Influence of occupational stress on the mental health of Ghanaian professional women

Abstract

Managerial women experience a number of work-related stressors which produce strain symptoms that function as predictors of their ill-health in organizations. This finding is made from a study that examined the existing relationships among job characteristics symptoms of stress, and the development of health outcomes (depression, anxiety and physical symptoms) among women in lower and middle management positions in some organizations in Ghana. The stratified and simple random sampling procedure was used to select the study participants which numbered 170 female managers. Data was collected using both questionnaires and interviews, and analyzed using the Occupational Stress Indicator, the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale, and the Beck's Anxiety Inventory. It is concluded that since work-related stressors are predictors of women managers' ill-health in the work environment, organizations should be aware of the stressors in order to be able to guard against the deterioration of job performances of their women managers.

Relevance to Industry: This study highlights the high prices organizations pay for the work-related stresses their women managers experience at the workplace, which impact negatively on their mental health, and by implication their productivity. Recommendations made can be used to enhance the managerial capacity and productivity of female managers at the workplace.