(PDF) Examining Occupational Stress on Family Cohesion: Implications

(PDF) Examining Occupational Stress on Family Cohesion: Implications
About
Press
Papers
We're Hiring!
Outline
Title
Abstract
Key Takeaways
Figures
Introduction
Study Area
Research Design
Data Collection Methods
Trustworthiness of the Study
Data Analysis
Socio-Demographic Background of Interviewees
Results and Discussions
Conclusions and Recommendations
References
FAQs
All Topics
Psychology
Industrial-Organizational Psychology
Examining Occupational Stress on Family Cohesion: Implications
CECILIA TUTU-DANQUAH
Dr. Theophilus Andoh-Robertson
BERNARD KISSI-ABROKWAH
2015
visibility
description
8 pages
Sign up for access to the world's latest research
check
Get notified about relevant papers
check
Save papers to use in your research
check
Join the discussion with peers
check
Track your impact
Abstract
The study explored the causes and effects of occupational stress on family cohesion among women professionals in Accra, Ghana. Using a phenomenological case study design, a quota-sampling technique was used to sample the views of 15 women through semi-structured interview guide. The researchers analysed the data thematically. The data revealed several causes of stress among women professionals and these included excessive workload, poor working conditions, inadequate resources and lack of support system. The data also highlighted the effects of stress experienced by women professionals and this included family conflict and unity, ill-healthiness and procrastination of family/motherhood duties. The study therefore recommends that institutions should employ assistance to reduce workload, the institutions should consider more technological approach in their daily activities and women should participate in regular exercise and regular medical checkup to prevent them from ill-healthiness...
Key takeaways
AI
Excessive workload emerges as the primary occupational stressor impacting family cohesion among women professionals.
The study employs a phenomenological case study design with 15 women professionals in Accra, Ghana.
Poor working conditions, inadequate resources, and lack of support systems exacerbate occupational stress.
Occupational stress leads to family conflict, ill-healthiness, and procrastination of motherhood duties.
Recommendations include employing additional assistance and promoting regular exercise and medical checkups for women professionals.
Figures (1)
Related papers
Work-family interference among Ghanaian women in higher status occupations
Kobina Addo
2010
Work-family interference (WFI) is becoming one of the principal hazards to occupational health, family satisfaction, well-being and job satisfaction in the 21 st century, especially among women professionals. With obvious increases in female participation within the upper echelons of the labour force both in the developed and developing world (Wirth, 2000); the need to effectively combine work and family roles has become quite a critical issue in occupational and organisational psychology, as well as family studies. Thus identifying and assessing the nature and amount of work-family interference experienced by women professionals and the damage it causes to women"s well-being, organisational productivity, family cohesion and job satisfaction are therefore important questions for applied psychology. So too is the identification of whatever might attenuate or exacerbate the scale of WFI or its negative impact. Such fundamental knowledge has a vital role in informing action and intervention to improve the occupational, as well as family health of women professionals especially in emerging economies like Ghana. To the government of the Republic of Ghana who financed my studies at the University of Nottingham, I am grateful for the confidence you reposed in me, and for the award of the scholarship to pursue this course. To my colleagues and the Institute of Work, Health and Organisations, and the members at Christian Centre, Nottingham especially my small group members, I say thank you for your encouragement and prayers during the course of this research. Your support will not be forgotten. Finally, to my precious "queen". Dede, you have been a rock by my side. I am eternally grateful for your love, encouragement and help in editing this thesis. And to my lovely "princess" Ewuresi, who had to endure my absence for so long, I say I just could not have done it without your love, fortitude and vital emotional support. You all have helped me fight a good fight. God richly bless you. And above all to God be the glory for given me the strength and wisdom to go through my studies. And to my dear Dad (who is with the Lord), who instilled in me the discipline of hard work, to my Mum (Mercy) who has instilled fortitude and unyielding determination in me, and my siblings , Kweku, Ato, Mensah and Kwesi, I say God richly bless you. Your contributions made it happen.
Download free PDF
View PDF
chevron_right
Levels of Stress Among Working Mothers in Tertiary Institutions in Anambra State
Juliana Akuezuilo
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), 2020
The study identified the levels of stress among working mothers in government tertiary institutions in Anambra State. One research questions and one hypothesis were adopted in the study. Proportionate stratified random sampling was used to select 630 working mothers out of 2911 working mothers in the five government tertiary institutions in Anambra State. The instrument used for data collection was questionnaire tagged levels of stress among working mothers in tertiary institutions in Anambra State (LSAWMTAS). Range of score was used to answer the research question while t-test was used for the hypothesis at 0.05 degree of significant. Split half was used to test the reliability and 0,79 was got as reliability coefficient. The result revealed that the level of stress of 144 working mothers in tertiary institutions in Anambra State is high, the level of stress of non teaching working mothers is higher than that of teaching working mothers. Among the recommendations made were; the management of tertiary institution should recruit more staff in order to reduce work load on staff. Management of tertiary institutions should create compulsory leave for their staff in order to reduce stress. Guidance counsellors should organize group counselling to educate working mothers on how to cope with their stress and also introduce stress adjustment strategies,
Download free PDF
View PDF
chevron_right
Influence of occupational stress on the mental health of Ghanaian professional women
Aminu Sanda
International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 2009
This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution and sharing with colleagues. Other uses, including reproduction and distribution, or selling or licensing copies, or posting to personal, institutional or third party websites are prohibited. In most cases authors are permitted to post their version of the article (e.g. in Word or Tex form) to their personal website or institutional repository. Authors requiring further information regarding Elsevier's archiving and manuscript policies are encouraged to visit: http://www.elsevier.com/copyright
Download free PDF
View PDF
chevron_right
Occupational Stress and Family Difficulties of Working Women
Maryam Zarra-Nezhad
Current Research in Psychology, 2010
Problem statement: Work and family are the two most important aspects in women's lives. Balancing work and family roles has become a key personal and family issue for many societies. There are many facets in working mother's lives that subject to stresses. They deal with home and family issues as well as job stress on a daily basis. Imbalance between work and family life arises due to a number of factors. Various factors appear to strengthen the brunt of pressure on women. The question was raised whether there is a relationship between occupational stress and family difficulties of working women in Iran. Approach: The purpose of this study was to assess the relationships between occupational stress and family difficulties in working women. A sample of 250 married working women with 2 or more children participated in this study during 2010 in one of the largest city of Iran, Ahvaz. A non-experimental, cross-sectional survey design was conducted using Demographic Information form, The Sources of Work Stress Inventory (SWSI) and Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales-II (FACES-II). Results: Using correlation and regression analysis, results suggested that there were significant positive relationship between levels of occupational stress and family difficulties in working women. Conclusion/Recommendation: Regarding to woman's household tasks and families responsibility, it is important to measure the level of occupational stress in working women and assess relation between occupational stress and family difficulties in order to obtain knowledge for health care providers to provide support to the working women and their families. There is a great need for research on working women, especially concerning the impact and occurrence of job stress on children mental health. Longitudinal data on young childbearing families are needed to examine the complex issues of work-family surrounding the family in today's world.
