The Stressed Executive: Sources and Predictors of Stress Among Participants in an Executive Health Program

Abstract

BackgroundStress is highly prevalent in the U.S. society, especially in executives, and is a well-documented risk factor for a wide range of medical disorders. Knowledge of common sources of stress and predictive factors may help identify executives at risk of high stress and allow us to appropriately refer them for stress management treatment.ObjectiveThe primary aim of this study was to identify common sources of stress, predictors of high stress, and other correlates among executives.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional survey of executives who requested a stress management consult at our institution. We abstracted the data from a 14-item intake survey as well as from the patient interview.ResultsOf the 839 executives, 827 executives (98.6%) who were referred for individual stress management consults completed the stress-related questions of the survey; 51.3% of these executives reported having a high stress level. Study participants mostly struggled with the well-being measures of sleep, anxiety, energy level, and diet. The majority reported that their main stressor was work related (n = 540, 64.4%) followed by family related (n = 371, 44.2%), health related (n = 170, 20.3%), and work–life balance (n = 62, 7.4%). In unadjusted analysis, high stress was associated with younger age (P = .006), lower quality-of-life scores (P < .001), and less physical activity (P < .001). In multivariable analyses, the strongest predictors for high stress level were younger age (odds ratios [OR] = 0.84, P = .045) and worse quality-of-life indicators such as anxiety (OR = 2.72, P < .001), diet (OR = 0.78, P = .02), and sleep (OR = 0.74, P < .003).ConclusionThese findings suggest that executives with a high level of stress might be best helped through a multimodality stress management program. Our findings merit replication in larger studies and more definitive confirmation with prospective clinical trials.

Longitudinal Associations between Self-Reported Sleep Duration and Cardiometabolic Disease Risk in Corporate Executives

“…Adequate sleep is critical for workplace performance (Barnes and Watson, 2019) and strongly influences the work quality and output of a subgroup of employees, namely corporate executives who are exposed to considerable performance pressure in a competitive environment. A study by Ganesh et al (2018) examined predictors of stress in executives and found that they struggle most with poor quality sleep, anxiety and lack of physical activity (Ganesh et al, 2018). This suggests that executives may compromise their sleep and physical activity to meet challenging performance objectives in response to work pressures.…”

Association between self-reported sleep duration and cardiometabolic risk in corporate executives

“…Self-reported short sleep duration (≤ 6 h per night) has been shown to vary by occupation, with the prevalence of short sleep duration being greatest for employees in managerial (40.5%), followed by those in transportation (37.1%) and manufacturing (34.8%) roles (Luckhaupt et al 2010). Such literature gives insight into the sleep duration of occupational groups, and provides plausible correlates of shortened sleep in the broader population, but not in corporate executives for whom sleep appears to be jeopardised by longer work hours and high levels of stress (Ganesh 2018;Nishitani et al 2013).…”

Common demanding conditions among professional high-level military and sport leaders: a cross-contextual qualitative reflexive thematic analysis

“…Similarly, frequently reported emotional reactions to work-related stressors among staff, in general, have shown to be anger and frustration, where work-overload and interpersonal conflicts are commonly experienced stressors (Mazzola et al, 2011). Moreover, exceptionally stressed high-level leaders struggle with adverse reactions due to increasingly demanding conditions such as time pressure combined with endless meetings, bureaucracy, staff development, interpersonal relationships, and work-life balance issues (Dubey & Kumar, 1986;Ganesh et al, 2018). Frequent adverse stress reactions are sleep disorders, headaches, irritation, anxiety, lowered energy, and diet problems (Dubey & Kumar, 1986;Ganesh et al, 2018).…”

“…Moreover, exceptionally stressed high-level leaders struggle with adverse reactions due to increasingly demanding conditions such as time pressure combined with endless meetings, bureaucracy, staff development, interpersonal relationships, and work-life balance issues (Dubey & Kumar, 1986;Ganesh et al, 2018). Frequent adverse stress reactions are sleep disorders, headaches, irritation, anxiety, lowered energy, and diet problems (Dubey & Kumar, 1986;Ganesh et al, 2018).…”