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A systematic review of mental
stressors in the
construction industry
Bashir Tijani, Xiaohua Jin and Robert Osei-kyei
School of Built Environment, Western Sydney University, Penrith, Australia
Abstract
Purpose –Stressors emanated from construction projects are causative factors for occupational stress
inherent in the construction industry. Concomitant implications of stressors ignite a burst of empirical
evidence, which necessitates a systematic review to capture the state of art of the extant literature. Therefore,
this paper addresses this significant gap by conducting a systematic review of mental stressors.
Design/methodology/approach –A three-stage screening and data extraction method were employed to
retrieve 38 papers that met the inclusion criteria for the study.
Findings –The annual publication trends and contributions of selected journals were elucidated. Moreover,
this review identified 49 stressors from 38 selected peer-reviewed journals between 1997 and 2020. The most
frequently reported mental stressors include work overload, home-work conflict, poor working environment,
role ambiguity and poor working relationships. The 49 stressors could be classified into five main categories,
namely; organizational stressors, task stressors, personal stressors, physical stressors and gender-related
stressors.
Originality/value –The findings of the study broaden the understanding of the practitioners and
policymakers on the dynamics of stressors for the development of stress interventions. Future research should
focus on exploration of mental stressors specific to construction projects and different occupational trades.
Keywords Stressors, Mental health, Occupational stress, Construction industry, Literature review
Paper type Literature review
1. Introduction
The construction industry is acknowledged as one of the largest source of labor employment
worldwide (Langdon and Sawang, 2018). Despite the significant economic benefit, the
industry is notorious for occupational stress due to complexity, dynamic and confrontational
nature of the sector (Leung et al., 2005;Ng et al., 2005). For instance, 70% of construction
professionals suffered from stress, anxiety or depression as a result of working in the
construction industry (Chartered Institute of Building, 2006). Construction project is
characterized by limited resources, stipulated completion dates and continuous multitasking,
which serve as sources of stressors to mental health of construction workforce (Pinto et al.,
2016). Stressors refer to risk factors including poor organizational management, job design
and social support that are potential dangers to workers’psychological or physical well-being
(Cox and Griffiths, 2005).
Mental stressors poses a significant threat to construction projects including safety and
project performance (Goldenhar et al., 1998) and predict injuries and accidents through
psychological and physical stress (Leung et al. 2010a,b,2016). In certain circumstances,
stressors are directly linked to injuries and accidents without mediating factors (Leung et al.,
2016). Moreover, construction project performance characterized by time, cost and quality is
important for construction project success (Eriksson and Westerberg, 2011;Takim and
Akintoye, 2006). Performance of construction projects predict client satisfaction, value for
money and social obligations (Takim and Akintoye, 2006); unfortunately, project performance
A systematic
review of
mental
stressors
This research is funded by Western Sydney University under the Graduate Research Scholarship
Scheme.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/2398-4708.htm
Received 11 February 2020
Revised 28 April 2020
Accepted 2 June 2020
International Journal of Building
Pathology and Adaptation
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2398-4708
DOI 10.1108/IJBPA-02-2020-0011
are impeded by stressors causing poor mental health among construction workforce (Leung
et al., 2008c).
Owing to the concomitant effects of stressors on construction projects, systematic
evaluation of the extant studies to ascertain the classification of stressors and how they
impact on occupational stress becomes paramount. In spite of the significance, there is a
paucity of systematic review on mental stressors in the construction industry. Against this
background, this study aims to conduct a comprehensive review of research studies on
mental stress in the construction industry. The aim of this paper would be achieved through
the following objectives: (1) To identify the mostly reported mental stressors (2) To develop a
conceptual framework to examine the interaction of the identified stressors and (3) To
identify the research methodologies adopted by previous studies on mental stress.
The contributions of this paper are in multitude. First, this study revealed mental
stressors, implications and underexplored stressors inherent in construction projects. These
relevant stressors can be used for designing a predictive analytic risk assessment for
occupational stress. Second, practitioners can pay a closer attention to the identified stressors
for the development of mental health management strategies for construction workers. Last,
the study enriches occupational stress research in the construction industry by providing a
systematic review of stressors. From non-governmental organizations perspectives, the
study can assist organizations such as international standard organization (ISO) 4500: 2018
in the development of occupational health and safety management guidance.
2. Research methodology
Literature review is a common method in construction management research for advancing
the body of knowledge on specific topics (Li et al., 2014). Furthermore, to comprehend and
ascertain a relevant subject matter in academia, a systematic review of previous studies is
necessary (Tsai and Wen, 2005;Yi and Wang, 2013). This study employed the method
adopted by previous researchers, i.e Darko and Chan (2016) and Osei-Kyei and Chan (2015),as
a yardstick for the selection of relevant papers on stressors on mental health from 1997 to
2018. Scopus search engine was used to retrieve academic journals paper on stressors for
mental health in the construction industry. Scopus was employed for this study based on
following three reasons (1) it has been widely used in the review studies in the construction
management (Osei-Kyei and Chan, 2015;Yi and Chan, 2014) (2) It is an effectual search engine
for a literature review (Tober, 2011) and (3) Scopus has a better accuracy and reliability than
search engines such as PubMed, Google Scholar and Web of Science (Falagas et al., 2008).
Based on the adopted review method stated above, a three-stage approach method was used
and is illustrated in Figure 1.
In stage 1, an exhaustive desktop search was conducted under the “title/abstract/
keyword”field of Scopus search engine and “article”. Additionally, the search was restricted
to “construction industry or construction workers or construction site or construction project
or building industry”to conform with the aim of the study. Keywords such as stressors,
psychosocial risk, work stress, biopsychosocial risk and work stress were employed to widen
the scope of the search. Moreover, this study considers journals outside the realm of Chau
(1997) journals ranking because majority of the Chau (1997) ranked journals focus on
stressors causing stress and burnout with a dearth of research on stressors for depression,
substance use disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. To have a robust compendium of
stressors for mental health in the construction industry, exploring other journals published in
the medical field would enhance the attainment of the collection of stressors.
The full search code is listed as follows.
(TITLE-ABS-KEY (“stressors”OR “psychosocial risk factors”OR “biopsychosocial risk”OR
“work stress”OR “job stress”OR “workplace stress”OR “job burnout”OR “occupational stress”
IJBPA
OR “occupational stressors”OR “job stressors”OR “organizational stressors”OR “burnout”)OR
TITLE-ABS-KEY (“mental health”OR “mental illness”OR “psychological distress”OR
“depression”OR “psychosocial working environment”) AND TITLE-ABS-KEY (“construction
industry”OR “construction workers”OR “construction site”OR “construction project”OR
“building industry”))ANDPUBYEAR>1996ANDPUBYEAR<2021AND(LIMIT-TO
(LANGUAGE, “English”)) AND (LIMIT-TO (SRCTYPE, “j”))
The search revealed 261 papers. Book reviews, forums, discussion/closures, letter to the
editors, articles in press, conference and seminar papers, forewords, editorial and commends
were excluded. The exclusion was due to the significance of academic journals in contributing
to the body of knowledge, an in-depth understanding of the research trend and development
in a particular area (Tsai and Wen, 2005). The relevant Journals are presented in Table 1. The
journals identified include the Journal of Construction Engineering and Management (JCEM),
Construction Management and Economics (CME), Engineering Construction and
Architectural Management (ECAM) and Journal of Management in Engineering (JME).
In stage 2, 261 papers retrieved from stage 1 were subjected to visual examination to
exclude extraneous papers that might have been included due to the keywords used for
searching. A comprehensive scan of the abstract of the papers was undertaken. Through the
scanning, 71 papers were recovered for further examination. An in-depth reading of the 71
papers was done to retrieve the relevant papers. By doing that, 37 relevant papers were found
to be pertinent for this study. Finally, additional stressors identified by the Chartered
Institute of Building (CIOB) were included to the data set as a distinct publication based on
two reasons: (1) its worldwide recognition as the largest and most influential professional
body for construction management (2) the authors of the report, which are Cattell, Keith.,
Bowen, Paul., Cooper, Cary and Edwards, Peter., are renowned researchers on work stress
Note(s): T/A/K- title/abstract/keywords
Search Engine
Papers
T/A/K search
Journals
Target Journals
Selected papers
Final paper s
Visual Examination
Findings Methods
Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3
Figure 1.
The research
framework for
the study
A systematic
review of
mental
stressors
and mental health in the construction industry. With the addition of the CIOB’s report, the
total number of retrieved documents increased to 38 papers.
