Stress among professional drivers, with focus on bus drivers, preventive strategies and anti-stress programs
Abstract
The group of professional drivers belongs to high demanding jobs with high risks in health status and psychical wellbeing. Drivers are daily exposed to high demands and stressors they have to face. The situation of coping with stress is described by the transactional model of driver stress and coping strategies while driving. These strategies influence driving performance and their identification could be one of the possible interventions for stress reduction. This study focuses on the group of bus drivers, which is a significant subgroup of professional drivers. The main stressors for them are time pressure, high work demands, high environmental stimulation, problematic interactions with other road users, lack of social support and irregular shifts. The most important preventive strategies are elimination or modification of stress-producing situations, the adaptation of work organization to the individual characteristics of the driver and strengthening the driver’s resilience to stress. We describe some programs using the principles of stress reduction by professional drivers, which increase wellbeing and decrease negative health consequences.
https://doi.org/10.29364/epsy.365
(Fulltext in Czech)
Keywords
driving stress, coping, professional driver, bus driver, anti-stress programsLiterature
Aust, B., Peter, R., & Siegrist, J. (1997). Stress management in bus drivers: A pilot study based on the model of effort-reward imbalance. International Journal of Stress Management, 4(4), 297–305. https://doi.org/…709.11196.19
Biggs, H., Dingdag, D., & Stenson, N. (2009). Fatigue factors affecting metropolitan bus drivers: A qualitative investigation. Work, 32(1), 5–10. https://doi.org/…OR-2009-0810
Coon, E. M., Blonk, R. W. B., de Zwart, B. C. H, Frings-Drese, M. H. W., & Broersen, J. P. J. (2002). Job stress, fatigue, and job dissatisfaction in Dutch lorry drivers: towards an occupation specific model of job demands and control. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 59(6), 356–361. https://doi.org/…oem.59.6.356
Daňková, L., Havlíčková, D., Kurečková, V., Paráková, K., Snopek, M., Šimeček, M., …Zámečník, P. (2014). Analýza dat získaných v rámci projektu matrix. Závěrečná zpráva. Brno: Centrum dopravního výzkumu.
Deffenbacher J. L. (2016). A review of interventions for the reduction of driving anger. Transp. Res. Part F Traffic Psychol. Behav., 42(2), 411–421. https://doi.org/….2015.10.024
De Lange, A. H., Kompier, M. A., Taris, T. W., Geurts, S. A., Beckers, D. G., Houtman, I. L., & Bongers, P. M. (2009). A hard day´s night: A longitudinal study on the relationships among job demands and job control, sleep quality and fatigue. Journal Sleep Research, 18(3), 374–383. https://doi.org/…2009.00735.x
Dhar, R. L. (2008). Quality of work life: A study of municipal corporation bus drivers. The Journal of International Social Research, 2(6), 251–273. https://doi.org/….2009.027181
Dorn, L., Stephen, L., Af Wåhlberg, A., & Gandolfi, J. (2010). Development and validation of a self-report measure of bus driver behaviour. Ergonomics, 53(12), 1420–1433. https://doi.org/….2010.532882
Evans, G. W., & Carrère, S. (1991). Traffic congestion, perceived control and psychological stress among urban bus drivers. Journal of Applied Psychology, 76(5), 658–663. https://doi.org/…010.76.5.658
Evans, G. W., Johansson, G., & Rydstedt, L. (1999). Hassles on the job: a study of a job intervention with urban bus drivers. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 20(2), 199–208. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1099–1379(199903)20:2<199::AID-JOB939>3.0.CO;2-I
Horáková, M. (2009). Výzkum strategií zvládání stresu a jejich vztah k dalším charakteristikám u řidičů záchranné služby. E-psychologie, 3(2), 10–21. Dostupné z https://e-psycholog.eu/…horakova.pdf
Chen, C. F., & Kao, Y. A. (2013). The connection between the hassles-burnout relationship, as moderated by coping, and aberrant behaviors and health problems among bus drivers. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 53(1), 105–111. https://doi.org/….2013.01.004
Karasek, R. A. (1979). Job demands, job decision latitude, and mental strain: implications for job redesign. Administrative Science Quarterly, 24(2), 285–309. https://doi.org/10.2307/2392498
Kompier, M. A. (1996). Bus drivers occupational stress and stress prevention. Geneva: International Labour Organization. Dostupné z http://www.ilo.int/…s_250105.pdf
Kompier, M. A. J., Aust, B., Van den Berg, A. M., & Siegrist, J. (2000): Stress prevention in bus drivers: Evaluation of 13 natural experiments. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 5(1), 11–31. https://doi.org/…-8998.5.1.11
Krueger, P. G., Brewster, R. M., Dick, V. R., Inderbitzen, R. E., & Staplin, L. (2007). Health and wellness programs for commercial drivers. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/23161
Kühlmann, T. M. (1990). Coping with occupational stress among urban bus and tram drivers. Journal of Occupational Psychology, 63(1), 89–96. https://doi.org/…90.tb00512.x
Kurečková, V., Paráková, K., Winklerová, L., & Brummerová, K. (2014). Evaluace protistresových projektů. Hodnocení pilotního běhu protistresových kurzů pro řidiče DPMB. Brno: Centrum dopravního výzkumu.