Download free PDF
View PDF
chevron_right
Evaluating the Relationship between Work-Family Conflict and Organisational Commitment among Rural Women Health Workers in Ebonyi State, Nigeria
Emmanuel Agwu
International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, 2016
The purpose of this paper was to investigate the relationship between work-family conflict and organisational commitment among rural women health workers in Ebonyi State. In doing this, a field survey of 345 working women in 87 government-owned health centres and health posts was conducted. Quantitative data was collected via questionnaire, and analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation. The results revealed statistically significant negative correlation between time-based family-towork conflict and organisational commitment, and between strain-based family-to-work conflict and organisational commitment. The results also showed insignificant negative correlation between behaviourbased family-to-work conflict and organisational commitment. The implication of these results is that working women's organisational commitment does not depend on work-related issues only but also on their family experiences; requiring organisations to introduce more environment-relevant family-friendly policies, and for their spouses to concede greater support (involvement) in women's domestic obligations. These measures would alleviate working women's family-to-work conflict and improve their commitment and performances at work.
Download free PDF
View PDF
chevron_right
Occupational Stress And Family Difficulties Among Working Women
HAFIZAH Raduan
Download free PDF
View PDF
chevron_right
On successful work-family balance: A case of educated Ghanaian women with white collar jobs
Akua Ampah
2013
The purpose of this research is to explore and understand the factors that enable some career women successfully balance both career and family roles. This research adopted an exploratory research approach into finding the contributing factors through online surveys, questionnaires, and interviews. The research revealed that career women in Ghana balance their work and family roles under four main themes; external help, proper planning, maintaining good relationships with supervisors and subordinates, as well as the flexible schedules of their jobs. It is recommended that organizations should have a friendly environment and policies that encourage good communication between employees, employers. This healthy relationship is believed to enable career women talk about issues they face at home and work to their employees and colleges who give them assistance when needed. From the research findings, most women admitted the concrete support from their husbands was a major factor in balancing work and family roles. Therefore this research recommends a national awareness campaign to sensitize other husbands to equally contribute with the upkeep of the home.
Download free PDF
View PDF
chevron_right
Do Demographic Characteristics of Individuals Associate with their Job Stress Levels? Perspectives from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana
Daisy Ofosuhene
Journal of Applied Business Research, 2018
This study aims to examine the association between individual demographic characteristics with their job stress levels. The study utilized descriptive research design and employed the quantitative approach. The target population comprised employees of the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. Using the convenient sampling approach, 223 employees were selected for the study and data collection was done through a survey questionnaire. The Pearson Chi-Square test was used to test for the association between the study variables. The findings suggested that sex and marital status of respondents have significant association with their job stress levels. However, the study did not find any significant association between levels of job stress and respondents’ age and levels of education.
Download free PDF
View PDF
chevron_right
CAUSES AND MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES OF FAMILY CRISIS AMONG MARRIED FEMALE STAFF OF ALVAN IKOKU FEDERAL COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, OWERRI IMO, STATE: A HEALTH EDUCATORS VIEW BY NWACHUKWU KEYNA CHINYERE DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICAL & HEALTH EDUCATION ALVAN IKOKU FEDERAL COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, OWERRI, IMO STATE
NWACHUKWU KEYNA
Many families in Nigeria today endure several types of crises emanating from physical illness, disability, death of spouse or close family member, injury, childlessness, finance, sexual problems of in-laws, etc. The crises often have in deleterious consequences on couples, their children and society. Adopting proactive strategies to deal with such crises becomes necessary. In this study, the opinions of women on the possible causes and strategies for managing family crises were sought. Four distinct research questions and two corresponding hypotheses guided the study. A sample of two hundred (2001) married female staff members of AIFCE were randomly chosen from the population of female staff of the college who are also registered WICE. A structured questionnaire with 4-point scaled response option was used for data collection. Data generated were analyzed using descriptive statistics and one-way Anova. Major findings from the analysis indicated that childlessness, problem of in-laws and lack of finance are the major causes of family crises. Findings of the study on management strategies present understanding between husband and wife, easy to forgive offences, trusting God for the fruit of the womb and seeking for medical doctors advice. Consequently, to address the causes and enhance the strategies, it is recommended that there should be well-organized marriage orientation, seminar, workshops and counselling as well as integrating premarital and family courses living into the Basic Education Programme (BEP).
Download free PDF
View PDF
chevron_right
Stress adjustment patterns among working mothers in tertiary institutions in Anambra State, Nigeria
Ijahsss Journal
2019
Stress is unavoidable in life, but it depends on individual's perception. This work therefore seek to find out the stress adjustment patterns. Among working mothers in tertiary institutions in Anambra State. The study adopted descriptive survey designs. Six research questions guided the study and the sample used for the study was 630 working mothers which were sampled from 2,911 working mothers. Questionnaire known as Stress Adjustment Pattern Questionnaire (SAPQ) was used for data collection. Cronbach's Alpha (α) was employed to estimate internal consistency of the instrument. Thereafter the following values were obtained 0.74, 0.81, 0.82, 0.69, 0.69 and 0.69 this is for the six patterns respectively. Rang of scores was employed to answer the research questions and the result obtained include that majority of working mothers don't make use of appropriate stress adjustment pattern, they are not consistence in the use of stress adjustment pattern while some never made use of stress adjustment pattern. Based on the findings the following recommendation were made. That management of tertiary institutions should regularly organize in-service education programme such as conferences, workshops and seminars to educate working mothers on the right stress adjustment pattern. Also government and management of tertiary institutions should provide recreational facilities in tertiary institutions for working mothers to reduce their tension.
Download free PDF
View PDF
chevron_right
Research on Humanities and Social Sciences www.iiste.org
ISSN (Paper)2224-5766 ISSN (Online)2225-0484 (Online)
Vol.5, No.1, 2015