The sample size of 38 papers compares favorably with past similar review studies in
construction management. With 27 papers, Osei-Kyei and Chan (2015) conducted a review of
critical success factors for public-private partnership (PPP) in the construction industry.
Dwaikat and Ali (2016) used 17 papers to present a review of the cost premium of green
building. Similarly, Chan and Owusu (2017) undertook a review of corruption forms in the
construction industry through the use of 37 papers. More importantly, the sample size could
be ascribed to the limited number of studies on the stressors of mental health in the
construction industry. Thus, 38 papers are capable of providing knowledgeable information
on stressors leading to occupational stress.
In stage 3, the selected 38 papers were thoroughly reviewed to explore the trends in years
of publication, stressors leading to occupational stress, research methodology and conceptual
framework.
3. Results and discussion
3.1 Annual publication of studies on mental stress
Annual publications enable researchers to determine the level of attraction gained by a
particular subject area. Thus, the presented yearly trend publication depicts the degree of
interest gained by the stressors of mental health in the context of the construction industry.
Figure 2 shows the annual trend of stressors of mental health publications. It is worth noting
that the number of publications increased steadily from 1998 with 1 paper to 2007 with 3
No Journals
Number of previous
searches
Number of final
searches
1 Journal of Construction Engineering Management
(JCEM)
24 12
2 Journal of Construction in Developing Countries (JCDC) 1 1
3 International Journal of Construction Management
(IJCM)
21
4 Construction Management and Economics (CME) 13 7
5 Engineering Construction and Architectural
Management (ECAM)
42
6 Construction Economics Building (CEB) 2 2
7 Journal of Occupational Health Psychology (JOHP) 3 1
8 Psicothema (PS) 1 1
9 International Journal of Civil Engineering and
Technology (IJCIET)
41
10 Applied Ergonomics (AE) 3 1
11 Journal of Engineering Design and Technology (JEDT) 2 1
12 International Journal of Project management (IJPM) 2 1
13 Work and Stress (WS) 1 1
14 International Journal of Managing Project in Business
(IJMPB)
11
15 Industrial Journal of Industrial Economics (IJIE) 2 1
16 Journal of Management in Engineering (JME) 2 1
17 International Journal of Occupational and
Environmental Health (IJOEH)
31
18 BMC Public Health 1 1
19 Specially selected document (CIOB report) 1 1
Total 71 38
Table 1.
Results of relevant
publications with
selected journals
IJBPA
papers. It is understandable with the number of studies conducted as previous studies
asserted that limited attention had been paid to stressors leading to occupational stress
between 1999 and 2003 (Goldenhar et al., 1998,2003).
In contrast, there is an increase in the number of publications between 2004 and 2007,
which can be attributed to the surge in the number of construction workers suffering from
occupational stress. For instance, Lingard (2004) found the link between work-family conflict
and long working hours and burnout. Similarly, Leung et al. (2005) revealed the stressors
influencing the stress level of the construction estimators in Hong Kong. Between 2005 and
2007, a significant number of studies focused on the stressors causing occupational stress
among construction estimators (Leung et al. 2005,2007). Thus, it can be assumed that the
increased in the statistics of construction estimators suffered from occupational stress
contribute to a rise in the number of papers between the studied period.
Between 2008 and 2011, the number of papers published was constant with an estimated
value of 2 papers. The consistency in the number of publications might be attributed to the
stimulated interest in the adverse effects of stressors on the performance of construction
project managers and safety of the frontline workers (Leung et al. 2009,2010a,b). Further, the
number of papers published increased from 2012 with 1 paper to 7 papers in 2017. It is logical
and unsurprising with the rise in the number of studies because global alarming statistics on
occupational stress in the construction industry justify the increase in the number of
publications on stressors (Australia Bureau of Statistics, 2019;Boschman et al., 2013;
Kennedy et al., 2012).
3.2 Mostly reported mental stressors affecting construction workers
Table 2 presents the mental stressors identified through the 38 papers retrieved for this
study. The details of the 38 papers with their corresponding authors were provided in
Table A2. The number of papers that identified each mental stressor is presented in Table 2.
