Individual, co-active and collective coping and organizational stress: A longitudinal study

This study aims to identify the association between changes in three types of problem-focused coping (individual, organizational co-active and collective) and the change in the appraisal of different facets of employees' stress and the organizational stress climate. These relationships are tested by means of Bayesian Multilevel Structural Equation Modeling and a two-wave panel design. The sample is composed of 525 teachers in 100 schools. Stress experiences and coping behaviors are assessed during the first and third terms of the academic year. The results show that an increase in the use of individual problem-focused coping has little to no effect on the decrease in individual stress appraisal, whereas the increase in co-active problem-focused coping was associated with two out of nine types of stress climate. By contrast, the increase in collective problem-focused coping is associated with a decrease in the majority of the facets of organizational stress climate and also in those individually appraised. The results suggest that collective problem-focused coping is a more effective coping strategy in reducing employees' stress appraisal and organizational stress climate than individual or co-active problem-focused coping. Collective problem-focused coping deserves more attention in order to further advance research and professional interventions on employees’ stress.