Introduction
Stress is an inevitable component of life due to incrementing complexities and competitiveness in living standards. It disrupts the routine, physical, phrenic, cordial and spiritual wholesomeness of an individual. Stress is compulsory part of our lives with both positive and negative effects. It can threaten the way person mundanely perceives authenticity, solves quandaries, his sense of belongingness, his relationships etc. in general it can alter persons perception of life1 Women in modern era are playing an integral role in the economic and convivial development of the nation. With growing urbanization and industrialization, the employment opportunities for women have incremented and progressively women have joined the work force. In India, according to 2011 census female literacy rate is 65.46% and expeditious urbanization have increased the workforce participation rate of females to 26.1% in rural sector and 13.8% in the urban sector.2
Women are playing a paramount role in development of nations all over the world. Employed women have to play their role as a wife, a mother, an earner, and they have to manage their vocation while maintaining traditional roles.3 The espoused working women are performing around 64% of the total amplitude of household work and their contribution as compared to espoused men is exceptionally high in indoor work (78%) and childcare (67%). As the number of employed women is incrementing day-by-day, unlike their counterparts they have to play the role of a homemaker additionally. This dual role is leading to work-family encroachment in their lives as they have to face lot of difficulties to balance home and work cognate issues.4
From decenniums, women are considered responsible for the majority of household work like cooking, cleaning, child rearing, elder care and the bread winning was main responsibility of men. However, with more & more women entering the workforce and pursuing vocations, these vaguely defined gender roles were coerced to re-organize5, 6 And in felicitously what transpired, women now not only have responsibility at one domain anymore; they have to balance the competing authoritative ordinances of both work and family domains.7 Women reported more stress than men (11.0% vs. 8.8%, respectively, p < 0.0001)8 It is pertinent to integrate here that in India women as members of a patriarchal society are too victims of same quandary. They have to manage their vocation while maintaining traditional roles. So for employed women it is overlaying of liability.9
Material and Methods
Hypothesis
H1 There will be significant association between the level of stress and Level of Coping among Married Working Women.
H2 There will be significant association between the level of stress and Level of Coping among Married Working Women.
Study design and setting
A cross-sectional online Survey method via Google form was adopted in order to collect data from selected respondents with the help of Standardized tool (Perceived Stress Scale and Stress Coping Resources Inventory) and demographic variables.
Participants: Study was conducted among Married Working Women of Kashmir. Who were chosen on the basis of random sampling technique?
Eligibility criteria
All Married Working Women of Kashmir who were willing and able to respond to online questionnaires were included in the study. A total of 93 married working women participated in the study.
Variables
Independent Variables: Nil
Sociodemographic variables: (Age, Qualification, type of Occupation, Working experience and Type of Family).
Dependent Variables: Perceived Stress Scale and Stress Coping Resources Inventory.
Sample Size and Sampling Technique: The sample size was 93 married working women participated in the study.
Study Period: Data was collected for a period of three months from 21 September 2021 to 21 December 2021.
Data analysis: Data analysis was performed using SV26 IBM SPSS Statistics 26. Data was analyzed in terms of frequency and percentage. Chi-Square test was used to find out association between Level of Stress and Level of Coping with selected demographic variables. Unpaired t-Test was used to find association between Level of Stress & Level of Coping.
Description of scales and scoring interpretation:
The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Stress Coping Resources Inventory scales were used for data collection. Both are standardized tools.
The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) is a classic stress assessment instrument. This tool, while originally developed in 1983, remains a popular choice for helping us understand how different situations affect our feelings and our perceived stress.
Individual scores on the PSS can range from 0 to 40 with higher scores indicating higher perceived stress. Scores ranging from 0-13 would be considered low stress. Scores ranging from 14-26 would be considered moderate stress. Scores ranging from 27-40 would be considered high perceived stress.
Active Coping Scale (sum of scores for questions 14-20, divided by 7, An overall score of 3.5+ suggests you may be a superior stresscoper, An overall score of 2.5-3.4 suggests you may be an above average stresscoper, An overall score of 1.5-2.4 suggests you may be an average stresscoper, An overall score of less than 1.5 suggests you may be a below average stresscoper.
Result and Discussion
Description of demographic variables
This section describes the characteristics of the study subjects in terms of demographic variables which include Age, Qualification, type of Occupation, working experience and Type of Family and has been presented in the form of frequency and percentage in the following tables and figures.
Table 1
Frequency and percentage distribution of study subjects according to their age.
|
Age |
Frequency (f) |
Percentage (%) |
|
<20 YRS |
0 |
0% |
|
21-30 YRS |
27 |
29% |
|
31-40 YRS |
57 |
61% |
|
Above 40 YRS |
9 |
10% |
|
TOTAL |
93 |
100 |
Table 2
Frequency and percentage distribution of study subjects according to qualification.
|
Qualification |
Frequency (f) |
Percentage (%) |
|
Graduate |
16 |
17% |
|
Post Graduate |
59 |
63% |
|
Doctorate |
7 |
8% |
|
Other |
11 |
12% |
Figure 2
Bar-chart showing percentage distribution of study subjects according to their qualification.
