1994 Volume 34 Issue 8 Pages 669-677
A questionnaire was conducted on the middle management to get information about their reactions to mental health problems in the workplace. In this study, 6,735 responded to the questionnaires and they were analyzed and divided into 2 groups ; the group of the head of a division or a section (3,969 men : Group A) and the group of foreman (2,766 men ; Group B). 1) During the past year, 4,679 men experienced severe job stress and its prevalence was 69.50%. The prevalence in Group A was 71.6%, which was significantly higher as compared to that in Group B. 2) Most frequent stress-producing problems which they experienced were "over or under work load in quality"(55. 9%), "over or under work load in quantity"(44.8%), and "conflicts in interpersonal relations"(42.8%). In Group A, the frequency of "over or under work load in quality"was as high as 61.6% ; however, no difference in frequency was found among the 3 types of stressors in Group B. 3) Concerning the ways of their stress coping, their most frequent practice was to endure it quietly. More than a half of them (54.6%) chose this way. It was also noteworthy that only 1% consulted the occupational physician, the health nurse or the counselor. 4) The number of the middle management who experienced that their subordinates showed mental health problems was 3,616 and its prevalence was 53.7%. The prevalence in Group A was 59.8%, which was significantly higher than that of Group B. 5) Most common problems of mental health shown by the subordinates were "conflicts in interpersonal relations"(49.4%) and "lack of energy" (49.1%). As to these two problems, a marked difference of frequency was observed between the two groups. 6) As the countermeasures, the middle management "gave advice to the subordinates to work out the problems" (53.5%) and "had the subordinates see a doctor"(31.2%), but 16.O% could not give any help. In Group B, the frequency of "could not grve any help" was as high as 21.3%. 7) The middle management expected "a superior" (72.1%), "an occnpational physician" (47.O %), and "a personnel manager" (33.4%) to act as an adviser in case where their subordinates showed mental health problems. In Group B, the frequency of "a personnel manager"was 17.4%, which was markedly lower as compared to 44.5% in Group A. 8) More than half (56.6%) of the middle management were convinced that some countermeasures against stress were necessary in their own workplaces.
