title: Work stress in Japanese computer engineers: effects of computer work or bioeducational factors.
abstract: To examine whether computer work and bioeducational factors (age and school career) have significant effects on work stress in computer engineers in Japan, we administered a stress questionnaire to 764 male computer engineers and 211 male office workers in a computer-manufacturing factory in Tokyo. Four scales of perceived psychological stress at work examined were work overload, poor human relationships at work, unsuitable job, and competition-dismissal anxiety. The results of the three-way analysis of variance, in which age (20-29, 30-39, and 40-49 years), school career (high school and university graduates), and computer work (computer engineers and office workers) were three variation factors, indicated that: (1) there were no significant differences in all scores of work stress between computer engineers and office workers (P > 0.05); (2) scores for unsuitable job and poor human relationships at work were significantly higher in high school graduates than in university graduates (P < 0.05); and (3) there were significant age differences in scores for three scales of work stress (unsuitable job, competition-dismissal anxiety, and work overload: P < 0.001, P < 0.01, and P < 0.05, respectively). These findings suggest that computer work has no significant effect on perceived work stress in computer engineers; on the other hand, age and school career do have effects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ezoe
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Araki
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ono
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kawakami
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Murata
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016288:Computer Terminals; D004522:Educational Status; D004738:Engineering; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires