presumed costs of stress and the attractiveness of what appears to be a panacea-like intervention. The central aim of this stu dy is to make the case for and outline an evidence-based approach to S MIs in which data gathered from initial assessments are used to make d ecisions about interventions, Valid assessment requires a relatively s ophisticated and comprehensive approach to measurement; designs which permit causal relationships between the phenomena of interest to be es tablished; and a healthy scepticism toward the claims that are made by organizations and individuals about stress. It is argued that an evid ence-based approach will lead to advances in theory development and in tervention practices. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Inc.