Self-Evaluation Chart to Measure Stress Levels of Farmers

Rural Living Science Research Institute
National Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology
Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea
Fax. 82-31-299-0453
E-mail: ysm@rda.go.kr(Dr. Yang, Soon-Mi), 2003-11-01

Stress is known to cause all kinds of diseases. Life without stress does not exist. The important point for an ideal life is how to manage well the various stresses. Farmers suffer more than urban workers from fatigue and stress caused by hard manual labor. They are also more vulnerable to stresses from poor rural living conditions.

Many measures have been suggested for proper stress management. A self-evaluation chart developed in Korea aims at evaluating quantitatively the level of farmers' stress, and helping them manage their stress properly.

The chart consists of a checklist, an evaluation guide, and suggestions on stress management strategies. The 24 questions in the checklist were selected as the most common causes of stress from an earlier survey of 200 male and female farmers. Four questions were identified as more important than the others, and are marked with a check (4 ) sign for extra consideration.

The feedback principle is applied to promote follow-up after use of the stress management strategies recommended, and re-evaluation of stress levels as a check of the efficiency of this system.

How to Measure Your Stress

• Check your level of stress on the checklist shown in Table 1.
• Give your answer to each question a score, as shown below.

• No stress : 0
• A little stress : 1
• Some stress : 2
• A good deal of stress : 3
• A great deal of stress : 4

Add up all the points. The highest possible score for the 24 questions is 96 points.

Count the number of questions marked with a check (4) where you score more than 1 point, and add this to your total. This number adds additional points for extra weight. Thus, the number of maximum points for extra weight is 4, from the four checked questions, making the highest possible score 100.

Dealing with Stress

Now you can diagnose your stress level using the following guideline.

• Under 40 points: Your level of stress is tolerable
• 41 - 60 points: Your level of stress is not too bad, but needs some improvement
• More than 61 points: Your level of stress is too high, and needs immediate attention.

If you want to reduce your stress level, refer to the stress management strategies shown in Table 2. Among the strategies provided, select a couple that you can practice, and follow them.

Follow-up

After a month, re-evaluate your stress levels, using the same chart, to see how much you have reduced your stress by implementing the strategies you have chosen.

Index of Images

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  Table 1 Stress Check List

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  Table 2 Stress Management Strategies

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