THE PHYSIOLOGICAL IMPACT OF JOB STRESS ON TYPE A/B SECONDARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS (HEART RATE, HOLTER MONITORING)
Abstract
More than one half of all new cases of coronary heart disease (CHD) are not the result of the traditional risk factors associated with CHD. There exists a body of research which points to a sociological component such as environmental stressors, as contributing to the new cases of CHD. Furthermore, the manner in which we react to these stressors is of importance. There is an abundance of data which suggest that persons exhibiting Type A behavior are at greater risk in developing CHD than an individual with Type B behavior patterns. This study measured the heart rates of 12 secondary school principals during the performance of job-associated tasks. A job diary was kept by each principal and, combined with an exit interview, heart rates could be defined for each managerial activity. In addition, Type A behavior was measured for each principal using the Jenkins Activity Survey (JAS), Form C. The study was designed to evaluate and/or compare heart rate data as an indicator of stress from four different perspectives. These would include stress levels for experienced principals as compared with less-experienced principals, the relationship of managerial activities to stress, the over-all level of stress experienced by principals as a group, and the correlation between Type A behavior and higher levels of stress. Using a 30% increase in resting pulse rate as an indicator of stress, stress levels were calculated for each principal. The results indicate that for the 12 secondary principals, stress levels ranged from a high of 85.6% at or above the stress level during the monitoring period to a low of 3.8%. Less experienced principals experienced more job stress than the experienced group and the managerial activities of spokesman, disturbance handler, student discipline and student supervision appeared to create the higher levels of stress for the principals as a group. A correlation of Type A standard scores and the percentage of time at or above stress level was calculated using a Spearman rank correlation coefficient. A coefficient of 0.318 indicated no significant correlation. For the 12 secondary principals in this study there was no relationship between more extreme Type A behavior and higher levels of stress.
Subject Area
School administration
Recommended Citation
SIEVERDING, JOANNES WILHELMUS, "THE PHYSIOLOGICAL IMPACT OF JOB STRESS ON TYPE A/B SECONDARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS (HEART RATE, HOLTER MONITORING)" (1985). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI8600106.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI8600106