Examining Occupational Stress on Family Cohesion: Implications
to Women Professionals in Accra, Ghana
Bernard Kissi-Abrokwah*
Faustina Adu, University of Cape Coast, Medical School,Cape Coast, Ghana
Email:
[email protected]
Theophilus Andoh-Robertson
Ghana Education Service, Breman Asikuma District Office,P. O. Box 29, Breman Asikuma, Ghana
Email:
[email protected]
Cecilia Tutu-Danquah
Accra College of Education,P. O. Box 221, Legon-Ghana
Email:
[email protected]
Catherine Selorm Agbesi
University of Cape Coast, School of Medical School, Dept of Community Medicine,Cape Coast, Ghana
Email:
[email protected]
Abstract
The study explored the causes and effects of occupational stress on family cohesion among women professionals
in Accra, Ghana. Using a phenomenological case study design, a quota-sampling technique was used to sample
the views of 15 women through semi-structured interview guide. The researchers analysed the data thematically.
The data revealed several causes of stress among women professionals and these included excessive workload,
poor working conditions, inadequate resources and lack of support system. The data also highlighted the effects
of stress experienced by women professionals and this included family conflict and unity, ill-healthiness and
procrastination of family/motherhood duties. The study therefore recommends that institutions should employ
assistance to reduce workload, the institutions should consider more technological approach in their daily
activities and women should participate in regular exercise and regular medical checkup to prevent them from
ill-healthiness. Finally, the study also that revealed that there will be the need for women to start practicing
behaviours that indicate family commitment.
Keywords: Occupational Stress, Family Cohesion, Ill-Healthiness, Excessive Workload, Women Professionals
and Procrastination

Introduction
Occupational stress has been the major problem of most female professionals in Accra, Ghana. In a cursory
observation, this could be attributed to the workload and overtime activities related to their job description
coupled with family duties. Women professional in Accra, especially those at banking sector, educational sector
and health sector seem to be the most affected victims of occupational stress.
Driscoll and Cooper, (2002) asserted that excessive demand on female time and may create uncertainly
about the ability to perform all roles effectively. With respect to this, pressure or demands amounted from ones
profession affects them not to meet all the requirement of family needs that in way result in lack of family
cohesion. A substantial body of evidence suggests that the tensions of occupational workload can decrease
individual desire to attend to family issues of finishing deadline duties correctly. Pleck, (1989) describe that
tensions as inter role conflict. The theory suggest that excessive workload of one’s occupation compliance with
one role is compatible to take responsibilities of other duties. For instance, escalating demands associated with
women professionals result in occupational stress, which would not enable them to display all family duties
correctly.
However, provisions made by the institutions to support the employees to cope with this increase
pressure appear to prove futile. The study explains that most women professionals pay attention to their
occupations that fetch them income and leave family duties to house helps. This paper therefore, attempts to
explore the causes and effects of occupational stress on family cohesion among women professional in Accra,
Ghana.
The study is significant in three main ways. Firstly, it helps the women professionals to identify the
effects of occupational stress on their families as they carry out their daily roles and responsibilities. Secondly,
the study draws the women professionals’ attention to the factors responsible for the occupational stress
experienced in their setting. Finally, the study contributes to literature on occupational stress-family cohesion in
the Ghanaian context.

47

Research on Humanities and Social Sciences www.iiste.org
ISSN (Paper)2224-5766 ISSN (Online)2225-0484 (Online)
Vol.5, No.1, 2015

Theoretical Framework
The Boundary theory was the most appropriate as the framework within which the findings of the study was
discussed. Boundary theory provides reasons for expecting work conditions to influence family conflict,
proposing that social roles are often separated by physical, temporal, or psychological parameters (Ashforth et al.
2000). They further assert that “flexibility” and “permeability” characterize the boundaries between profession
and family duties. Flexibility involves the extent to which role-related tasks and responsibilities may be
conducted beyond the usual spatial and temporal workplace boundaries. For instance, flexible work allows
workers to perform duties at home and provides greater latitude in family cohesion. By contrast, permeability is
“the degree to which elements from other domains may enter” (Clark 2000 cited in Bedu-Addo, 2010). High
permeability implies that work-related dimensions (i.e., people, materials, thoughts) are able to enter the home
domain more easily. Boundary theory predicts that higher levels of permeability foster integration between roles
and ease transitions between them, but the potential for interference between domains are also increased.
Contrariwise, lower levels of permeability imply greater segmentation but less occupation to family
interference. Although there are no direct measures of flexibility and permeability, one can apply those ideas in
the occupational stress in women professionals’ suggestion. Women professionals working conditions probably
increase flexibility and permeability, which, in turn, increase the likelihood of occupational stress, which affect
family cohesion. At first peep, this effect may appear to be somewhat paradoxical because we typically think of
“flexibility” as a resource that helps people to avoid or manage occupational stress. However, the boundary
theory implicates flexibility as contributing to greater variability in the boundaries of creating more potential for
inter-role conflict, which cause stress for family cohesion. For example the typical Ghanaian women
professional employ house helps to take of certain responsibilities in the home since some of them attend work
very early. Because of excessive workload attach to their occupations, some are compelled to bring home some
of the work tasks to complete. All because they are stressed up! This will inadvertently give her less time to
attend to family issues, which might be pertinent, thus creating problem for family cohesion.
The boundary theory informed the study mainly because its assumption is in line with the research
findings. The study revealed that excessive workload cause women professional occupational stress. Boundary
theory suggests that professionals, whose work schedules are characterised by high levels of flexibility, as well
as permeability, are more likely to experience problem with family cohesion.

Conceptual Framework
Women professionals in Accra are likely to experience occupational stress because they are operating in very
challenging professional context. For instance, for the lecturers at the public Universities, some teach large class
up to 800 students per semester, doctors at the public hospital attend to 150 patients per daily bases and bankers
attend to costumers up to 200 per daily bases. In addition to inadequate office space they operate from. Therefore,
due to risk condition and work overload they are operating from would cause them to stressful that could lead to
lack of family cohesion.

