An exploratory analysis of the relationship between stress and wellness for public leisure service managers

While there has been a great deal of interest concerning stress and its effects, there are few empirical investigations of stress in occupational settings. Further, there is little that is known about the sources of stress in the work place and the prevalence of stress for the leisure services manager. Additionally, stress research has focused on the physical health-related consequences for individuals, such as the risk factors associated with coronary heart disease. However, health conceptualized as wellness has not been investigated relative to stress. The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between stress and wellness for public leisure service managers. Self-report questionnaires were obtained from 219 leisure service managers. Results indicated that high stress managers had significantly lower wellness levels than low stress managers. This finding was consistent with the literature regarding stress and health. There were no differences in stress levels between Type A and Type B behavior pattern managers. This finding indicated that behavior pattern was not a mediator of stress levels as described in the literature and utilized in many occupational stress models. Further, leisure services managers characterized as Type A behavior pattern had significantly higher wellness levels than Type B behavior pattern managers. This finding suggests that behavior pattern may influence wellness levels.