Title: Heart rate variability: new perspectives on assessment of stress and health risk at the workplace

Abstract:

Cardiovascular diseases are the highest cause of death in the world (World Health Organization, 2014).  Many of these deaths may be workplace-related (Chandola et al., 2008). Long hours at work seem to be influencing the increased risks of heart diseases (Kivimaki & Kawachi, 2015). Workplace stress can be defined as the “discrepancies between the physiological demands within a workplace and the inability of employees to either manage or cope with such work demands” (Babatunde, 2013, p. 73). The varied nature and perception of stress is exemplified from literature that shows stress being either a stimulus, or a response, or a stimulus-response combination, also known as a transactional relationship between one or more individuals and the environment, leading to an initiative towards a physiological standpoint.

This research opted for a correlational study which involves 85 full-time employees who were working at least 40 hours per week in a large corporation participated in this study. The POQA and PSS were used to correlate with HRV. Astonishing findings emerged. Significant positive correlations were found between Emotional Stress and Heart Rate Variability and between Intention to Quit and Heart Rate Variability. In other words, the researcher has to make sense the following surprising findings: (1) The higher the emotional stress an employee faces, the healthier they are.  (2) Healthier employees may have higher intentions of quitting their jobs. The surprising results may be attributed to personality, culture, emotional regulation and age among others

Biography:

Adrian Low is a chartered psychologist (BPS) and a coaching psychologist (MISCP) that has graduated with a Doctor of Clinical & Industrial/Organisational Psychology. He also holds a master’s degree in Education. Dr. Low’s workplace stress research has won the presidential award for doctoral research excellence at the California Southern University and since then he has been invited to be a keynote speaker in many conferences worldwide. Dr. Low is the president of the Hong Kong Association of Psychology, a not-for-profit organisation. Besides that, he is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Worcester as well as an adjunct lecturer at the HKU (university of Hong Kong) School of Professional and Continuing Education.