Study Area
Greater Accra region is the capital of Ghana and the smallest of the ten (10) administrative regions in terms of
area, occupying a total land surface of 3,245 square kilometers or 1.4 percent of the total land area of Ghana. It
term of population, however, it is most density populated region with 4,010,054 in 2010, accounting for 15.4
percent of Ghana’s total population. Due to the cluster of businesses in Accra most people from other regions
migrate to the region and this usually causes congestion in the greater Accra region. The planning in Accra is
such that businesses are located in one area while place of settlement is also located in different area. In view of
the poor planning, high rate of migration to Accra and movement of vehicles towards same direction during
working days cause heavy vehicular traffic while going to work and close from work.
Due to the higher population density in Accra, costumers, patients and students ratio to professionals
workers in the region are in an increasing order, it has caused most women professionals to be stressful due to
work overload. Because one may close from work early but reach home late due to high traffic jam and road
construction across the city. This cause most women professional to cohere with their family after work. Some
even come to house with their children are asleep due to this problem.

Research Design
The purpose of this study was to explore the causes and effects of occupational stress on family cohesions
among women professionals in Accra, Ghana. A phenomenological case study design was employed for this
study. This design requires the researchers to explore, to describe, understand, dig deep into the life experiences
of participants. The study used approaches where “the importance of context, setting, and subjects’ frame of
reference” come under scrutiny (Marshall and Rossman, 2006). The researchers interest in understanding
occupational stress-family cohesion cannot adequately be met by a quantitative approach because the researchers

48

Research on Humanities and Social Sciences www.iiste.org
ISSN (Paper)2224-5766 ISSN (Online)2225-0484 (Online)
Vol.5, No.1, 2015

want to delve deeply into case take place in socio-cultural context.

Population and Sampling
The study population consisted all the women professionals in Accra, Ghana but for the purpose of this
particular study, women professionals were used and this include (Female Doctors, Female Bankers and Female
Lecturers). It was from this population that quota-sampling technique was used to sample fifteen (15) women for
the study. This sample size was selected for the qualitative study because it was controllable. Also, it was
necessary to select a sample that would enable the phenomenon under study to be explored for a better
understanding. Creswell, (2005) argues that selecting a large number of interviewees will ‘result in superficial
perspectives ... the overall ability of a researcher to provide an in-depth picture diminishes with the addition of
each new individual or site’ (p.207).

Data Collection Methods
The instrument used for data collection was semi-structured interview. The interview schedule was employed to
gather data qualitatively. Interview schedule was based on the issues that were discussed in the review of
literature which were causes and effects of occupational stress on family cohesion and its implication to women
professionals. Demographic data for individual women professionals were collected. Duration for data collection
was three (3) months.

Trustworthiness of the Study
In order to establish the validity of the instruments women professional with knowledge in the topic and analysis
of data were given the instruments for a thorough check for flaws and problems in the study. Moreover, to grant
the content validity of the instruments, the instruments were given to retire female professor in University of
Education, Winneba and retire female health professional in University of Cape Coast to scrutinize the
instruments.
To establish the internal consistency of the semi-structured instrument, it was pre-tested between two (2)
female lectures from University of Education, Winneba and two (2) health doctors from University of Cape
Coast Hospital. The other step the researchers used to check reliability of the study was asking the interviewees
female professionals to confirm or disconfirm their comments after each transcription of the data.

Data Analysis
The qualitative data was analysed thematically. Thematic analysis is an analytical process which requires
researchers to work with data, organising them, breaking them into manageable units, coding them, synthesizing
them and searching for pattern (Merriam and Associates, 2002). For example, a comment like “at times I
perform surgery before I attend to almost 150 patients per day and this makes me stressful all the time” was
coded as “Female Doctor’ workload” furthermore, to attribute comments to the women professionals, the
interview transcripts were assigned with some serial codes. For instance, Interviewee Female Doctor (IFD-1to5);
Interviewee Female Lecturers (IFL-6 to 10) and Interviewee Female Bankers (IFB-11 to 15).

Socio-demographic Background of Interviewees
Fifteen (15) women professionals were interviewed, which comprises of five (5) Doctors, five (5) Lecturers and
five (5) Bankers in Accra-Ghana. For academic qualification, all these women professionals have completed
their first degrees from different Universities in Ghana. However, nine (9) of them hold doctorate degree and one
(1) master degree holder and five (5) first-degree holders. Their ages ranged from twenty eight (28) to fifty (50)
years. All the women professionals were married with children. The duration of service from their respective
institution ranged from two (2) to fifteen (15) years.

Results and Discussions
This section presents the results/findings from the qualitative interview data collected from women professionals
in Accra on causes and effects of occupational stress on family cohesion. The related literature was linked to
findings to confirm or disconfirm the respondent’s assertions.

Causes of Occupational Stress on Family Cohesion among Women Professionals
This section established the number of potential causes of occupational stress on family cohesion among women
professionals in Accra, Ghana. An examination of the individual interview transcriptions gave an indication as to
which potential causes of occupational stress are more frequently perceived to be most problematic by the
respondents; the coherent respondents comments show how higher that factor cause women professional to
occupational stress on family cohesion, and the lesser comments made by respondents contribute how low
causes of occupational stress on family cohesion.

49

Research on Humanities and Social Sciences www.iiste.org
ISSN (Paper)2224-5766 ISSN (Online)2225-0484 (Online)
Vol.5, No.1, 2015

