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Psychological Distress Among South African Civil Engineers

The construction industry is notoriously associated with work-related stress and time pressures. The repercussions of stress are experienced by both employees and organisations. The focus on the mental health and overall well-being of workers has been more prevalent in the public consciousness in re...

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Main Author: Aldera, Daniela
Other Authors: Cattell, Keith
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Construction Economics and Management 2023
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access_status_str Open Access
author Aldera, Daniela
author2 Cattell, Keith
author_browse Aldera, Daniela
Cattell, Keith
author_facet Cattell, Keith
Aldera, Daniela
author_sort Aldera, Daniela
collection Thesis
description The construction industry is notoriously associated with work-related stress and time pressures. The repercussions of stress are experienced by both employees and organisations. The focus on the mental health and overall well-being of workers has been more prevalent in the public consciousness in recent years. Research focused on psychological distress has become popular in recent studies due to its close relationship with workload issues and worklife conflict among employees. This study investigates the determinants of psychological distress among South African civil engineers. Specifically, the occurrence of availability of resources and communication, job control, (un)balanced workload, work relationships, job security and change, and working conditions are studied to determine the association between these factors and psychological distress. The research method comprised a critical review of the existing literature on psychological distress, workplace stressors, and the distribution of an online survey questionnaire to civil engineer members of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE). Using the 142 survey responses, multiple regression analysis was employed to assess the relationship between availability of resources and communication, job control, (un)balanced workload, work relationships, job security and working conditions, and psychological health. The results indicate that psychological distress is determined by all the workplace stressors, except job control. Interventions aimed at reducing psychological distress among civil engineers in South Africa should focus on the development and promotion of mental health programmes and general support to employees by organisations.
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:43:53.266Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2023
publishDateRange 2023
publishDateSort 2023
publisher Department of Construction Economics and Management
publisherStr Department of Construction Economics and Management
record_format dspace
source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/37007 Psychological Distress Among South African Civil Engineers Aldera, Daniela Cattell, Keith Bowen, Paul Property Studies The construction industry is notoriously associated with work-related stress and time pressures. The repercussions of stress are experienced by both employees and organisations. The focus on the mental health and overall well-being of workers has been more prevalent in the public consciousness in recent years. Research focused on psychological distress has become popular in recent studies due to its close relationship with workload issues and worklife conflict among employees. This study investigates the determinants of psychological distress among South African civil engineers. Specifically, the occurrence of availability of resources and communication, job control, (un)balanced workload, work relationships, job security and change, and working conditions are studied to determine the association between these factors and psychological distress. The research method comprised a critical review of the existing literature on psychological distress, workplace stressors, and the distribution of an online survey questionnaire to civil engineer members of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE). Using the 142 survey responses, multiple regression analysis was employed to assess the relationship between availability of resources and communication, job control, (un)balanced workload, work relationships, job security and working conditions, and psychological health. The results indicate that psychological distress is determined by all the workplace stressors, except job control. Interventions aimed at reducing psychological distress among civil engineers in South Africa should focus on the development and promotion of mental health programmes and general support to employees by organisations. 2023-02-23T09:22:10Z 2023-02-23T09:22:10Z 2022 2023-02-20T12:10:38Z Master Thesis Masters MSc http://hdl.handle.net/11427/37007 eng application/pdf Department of Construction Economics and Management Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment
spellingShingle Property Studies
Aldera, Daniela
Psychological Distress Among South African Civil Engineers
thesis_degree_str Master's
title Psychological Distress Among South African Civil Engineers
title_full Psychological Distress Among South African Civil Engineers
title_fullStr Psychological Distress Among South African Civil Engineers
title_full_unstemmed Psychological Distress Among South African Civil Engineers
title_short Psychological Distress Among South African Civil Engineers
title_sort psychological distress among south african civil engineers
topic Property Studies
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/37007
work_keys_str_mv AT alderadaniela psychologicaldistressamongsouthafricancivilengineers