Background: Most individual and organizational costs related to job stress are due to preventable health problems. To study the impact of occupational stress in Chile, an instrument that evaluates the different variables involved in the stress process is required.
Aim: To study the effects of work stressors and psychological variables on health among Chileans managers. To study reliability and validity of the Spanish version of the Occupational Stress Indicator (OSI-2).
Subjects and methods: A translated version of the OSI-2 was applied to a sample of 264 white-collar managers.
Results: A high frequency of symptoms was reported by our sample. Back pain was the most frequently reported symptom in managers with high levels of stress. Regression analysis showed that, together, work stressors and psychological characteristics significantly explained self-perceived mental (27.6%) and physical (22.9%) health variance. Responsibilities of the executive role were the stressors most highly associated with poor stress outcomes. The psychological variables most strongly correlated with mental and physical health were Problem-focused Coping and the subscale Impatience of Type A Behavior. The reliability and validity of the OSI-2, Spanish version, were reasonably high.
Conclusions: The transactional model of work stress was confirmed in a sample of Chilean managers evaluated with the Spanish version of the OSI-2.