The results show that excessive workload was identified as the most frequent consistent cause of occupational
stress on family cohesion among women professionals in Accra, Ghana. Respondents attributed that too much of
workload is causing them a lot. For example IFL-7 remarked:
I teach too many programmes during the regular school and the sandwich programmes. Apart from that
I supervise more than twenty (20) under graduate students and ten (10) both the MPhil and MED
students. I am always, tired that when I get home I am always stressful not even able to ask my
daughter about what they did in school today. That is really affecting my social, religious and marital
life.
IFD-2 added,
Infact too much workload is killing us oooo. Please would you; imagine I always attend to more than 80
patients within the space of eight (8) hours of working. And after that I need to check patients who have
been admitted at the various wards too. This workload with small salary is causing us a lot. Even to the
extent of not being able to attend my daughters PTA meeting.
My department has too many courses but with few lecturers to teach those courses. So we always need
to work extra to achieve the said goal for the semester. For now I am teaching three (3) courses with
different levels. So I always work extra to achieve that target which make me stressed up and it
affecting my family life (IFL-6).
IFL-10 shared similar comment:
I have no free day within the week; I am always at the department, because I take regular school (both
masters and undergraduate students) and mature students who come in the evening after 4:30pm. In fact
due to this workload it’s really affecting my family and religious life.
IFB-14 complains that:
There is no free time at the bank even the time to eat. I attend to more than 200 customers a day. Even
to the extent of sitting for 8 hours a day, I am always stressful and it disturbing my marital life.
When probed further as to why she is still in this occupation, she said, she has no option than to be there.
Although, there is respect when working at the bank and she also need to work to support the husband. IFD-1
added that:
Stress is what is killing us. Could you imagine I will come from theater and attend to almost 50 patients
before I go home at 4:00 pm? In fact the most gravely part is the traffic jam that I joint to the house
I always come to work early and close late all because of workload. When is pay-day, then life within that week
becomes very tedious because workers that come to bank for their salary are more than four thousand within that
week. Could you imagine you need to attend to them all? I could say it’s affecting my family cohesion because
looking at the time I close from work, my children would be asleep by the time I get home (IFB-11). When
asked why! She said, she has employed a house help who is doing the house chores for her. Studies elsewhere
have also shown that excessive workload was potential stressor to workers in organizations (Bennet, 1994;
Rollinson, 2005; Cole, 2004, Erasmus, 2006 and Kusi et al 2014).
IFL-9 said that:
Due to more administrative works, teaching, supervision and marking of students scripts are done by
one person who the lecturer, I am always stressful. In fact, I need to carry some office duties to house
which actually affect my family.
When asked to explain further, she said her husband is someone who likes to eat early in the evening and FUFU
during the week, but because of this workload she always fail to do that for her husband. Kusi et al, (2014)
asserts that excessive workload were one of the major causes of stressor among academic staff of the university.
The second most reported stressor was poor working condition and inadequate resource. With respect to this
IFL-8 remarked that:
Irrespective of how large your class size is, it does not determine the salary you receive during the
month. In fact could you imagine some of us are teaching more than 500 students without any teaching
assistance and projector to assist us in facility teaching and learning?
She further asserts that at times, poor lighting and inadequate teaching and learning materials available put you
us off when teaching. When asked about how this could make one stressful, she said teaching a large class
without the needed resources makes you over work that cause us to stressed. IFB-13 asserts that, the chairs we sit
on for long time cause us to be stressful. In fact the chairs are very hard. We sit on these hard chairs for more
than 8 hours that makes us stressful and when you go to house you feel very weak. IFD-3 added that:
We are working with old and out-mounded machines which do not facilitate effective doctor to
patient’s relationship. It causes us to over work. We lack proper chairs and those at the late floor normal
climb 10-story building when the elevator is not working. Working in such conditions attached to the
large patients base is making us stressful.
IFD-5 suggested that, management take little consent about employers working condition, lack of maintenance
and inadequate of resources. Would you imagine light can go off without any top management telling us why!

50

Research on Humanities and Social Sciences www.iiste.org
ISSN (Paper)2224-5766 ISSN (Online)2225-0484 (Online)
Vol.5, No.1, 2015

But because of patients’ conditions we need to force our self to work under such hardship conditions and attend
to those large patients. In fact such conditions are affecting us over work which make us stressful that when you
reach the house there is nothing you can do.
Another major stressor condition that causes occupational stress on family cohesion among women professionals
in Accra, Ghana is lack of support system. IFL6 and 10 suggested that the university lack support system,
because the top management knows the condition they working in. lecturers have suggested they need research
assistance to assist them in their academic, research and marking of scripts. But nothing has been done about that
so the workloads attach to the lecturing is making them stressful and affecting their family life. IFD-4
commented that:
The small number of nurses to patient’s ratio at the hospitals causes some of us to check patient’s
temperature before diagnosis process. Imagine checking 60 patients within the day, do you know what
will happen after work. You feel very weak when you reach the house such that assisting your kids for
their homework becomes a problem.
Modern technology could assist us in our work, but at times when the ATM is not working it put
pressure on us the tellers at the banks. Imagine if you will attend to 150 customers per day because the
ATM is not working, we need to attend to more than 250 customers a day that make us stressful and
affecting our family life (IFB-15).

Effects of Occupational Stress on Family Cohesion among Women Professionals
This section sought to find out how occupational stress has affected women professionals. The coherent
respondents remarks give an indication as to which effects reported have manifested itself the highest. The
qualitative interview data revealed that majority of the interviewees were of the view that family conflict and
unity are the effects associated with occupational stress on family cohesion among women professionals. For
example IFL-6 remarked:
The cause of workload has affected my family and me. Because I hardly come home early to prepare
food for the family. In fact this situation is affecting my marriage because my husband normally cooked
for the kids. When probed why! She can’t stop the job. She said I couldn’t stay at home; I need to
support my husband too.
IFL-10 added:
My husband always complains that I don’t have time for the children because I hardly pick them from
school. All because I normally start lecturing at 7:30am and close late. My husband is always
complaining about the children’s well-being and not having mothers love.
This tedious work caused my friend’s divorce, because her husband thinks the wife does not have time
for him. She said they have always been calling night for emergencies (IFD-4).
We always quarrel when I come home late. In fact, it’s been affecting my marriage and my attachment to the
kids (IFB-12). When probed further, she said, her husband doesn’t like the idea of house help cooking his food
and being the mother to his kids because her wife closed from work late. It’s affecting my family unity because I
can’t remember the last I time supervise my kids home works.
IFD-2 stated that:
My husband always complain that he is now the mother and I am the father, all because I hardly
perform my responsibilities as a wife in the morning and the evening. It’s all because I come home
feeling very tired and weak such that I hardly had time to chat with my children, which is affecting my
family life as a mother.
IFD-5 added that;
With my situation both of us are doctors. Because of the workload of our occupation, at times I will
come early and he will not be there. When he comes home early, I may also be seriously working at that
time.
When probed further about her sexual life with her husband, what she said was that at time they arranged for it
during weekends when they are at home. And when ask about how, she is taking care of her children, she said,
they have a house help. But accept that her occupation is affecting her family cohesion. The danger of leaving
house chores in the hands of house helps cause danger in family cohesion (Kissi-Abrokwah et al, 2014). IFL-8
complained particular about the few time she spend with her family and the problems associated with leaving
house duties to house helps. IFB-15 also affirmed that:
I hardly spend time with my kids, because I normally come home late when they have finished eating.
The most difficult part is not being able to supervise their assignments from school. In fact this job is
affecting my family unity and motherhood responsibilities.
The second most reported effect of occupational stressor among women professionals was on ill-healthiness.
This was consistent among all respondents. Infact during the transcription process most of the respondents
reported and stressed on it but few just said it without adding much importance to the situation. The question the

