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Stress management programs are a "staple" for many workplace wellness programs. However, less than 50 percent of organizations responding to Wellness Program Management Advisor’s Workplace Stress Management Program Survey (46.2 percent) offer such programs. Stress is one of the leading productivity issues facing businesses today, according to the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

Specific common employee stressors were identified as part of designing the program by 32.5 percent of survey respondents, while 30 percent said they did not have a stress management program. That portion of the survey was left unanswered by 37.5 percent of respondents.

The assessment was conducted in a variety of ways, the survey found. They include:

• Focus groups – 11.2%

• Observation – 18.8%

• Organizational needs assessment or survey – 21.2%

• Through HRA group report – 11.2%

• Other – 3.8%

Those who cited "other" means of identifying the stressors included data from EAP utilization, one-on-one counseling, self assessments and a stress assessment given to employees.

The Workplace Stress Management Program Survey was conducted online by Wellness Program Management Advisor and www.WellnessJunction.com. Participants included wellness managers and other executives who are subscribers or members of our online community.

On a related note, 43 percent of all adults suffer adverse health effects from stress, found a new national survey conducted by the American Psychological Association (APA) in partnership with the National Women’s Health Resource Center and iVillage.com.

The survey, which looked at how people deal with stress and its effect on mind/body health among women and men, found that Americans engage in unhealthy behaviors such as comfort eating, poor diet choices, smoking and inactivity to help deal with stress.

Forty-seven percent of Americans say they are concerned about stress. People experiencing stress are more likely to report hypertension, anxiety or depression and obesity. Women, in particular, report feeling the effects of stress on their physical health more than men.

Nearly half of Americans, especially women, parents and people of working age, are concerned with the amount of stress in their lives. Women say stress affects them more than it does men (51 percent versus 43 percent) and women are more likely than men to report more things that stress them out. Women also express concern about how stress affects their lives more than men. Women dealing with stress report feelings of nervousness, wanting to cry or lack of energy, while men talk about trouble sleeping or feeling irritable or angry. Women are more likely than men to report health problemsrelated to stress such as hypertension, anxiety or depression and obesity.

Stress is higher among the family’s healthcare decision-maker. Seventy-three percent of women identify themselves as the primary decision-maker in the household for health issues versus 40 percent of men.

"As the health managers of their families, women disproportionately feel the effects of stress. From taking care of children to serving as the caregivers for elderly parents, the survey found that women report more stressors and greater concern for the effects that stress has on their daily lives," said Elizabeth Battaglino Cahill, executive director of the National Women’s Health Resource Center. "Unfortunately, women are not taking the necessary steps to alleviate stress and their physical health is suffering."

According to the survey findings, one in four Americans turns to food to help alleviate stress or deal with problems. Comfort eaters report higher levels of stress than average and exhibit higher levels of all the most common symptoms of stress, including fatigue, lack of energy, nervousness, irritability and trouble sleeping. Comfort eaters are also more likely than the average American to experience health problems like hypertension and high cholesterol, the survey results reported.

Some 65 percent of comfort eaters characterized themselves as somewhat or extremely overweight and are twice as likely as the average American to be diagnosed with obesity.

• Stress levels are higher for frequent fast food eaters. While only 13 percent of people who did not eat at a fast food restaurant in the last week are very concerned about stress, this number rises to 21 percent among those who ate fast food meals in the past week.

• 31 percent of women say they are comfort eaters versus 19 percent of men.

• Men are more likely than women to opt for unhealthy snacks such as potato chips.

People who are "very concerned" about their stress are more likely to be smokers. A quarter (27 percent) of those very concerned about their stress smoke every day, versus 19 percent of those "not at all" concerned with stress. Interestingly, forty-nine percent of single fathers and 31 percent of single mothers smoke three or more times a week. Americans who report they are "very concerned" about stress also exercise less. Roughly a third (36 percent) said they did not exercise in the last week, versus a quarter (27 percent) of those "not at all concerned" about stress.

"People who cope with long-term stress by engaging in unhealthy behaviors and lifestyle, may very well alleviate symptoms of stress in the short term, but end up creating significant health problems in the long run," says Russ Newman, PhD, JD, executive director for professional practice, APA.

Stress affects overall mind and body health. Adults who experience a great deal of stress rate their mental and physical health lower than adults who are not experiencing stress.

People experiencing stress are more likely to report a number of specific ailments and symptoms:

• 59 percent report feeling nervous or sad

• 51 percent report symptoms of fatigue

• 56 percent report inability to sleep or sleeping too much

• 55 percent report lack of interest, motivation or energy

• 46 percent report headaches

• 48 percent report muscular tension

• 32 percent report frequent upset stomach or indigestion

• 37 percent report change in appetite

• 29 percent report feeling faint or dizzy

• 26 percent report tightness in chest

• 23 percent report change in sex drive

The random-digit-dial telephone survey was designed and administered by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner. The survey reached 2,152 adults, 18 years or older. Greenberg Quinlan Rosner works to advance psychology as a science, as a profession and as a means of promoting health, education and human welfare.

For more information visit www.ivillage.com.

Addresses: American Psychological Association, 750 First Street NE, Washington DC 20002-4242; (202) 336-5500, www.apa.org. National Women’s Health Resource Center, 157 Broad Street, Suite 315, Red Bank, NJ 07701; (877) 986-9472. www.healthywomen.org.