Administrative Stress Index

Gmelch, W. H., and Swent, B. (1982). Management team stressors and their impact on administrators’ health. Paper presented at American Educational Research Association. ERIC ED 218 761.

Comments:

The 35-item Administrative Stress Index (ASI) identifies major sources of administrators’ stress by establishing clear categories of occupational stressors (stress-inducing situations). Comparisons were made among sources of stress and various administrative positions. In addition, the relationship between sources of stress and administrator physical health was examined.

Sample:

All 1,211 participants in the study were members of the Confederation of Oregon School Administrators. Three hundred fifty-four were elementary administrators, 397 were junior high and high school administrators, 151 were superintendents or superintendents/principals, 254 were assistant superintendents and central office staff, and 89 were curriculum directors, transportation supervisors, and athletic directors.

Validity:

The ASI is comprised of the 15 items from the Job-Related Index (Indik, Seashore, and Slesinger, 1964) and 23 items developed from stress logs and a review of the literature that examined sources of administrator stress. The items were then placed in one of the five stress categories. The index was piloted using 25 school administrators. After the initial pilot study, the index was revised and piloted on another group of 20 administrators. The development of the ASI provides evidence for its content validity.

Factor Analysis:

Each of the five factors contains seven items. The items have been rank ordered from 1 (highest) to 35 (lowest). For convenience, the rank order has been used as the item number. Administrative constraints consists of items 1, 2, 3, 8, 10, 17, and 23; administrative responsibilities 4, 6, 16, 18, 19, 22, and 29; interpersonal relations 5, 12, 14, 15, 20, 26, and 31; intrapersonal conflict 7, 9, 13, 24, 28, 31, and 34; and role expectations 11, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, and 35.

Definition of Factors:

Administrative constraints refer to inadequate time, meetings, and rules. Administrative responsibilities refer to the managerial tasks of evaluation, supervision and negotiation. Interpersonal relations refer to re- solving differences among and between supervisors and colleagues. Intrapersonal conflict refers to conflicts between one’s performance and one’s internal beliefs and expectations. Role expectations refer to the difference in expectations of self and the various publics served.

Data Analysis:

Mean scores for each of the 35 items and the five factors are provided. In addition, analysis of variance tests for significant differences between the factors and administrative position as well as mean scores and analysis of variance for the top seven stressors by administrative position are reported.

References

Administrative Stress Index

1. Complying with state, federal, and organizational rules and policies
2. Feeling that meetings take up too much time
3. Trying to complete reports and other paperwork on time
4. Trying to gain public approval and/or financial support for school programs
5. Trying to resolve parent/school conflicts
6. Evaluating staff members’ performance
7. Having to make decisions that affect the lives of individual people that I know (colleagues, staff members, students, )
8. Feeling that I have too heavy a workload, one that I cannot possibly finish during the normal workday
9. Imposing excessively high expectations on myself
10. Being interrupted frequently by telephone calls
11. Feeling I have to participate in school activities outside of the normal working hours at the expense of my personal time
12. Handling student discipline problems
13. Feeling that the progress on my job is not what it should or could be
14. Feeling staff members don’t understand my goals and expectations
15. Trying to resolve differences between/among staff members
16. Being involved in the collective bargaining process
17. Writing memos, letters and other communications
18. Administering the negotiated contract (grievances, interpretation, )
19. Supervising and coordinating the tasks of many people
20. Trying to resolve differences between/among students
21. Thinking that I will not be able to satisfy the conflicting demands of those who have authority over me
22. Preparing and allocating budget resources
23. Having my work frequently interrupted by staff members who want to talk
24. Knowing I can’t get information needed to carry out my job properly
25. Feeling pressure for better job performance over and above what I think is reasonable
26. Trying to influence my immediate supervisor’s actions and decisions that affect me
27. Not knowing what my supervisor thinks of me, or how he/she evaluates my performance
28. Feeling that I have too little authority to carry out responsibilities assigned to me
29. Speaking in front of groups
30. Being unclear on just what the scope and responsibilities of my job are
31. Attempting to meet social expectations (housing, clubs, friends, )
32. Trying to resolve differences with my superiors
33. Feeling that I have too much responsibility delegated to me by my superiors
34. Feeling that I am not fully qualified to handle my job
35. Feeling not enough is expected of me by my superiors

Scoring:

A five-point Likert-type is used.