51

Research on Humanities and Social Sciences www.iiste.org
ISSN (Paper)2224-5766 ISSN (Online)2225-0484 (Online)
Vol.5, No.1, 2015

researchers were looking for was how ill-healthiness caused by stress affects their family cohesion. IFD-1
remarked:
At time when I get to the house, I feel like I am being beating by someone, because the workload was
too much to be handled by a person within a day. I always feel weak with my entire body and
sometimes I had to take painkillers before I sleep. So Sir, based on this long hours of sitting I always
feel weak and can’t attend to all family duties.
IFL-7 added:
Most of the time, I had to stay off work for about two weeks because of the serious stress I experienced.
Please, I cannot even read students thesis and assignments because of the burning sensation I was
feeling on my whole body. I was seriously advised by my physician to stay out from the job in order to
recuperate and that helped me. In fact this is affecting my relationship with my kids and even my
husband do complain.
As I am speaking to you now, my blood pressure is high and I feel very weak and tired. Sometime, I
feel like leaving this job because it really affecting my family duties and me as a mother. As I speak to
you now, just returned from a sick leave but still feel weak (IFB-14).
IFD-4 also confirmed this view:
The burning sensation I always feel is too much. The number of patients we attend to is too much. It
causes us to come home late, weak and the tiredness involve in it is killing us.
Ill-healthiness has come to stay with me because I always complained of back pains when I come to the
house (IFB-11).
When probed further about why she is still doing the job, she said, she wish to stop and enter into trading but
later asserted because the salary too is good. Kusi et al, (2014) work revealed that stress and burnout experienced
by lecturers caused some to experience ill health, burning sensation and even causes lecturers to feel like leaving
the job. But Spier argued that ill health could affect an employee commitment to their family, leading to
absenteeism and career progression (2003).
Additional effects of occupational stress among women professionals, which emerged from the qualitative
interview data, were related to procrastination of family duties or motherhood duties. In fact the entire women
professionals attested to it that procrastination of motherhood/family duties is affecting them. For example,
considering comments like I hardly pick my children from school (IFB-13); I don’t remember the last time I
went to the market (IFD-3); my son always complained I don’t come for his PTA meetings (IFD-5 and IFB-14);
attending funeral and wedding on weekends have been a problem (IFB-15), when ask why! She said her bank is
rounding Saturdays banking service.
The responses from the respondents revealed that occupational stress caused by excessive workload, poor
working condition, inadequate resources and lack of support system affected them to experience ill-healthiness,
procrastination of motherhood and family duties and it affected their ability to unity or cohesion with their
family. However, the data suggested that the women were prepared to remain in their respective professions.

Conclusions and Recommendations
The study found that excessive workload was the major stressor among women professionals in Accra, Ghana.
Moreover, if possible, various institutions should employ additional assistance, physician assistance and bank
tellers to reduce the workload associated with the few employees. With practical option, the research assistance
could assist the lecturers with marking of scripts, preparation of lecture notes and few administrative duties.
Physician assistance could help perform the minor consultation service, which does not demand the service of
doctors and tellers could assist with checking of account balance and provision of client enquiry service.
The study also highlighted that the poor working conditions, inadequate resources and lack of support
system owing to the poor management consent about employees needs. The researcher therefore, recommends
that the management should consider more technological based approach, which could reduce the workload of
employees.
A growing concern of occupational stress relating to stressor among women professional in Accra was
family conflict and unity. It is recommended that women professionals should not be carried by the income earn
from their occupations than cohesion or uniting their family through coming home early to assist in family duties.
Furthermore, study suggested that ill-healthiness was another stressor among women professionals in
Accra. The researchers therefore, recommend that they should consider regular medical checkup and should
involve in regular exercise in the morning and during weekends.
The study unearthed that procrastination of motherhood duties was another effects of occupational
stressor among women professionals in Accra. Researchers therefore, recommend that women should undertake
mandatory annual leave to overcome stress. Additionally, women should inculcate the spirit of family
commitment than thinking of income earned from their occupations.

52

Research on Humanities and Social Sciences www.iiste.org
ISSN (Paper)2224-5766 ISSN (Online)2225-0484 (Online)
Vol.5, No.1, 2015

References
Bedu-Addo, P. K. A. (2010). Work-Family Interference among Ghanaian Women in Higher Status Occupations:
Doctor of Philosophy thesis submitted to the University Nottingham, Nottinghan
Creswell, J. W. (2005). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating qualitative and quantitative
research (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Kusi, H., Danso Mensah, D. K., & Gyaki, K (2014). Work-related Stress among the Academic Staff of the
University of Education, Winneba Campus Ghana. Journal of Education and Practice, 5(13), 15-23
Marshall, C., & Rossman, G. B. (Eds.). (2006). Designing qualitative research. London: Sage Publications.
Merriam, S. B. & Associates, (2002). Qualitative research in practice: Example for discussion and analysis. San
Francisco, CA: Joseey-Bass.
O’Driscoll, M. P., & Cooper, C. L. (2002). Job related Stress and Burnout. In P. Warr (Ed.),Psychology at Work,
(5th ed.). London: Clays Ltd.
Pleck, J. A. (1989). Family- supportive employer policies and men’s participation. Paper presented at the
National Research Council Panel on Employer Policies and Working Families; Committee on Women’s
Employment and Related Issues.
Spiers, C. (2003) Tolley’s managing stress in workplace. Choppenham; Antony Rowe Ltd.

53

The IISTE is a pioneer in the Open-Access hosting service and academic event management.
The aim of the firm is Accelerating Global Knowledge Sharing.

