A Study On Effects Of Physical Exercise On Civil Servants’ Mental Stress

In recent years, with our government function’s continued perfection, as thebackbone of the government administration, civil servants are facing unprecedentedmental stress. Too much stress not only affects individual’s physical and mentalhealth, but also fundamentally affects the government’s administrative efficiency. Asa result, the study of civil servants’ mental stress is necessary. There has actually beenlittle research on effects of physical exercise on occupational groups’ mental stress.Therefore, can physical exercise as a way of promoting mental health to relieve civilservants’ stress is worth to explore.Through questionnaire, literature and interview, this study analyzed the mentalstress of civil servants in Shanghai, developed the scale of civil servants’mental stress,and made the Shanghai norms. To study the relationship of physical exercise andmental stress,1181civil servants in Shanghai were assessed by the scale of civilservants’ mental stress and self-made questionnaires about physical exercise, and thisresearch obtained conclusions as follows:(1) The four factors of the scale of civil servants’ mental stress were job burnout,interpersonal skills, career expectations, and Job satisfaction. This scale had soundpsychometric properties for assessing the mental stress of civil servants.(2) The norms of the scale of civil servants’ mental stress werebuilt,whichprovided the scientific basis for assessment and diagnosis of civil servants’mental stress.(3) There was difference among the group of gender, age, culture degree and theposition level in mental stress of the civil servants.Overall, the mental stress of femalecivil servants were greater than male, young civil servants under the age of25whowere stressed, PhD degree was more stressful than others, andabove thecountry levelcivil servants’ stress status was better.(4) The civil servants in Shanghai had consciously taken physical exercise as away to relieve mental stress.Most civil servants’exercise time and frequencywerereasonable, but exercise intensitywas lower. And there was difference among thegroup of gender and age in physical exercise of the civil servants.Exercise habit ofmale civil servants was more reasonable.(5) Physical exercise can relieve civil servants’ mental stress.Different exerciseparticipation, intensity and time had different impact on civil servants’ mental stress.From the participation, the civil servants who engaged in regular physical activity hadminimum stress. From the intensity, low intensity exercise had better effect than thatof middle or high intensity exercise. From the time, exercise60minutes or more eachtime had more obvious effect on relieving civil servants’ mental stress.This study could provide measurement for assessing the mental stress of civilservants. And the norms could provide the scientific basis for assessment anddiagnosis of civil servants’ mental stress. Besides, as a means for controlling, physicalexercise could offer reference for relieving and preventing civil servants’ mentalstress.