Table 3
Frequency and percentage distribution of study subjects according to occupation.
|
Occupation |
Frequency |
Percentage (%) |
|
Teachers |
31 |
33% |
|
Nurses |
21 |
23% |
|
Doctors |
10 |
11% |
|
Others |
31 |
33% |
Table 4
Frequency and percentage distribution of study subjects according to working experience.
|
Working experience |
Frequency |
Percentage (%) |
|
>1 Year |
9 |
10% |
|
1-5 Years |
25 |
27% |
|
5-10 Years |
36 |
39% |
|
More than 10 years |
23 |
24% |
Figure 4
Bar-chart showing percentage-distribution of study subjects according to their working experience.
Description of level of stress of study subjects
Table 6
Frequency and percentage distribution of study subjects according to level of stress.
|
Level of Stress |
No. of Study subjects |
|
|
Frequency |
Percentage (%) |
|
|
Low Stress (0-13) |
06 |
6% |
|
Moderate Stress (14-26) |
20 |
22% |
|
High Stress (27-40) |
67 |
72% |
Table 7
Frequency and percentage distribution of study subjects according coping.
Comparison of level of stress and level of coping
By applying Pearson correlation coefficient formula between Level of Stress and Level of Coping among married working women. The findings revealed that the value of r is -2.16 negative linear relationship. That indicates that higher the level of stress, lesser is the coping level and lesser the level of stress higher the level of coping.
Association of demographic variables with stress level
Association was tested by using Chi-square test (χ2).
Table 8
Association of stress level with selected demographic variables.
Table 9
Association of coping level with selected demographic variables.
Discussion
Stress is now a growing quandary among employed women. Hurdles due to stress can be exhibited physically, psychologically and behaviorally by an individual. Employed women exhibit more and long term health quandaries due to this stress. Finding stability in our lives and managing stress can be a challenge. So the fundamental step is to realize the extent to which one is affected by the stress and then acclimate different coping strategies to surmount it.
Summary of Key Findings
To assess the level of stress among Married Working Women as measured by Perceived stress scale. To determine the Level of coping among Married Working Women as assessed by Stress Coping Resources Inventory.
In this study majority 72% of the working women had high stress, and only 6% had low stress. (58%) of working women have above average stress coping, whereas none had superior stress coping. Finding of the study were supported by a study conducted by Shristi Thapa.10
To find out the association between the level of stress and Level of Coping among Married Working Women.
Pearson correlation coefficient was used to find association between the level of stress and Level of Coping among Married Working Women. The findings revealed that the value of r is -2.16 negative linear relationship. That indicates that higher the level of stress, lesser is the coping level and lesser the level of stress higher the level of coping. Findings were supported by a study conducted by Rosemari.11
Hence, the hypothesis H1 which says there will be significant association between the level of stress and Level of Coping among Married Working Women is accepted and retained Chi-square test was used to find out the association between the level of stress and Level of Coping and selected demographic variable. It was found that no significant association was found between Level of Stress with selected demographic variables and significant association was found between Level of Coping and Demographic Variable Age. And no association was found between Level of Coping and other selected demographic variables. Hence, the hypothesis
H2 which states that there will be significant association between the level of stress and Level of Coping with their selected demographical variables is accepted and retained for Age and for other variables it is rejected.
The study is supported by a study done in 2020 by Jenny Ojha,Tulsi Ram, Bhandari1, Renu Karki regarding Job Stress and its Associated Factors among Working Women in Pokhara Metropolitan, Nepal.12
Novelty
It was concluded that this study gives important understanding into the unpleasant level of stress that married working women suffer from. The study concludes that maximum married working women had average to high level of stress. Also, focused on the level of coping, that higher the level of stress lesser is the coping and vice versa.
Limitations of The Study
Due to Covid-19 restrictions, study was conducted online hence only subjective data was used to assess the level stress and coping among married working women.
Study was carried out for a short period of time. So time and other resources were limited to an extent.
The sample size was small, so generalizations of study findings are difficult.
Recommendations
On the basis of the findings of the study, the following recommendations have been made:
The study can be replicated on a large sample of married working mothers for generalizing the findings.
An interventional study on effectiveness of stress management techniques can be done among married working women of Kashmir.
A comparative study can be done between married working women and non-working married women of Kashmir.
A study to assess the various Coping strategies among married working women can be conducted.
Further studies are vital because the present research captured only the women who are relatively literate and seemingly economically stable. Many variables which may help women in managing their marital issues should be studied such as participant’s spouses’ work career, their educational attainment, the effect of child bearing and rearing in the management of marital discords, etc. Married working women in other cultures and other universities should be studied to aid external validity of these findings. Further research should do a comparative study between educated and non-educated women, employed and unemployed women in the bid to aid the generation of the findings.
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