More information about the firm can be found on the homepage:

CALL FOR JOURNAL PAPERS

There are more than 30 peer-reviewed academic journals hosted under the hosting platform.

Prospective authors of journals can find the submission instruction on the following
page: http://www.iiste.org/journals/ All the journals articles are available online to the
readers all over the world without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those
inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself. Paper version of the journals is also
available upon request of readers and authors.

MORE RESOURCES

Book publication information: http://www.iiste.org/book/

Academic conference: http://www.iiste.org/conference/upcoming-conferences-call-for-paper/

IISTE Knowledge Sharing Partners

EBSCO, Index Copernicus, Ulrich's Periodicals Directory, JournalTOCS, PKP Open
Archives Harvester, Bielefeld Academic Search Engine, Elektronische Zeitschriftenbibliothek
EZB, Open J-Gate, OCLC WorldCat, Universe Digtial Library , NewJour, Google Scholar
References (7)
Bedu-Addo, P. K. A. (2010). Work-Family Interference among Ghanaian Women in Higher Status Occupations: Doctor of Philosophy thesis submitted to the University Nottingham, Nottinghan Creswell, J. W. (2005). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating qualitative and quantitative research (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Kusi, H., Danso Mensah, D. K., & Gyaki, K (2014). Work-related Stress among the Academic Staff of the University of Education, Winneba Campus Ghana. Journal of Education and Practice, 5(13), 15-23
Marshall, C., & Rossman, G. B. (Eds.). (2006). Designing qualitative research. London: Sage Publications.
Merriam, S. B. & Associates, (2002). Qualitative research in practice: Example for discussion and analysis. San Francisco, CA: Joseey-Bass.
O'Driscoll, M. P., & Cooper, C. L. (2002). Job related Stress and Burnout. In P. Warr (Ed.),Psychology at Work, (5th ed.). London: Clays Ltd.
Pleck, J. A. (1989). Family-supportive employer policies and men's participation. Paper presented at the National Research Council Panel on Employer Policies and Working Families; Committee on Women's Employment and Related Issues.
Spiers, C. (2003) Tolley's managing stress in workplace. Choppenham; Antony Rowe Ltd.
FAQs
AI
What specific factors contribute to occupational stress among women professionals in Accra?
add
The study identifies excessive workload, poor working conditions, and inadequate resources as primary stressors for women professionals in Accra, impacting their family cohesion.
How does occupational stress manifest in familial relationships for professional women?
add
Occupational stress leads to family conflicts and reduced parental involvement, with many women feeling unable to fulfill their family responsibilities, impacting their marriages and children's well-being.
What role does boundary theory play in understanding women's occupational stress?
add
Boundary theory posits that high flexibility and permeability in work-life boundaries complicate role integration, exacerbating inter-role conflict for women professionals, thus increasing stress levels.
What effects does excessive workload have on women's health and family duties?
add
Excessive workload resulted in reported health issues like hypertension and exhaustion, hindering women's capacity to engage in family duties and perpetuating procrastination of essential responsibilities.
What recommendations were made to mitigate the impact of occupational stress?
add
The study recommends employing additional staff to alleviate workloads and suggests women engage in regular medical checkups and exercise to reduce stress-related health issues.
CECILIA TUTU-DANQUAH
BERNARD KISSI-ABROKWAH
Dr. Theophilus Andoh-Robertson
University of Mines & Technology, Tarkwa, Faculty Member
Related papers
Examining Occupational Stress on Family Cohesion: Implications to Women Professionals in Accra, Ghana
BERNARD KISSI-ABROKWAH
Dr. Theophilus Andoh-Robertson
Research on Humanities and Social Sciences, 2015
The study explored the causes and effects of occupational stress on family cohesion among women professionals in Accra, Ghana. Using a phenomenological case study design, a quota-sampling technique was used to sample the views of 15 women through semi-structured interview guide. The researchers analysed the data thematically. The data revealed several causes of stress among women professionals and these included excessive workload, poor working conditions, inadequate resources and lack of support system. The data also highlighted the effects of stress experienced by women professionals and this included family conflict and unity, ill-healthiness and procrastination of family/motherhood duties. The study therefore recommends that institutions should employ assistance to reduce workload, the institutions should consider more technological approach in their daily activities and women should participate in regular exercise and regular medical checkup to prevent them from ill-healthiness. Finally, the study also that revealed that there will be the need for women to start practicing behaviours that indicate family commitment.
Download free PDF
View PDF
chevron_right
Coping Mechanisms to Mitigate Occupational Stress by Women in Accra Metropolis
Isaac N Kwakye
Open Journal of Social Sciences, 2021
Everyone experiences stress in different life situations. In particular, occupational stress affects the performance of employees positively or negatively depending on their perception and the personality traits. This paper addresses how women in managerial positions in the Accra Metropolis manage the occupational stresses they experience in the discharge of their duties. The convenient purposive sampling technique was used to select 10 females from 150 women in managerial positions in government institutions in the Accra Metropolis. A structured interview guide based on Occupational Stress Inventory-Revised OSI-R was used to collect data from the 10 women and analysed using factor analysis. The study revealed that respondents managed their stresses by employing recreation, social support, and self-care. Even though, some of the women unknowingly adopted rationalization or rational-cognitive defence mechanisms to cope with the stresses they experience, none of them used popular stress reducing techniques such as yoga and physical exercise to cope with their stresses. The resilience of these women coupled with the formulation and implementation of formidable policies, provision of conducive working environment and the requisite resources by employers will go a long way to alleviate the women's stresses while promoting their good health and productivity. This research paper addresses the strategies adopted by Ghanaian women in managerial position to manage their stresses and proposes that individual differences and religiosity of persons should be taken into consideration when counselling people on stress management.
Download free PDF
View PDF
chevron_right
WORK STRESS AND WOMEN’S HEALTH IN EKITI STATE CIVIL SERVICE BY
BEST Journals
Stress not only increases medical costs but also reduce the efficient capability of an individual. It becomes imperative to manage stress so as to reduce ill health and associated medical costs as women are at a higher risk for the development of stress or strain related illnesses. This paper seeks to identify the possible causes of stress, investigates the effect of reported stress experienced by women on their health, and examines the coping strategies used by women.
Download free PDF
View PDF
chevron_right
WORK STRESS AND WOMEN’S HEALTH IN EKITI STATE CIVIL SERVICE
Joseph Owoseni
