The impact of occupational stress upon employee assistance program use in a healthcare organization

The relationship between occupational stress and Employee Assistance Program (EAP) usage was investigated among healthcare employees (N=137). Nursing and clerical workers, representing clients and non-clients, were asked to complete measures of work and home stress, burnout, coping, and state and trait anxiety. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multiple regression results offered some support for a transactional model of workplace problems: Home stressors failed to differentiate clients from non-clients. The results from the post hoc ANOVAS suggest that EAPs may be helpful in resolving personal problems but treatment effects do not necessarily lead to lowered workplace stress or improved productivity. These findings fail to support broad success claims made by EAP proponents. Investigators are cautioned that institutional barriers pose a special concern to EAP research. Personality factors, workplace conditions, and longitudinal approaches are suggested as important directions for future research.