Lazarus, R. S. (1966). Psychological stress and the coping proces. New York: Mc Graw-Hill.
Lazarus, R. S., Folkman, S. (1984): Stress, appraisal and coping. New York: Springer.
Machin, A. (2001). Evaluating a non-prescriptive fatigue management strategy for express coach drivers: A report prepared for the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. Australia: University of Southern Queensland.
Machin, M. A., & Hoare, P. N. (2008). The role of workload and driver coping styles in predicting bus drivers’ need for recovery,positive and negative affect, and physical symptoms. Anxiety, Stress & Coping, 21(4), 359 – 375. https://doi.org/…800701766049
Matthews, G. (1996). Individual differences in driver stress and performance. Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting Proceedings, 40(12), 579–583. https://doi.org/…129604001205
Matthews, G., Desmond, P. A., Joyner, L., Carcary, B, & Gilliland, K. (1996). Validation of the driver stress inventory and driver coping questionnaire (Paper presented at the International Conference on Traffic and Transport Psychology). Valencia, Spain.
Matthews, G., & Desmond, P. A. (1998). Personality and multiple dimensions of task induced fatigue: a study of simulated driving. Personality and Invididual Defferences, 25(3), 443–458. doi: 10.1016/S0191–8869(98)00045–2
Matthews, G., Dorn, L., Hoyes, T. W., Davies, D. R., Glendon, A. I., & Taylor, R. G. (1998). Driver stress and performance on a driving simulator. Human Factors, 40(1), 136–149. https://doi.org/…098779480569
Matthews, G. (2001). A transactional model of driver stress. In P. A. Hancock & P. A. Desmond (Eds.), Stress, workload, and fatigue (s. 133–163). New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Matthews, G. (2002). Towards a transactional ergonomics for driver stress and fatigue. Theoretical Issues in Ergonomic Science, 3(2), 195–211. https://doi.org/…220210124120
Meijman, T. F., & Kompier, M. A. J. (1998). Bussy business: How urban bus drivers cope with time pressure, passengers, and traffic safety. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 3(2), 109–121. https://doi.org/…8998.3.2.109
Montoro, L., Useche, S., Alonso, F., & Cendales, B. (2018). Work environment and driving anger: a structural equation model for predicting traffic sanctions of public transport drivers. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(3), 497–509. https://doi.org/…erph15030497
Öz, B., Özkan, T., & Lajunen, T. (2010). Professional and non-professional drivers´s stress reactions and risky driving. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 13(1), 32–40. https://doi.org/….2009.10.001
Roberts, S., & York, J. (2000). Design, development and evaluation of truck and bus driver wellness programs: Final Report. Washington: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Dostupné z https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/30020
Sarason, I. G., Sarason, B. R., Keefe, D. E., Hayes, B. E., & Shearin, E. N. (1986). Cognitive interference: Situational determinants and traitlike characteristics. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51(1), 215–226. https://doi.org/…514.51.1.215
Siegrist, J. (1996). Adverse health effects of high effort—low reward conditions at work. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 1(1), 27–43. https://doi.org/…-8998.1.1.27
Taklikar, C. S. (2016). Occupational stress and its associated health disorders among bus drivers. International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health, 3(1), 208–211. https://doi.org/…cmph20151564
Tse, J. L. M., Flin, R., & Mearns, K. (2007). Facets of job effort in bus driver health: Deconstructing „effort“ in the effort-reward imbalance model. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 12(1), 48–62. https://doi.org/…8998.12.1.48
Zámečník, P., Kurečková, V., Řezáč, P., Snopek, M., Daňková, L., Paráková, K., & Winklerová, L. (2014). Metodika protistresového skupinového programu pro řidiče MHD. Brno: Centrum dopravního výzkumu.