Stress not only increases medical costs but also reduce the efficient capability of an individual. It becomes imperative to manage stress so as to reduce ill health and associated medical costs as women are at a higher risk for the development of stress or strain related illnesses. This paper seeks to identify the possible causes of stress, investigates the effect of reported stress experienced by women on their health, and examines the coping strategies used by women. The study adopted the use of structural functionalist theory and Health Belief Model in explaining the disposition of women in the civil service to seek medical attention. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection. A total of 250 questionnaires were distributed among women in Ekiti State Civil Service Commission. 203 questionnaires were retrieved and used for the analysis while 25 respondents were interviewed. The quantitative data was analyzed by using SPSS v 18 while the qualitative data was analyzed through manual content analysis. The findings revealed that 55.2% are of the opinion that long working hours and overtime is the major cause of stress among women. This implies that as women spend much time at work, results in stress, which in turn affect their health. Consequently, work‐related stress among women should be reduced and women should engage in meaningful activities that are less stressful. The knowledge gained in this paper could be used to develop a rehabilitation programme in the return to work process.
Download free PDF
View PDF
chevron_right
Examining Work and Family Conflict among Female Bankers in Accra Metropolis, Ghana
Dr. Theophilus Andoh-Robertson
BERNARD KISSI-ABROKWAH
Journal of Education and Practice, 2015
This study investigated the effects and solutions of work and family conflict among female bankers in Accra Metropolis. Using triangulatory mixed method design, a structured questionnaire was randomly administered to 300 female bankers and 15 female Bankers who were interviewed were also sampled by using convenient sampling technique. The researchers employed both qualitative and quantitative methods of analysing data. Mean and standard deviation were used for quantitative data while the interview data was thematically analyzed to explain issues as they emerged in the study. The data outlined several effects of work and family conflict among female Bankers and these included stressors, ill-health, premature retirement, psychological burnout and procrastination. The study also pointed out the solutions to the effects of work and family conflict by female bankers. The solutions included the need for institutions to open preschool closed to workplaces for interested nursing mothers to ...
Download free PDF
View PDF
chevron_right
Nigeria Career Mothers and Work-To-Family Conflict: Health Implications for Their Children Under Five Years
IOSR Journals
IOSR Journals , 2019
Considering the theoretical assumptions of the role stress theory (Kahn, Holf, Quinn, Snoek & Rosenthal, 1964) suggesting that occupying multiple roles (e.g. work and family) can unleash stress on families, and institutional theory (Scott, 2008) also suggesting that institutions and people in other national contexts especially developing countries may be exposed to different factors which influence their management practices, this cross-sectional survey of 129 Nigeria career mothers between 23 to 48 years investigated work-to-family conflict: health implications for their children under five years among career mothers who attended postnatal clinic in a Teaching Hospital in Enugu urban, Nigeria. A survey instrument comprising demographic information, work variables of the career mothers, health status of the children and Okonkwo (2013) 14-item work-to-family conflict scale was administered for data collection. The results revealed that the career mothers who worked 30 to 60 hours and even more (92.2%) a week experienced high level of work-to-family conflict, 46.5% of the women reported that domestic servants in their absence took care of domestic chores such as feeding their children, they reported that combining work and family responsibilities interfered with exclusive breastfeeding of their babies. And pressure and time crunch experienced affected the adequate involvement of the mothers in health-related practices which have implications for the health of their children. The findings have implications for work-family balance among career mothers, children's health, and employers of labour, public policy and sustainable development goals.
Download free PDF
View PDF
chevron_right
The Effects of Work-Family Conflict on Work Stress and Female Employees Performance at State Islamic University (UIN) of Maulana Malik Ibrahim Malang
umi muawanah
International Journal of Innovative Research and Development
Introduction The woman's role is not only as housewives but also as workers to make money. The female labor force from 2012 to 2016 shows a higher trend than men (BPS, East Java Province). Ihromi (1990) stated that female job seekers would increase in parts of world. His study results found that women wanted to keep working to support financial, to develop knowledge and understanding, self-actualization, self-pride and independence, and enable respondents to actualize other basic personal aspirations as give a sense of "meaningful" as a person. Women have two roles at once, as workers and housewives, it is not easy. Married female employees with children have more roles and responsibilities than unmarried women. This dual role is also experienced by women to care family and household and also involves in her work. Work-family conflict explains the clash between the work responsibilities at home and at work (Frone & Cooper, (1994). Work-family conflicts trigger the conflicts in company if does not managed rightly. The low employee's performance will affect the company's productivity (Anorogo, 1992: 101). Inappropriate and unwise conflicts solving can affect directly on employees. They are in an uncomfortable situation and easily get stress. Factors to affect stress are excess workload, responsibility for others, career advancement, lack of group cohesion, less supportive group support, structure and diversity of organizations, areas in organization, specific tasks and leadership effects, (Ivancevich and Matteson, 1980) in Indriyani (2009). Actually, stress is a natural condition because it is happened in human response and part of daily life of human beings faster than progress in all fields related to higher activities and busyness. The working mothers tend more tired, themselves all day forced to stay in workplace (Rini. 2000) in Indriyani, 2009). Gitosudarmo and Suditta (1997) stated that stress has positive and negative effects on performance. Stress at low until moderate level is functional and positive impact as a driver to improve employee performance. High level of stress has a negative effect to decrease employee performance. The dual role conflict can reduce employee performance to increase the desire to leave and absenteeism and lower organizational commitment (Boles, Howard & Donofrio, 2001). This is a very dangerous situation for an organization or company. It can disrupt the work which ultimately reduces the performance of an organization or company. This is one of problems that must be considered by companies in processing Human Resources to improve work efficiency and effectiveness (Nurhayati, 2000 in Indriyani (2009)
Download free PDF
View PDF
chevron_right
Related topics
Occupational Stress
Family Cohesion
Explore
Papers
Topics
Features
Mentions
Analytics
PDF Packages
Advanced Search
Search Alerts
Journals
Academia.edu Journals
My submissions
Reviewer Hub
Why publish with us
Testimonials
Company
About
Careers
Press
Content Policy
580 California St., Suite 400
San Francisco, CA, 94104