Stress, Coping Strategies and Quality of Life: A Survey of Brazilian Managers

This study analyzes the relationship between perceived stress at work, the coping strategy adopted, and the quality of life of active managers in Brazilian organizations. Three instruments were applied together: Karasek's Job Stress Scale, Latack's Coping with Job Stress and WHO'S WHOQOL-Bref to a sample of 1290 managers throughout Brazil. An analysis of the correlation between the variables stress, quality of life and coping strategy was applied. To further evaluate the relationship between the three dimensions of interest, linear and logistic regression models were developed. The findings show that most managers find themselves under a high stress level, but share good social support and have good perceptions about their quality of life. Most use control strategies to cope with stress. Control strategies and symptom management significantly influence the perception of quality of life, whereas avoidance strategies imply a decrease in this perception. Managers with jobs classified as high strain (Karasek & Theorell, 1990) tend to have a poorer quality of life, even when moderated by social support.