Overall, 49 mental stressors in the construction industry were identified indicating large
sources of mental ill-health. As presented in Table 2, it is shown that occupational stress
issues in the construction industry are the resultant effects of clusters of stressors. The most
reported mental stressors in the selected papers included “work overload”(25 papers), “home-
work conflict”(21 papers), “Poor working environment”(17 papers), “Role ambiguity”(15
papers), “Poor working relationship”(16 papers) and “Role conflict”(14 papers). All the
stressors are briefly discussed to provide information to industrial practitioners and
111
2
33
11
22
1
33
22
7
3
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
snoitacilbu
pforebmuN
Years o f Publicaons
Figure 2.
Annual trends of
stressors publication
A systematic
review of
mental
stressors
No Stressors Publications Total
1 Project overload [22][21][14][19][20][15][37][17][9][36][35][33][8][32][31][6][28][26][3][16][24][11][2][3][41] 25
2 Home-work conflict [10][12][21][18][15][17][36][34][33][32][5][7][6][29][26][16][11][4][2][3][40] 21
3 Poor working environment [12][14][18][15][17][9][34][11][8][32][31][6][26][3][16][24][11] 17
4 Project role ambiguity [22][14][23][15][37][9][36][11][32][31][6][26][3][16][11] 15
5 Poor workgroup relationship [21][14][23][20][15][9][36][33][8][32][31][26][16][11][2][41] 16
6 Project role conflict [22][12][14][15][36][11][32][31][30][6][26][3][16][11] 14
7 Tight time frame [23][18][20][15][37][36][35][34][33][28][26][3][4][2] 14
8 Type A behavior [12][21][14][18][15][37][17][9][34][11][31][11] 12
9 Long work hours [22][18][20][17][34][33][8][7][29][3][4][2] 12
10 Lack of career guidance [15][17][36][35][33][31][29][26][3][24] 10
11 Lack of organizational support [12][23][20][37][35][33][8][28][16] 9
12 Work underload [12][37][35][11][32][6][26][3][11] 9
13 Poor organizational structure [21][15][33][32][31][29][16][11] 8
14 Unfair reward and treatment [21][12][9][11][8][32][29][26] 8
15 Lack of autonomy [14][9][11][32][28][24][11] 7
16 Job insecurity [22][17][35][8][26][41] 6
17 Problem with superiors [8][30][29][26][2] 5
18 Harassment and discrimination [19][37][35][27][24] 5
19 Safety equipment [14][23][37][35][24] 5
20 Lack of human resources [36][33][29][3][2] 5
21 Unstable working hours [33][7][26][3] 4
22 Poor transportation [21][33][29][16] 4
23 Lack of promotion opportunity [17][29][26][3] 4
24 Inadequate freedom of decision [8][28][26][3] 4
25 Lack of feedback [14][9][36][11] 4
26 Poor communication [29][26][3][2] 4
27 Too specialised job nature [8][26][3] 3
28 Much contact with people [8][6][26] 3
29 Language barrier [21][27][16] 3
30 Inadequate room for innovation [33][26][2] 3
31 Gender inequality [27][29][25] 3
32 Distrust [32][6] 2
(continued )
Table 2.
Stressors for
occupational stress
identified from the
literature
IJBPA
No Stressors Publications Total
33 Adaptability with change of job natures [6][26] 2
34 Bureaucracy [26][2] 2
35 Personal traits of locals [21][16] 2
36 Work traits of the locals [21][16] 2
37 Job satisfaction [8][29] 2
38 Unfair assignment of workload [26][16] 2
39 Low recognition for work done [8][26] 2
40 Alcohol and drug use [38][19] 2
41 Injury and accident [39][14] 2
42 Inadequate knowledge of project [26] 1
43 Competitive teamwork [6] 1
44 Poor medical services [21] 1
45 Multitasking [2] 1
46 Proliferation of virtual teams [2] 1
47 Poor social network [25] 1
48 Sexual harassment [24] 1
49 Limited job opportunities [8] 1
Table 2.
A systematic
review of
mental
stressors
stakeholders in the construction industry. Further, a conceptual framework showing the
relationships between mental stressors and occupational stress is developed.
4. Conceptual framework of mental stressors interactions
As shown in Table 2, several stressors influencing mental health were revealed through a
review of previous studies. However, to better understand these stressors, it is expedient and
essential to classify them into forms to indicate differences between the mental stressors.
Moreover, previous studies such as Leung and Chan (2012) and Senaratne and
Rasagopalasingam (2017) classified different mental stressors into different categories,
which include organizational, task and physical stressors. Based on their classifications and
commonalities that exist among the definition of stressors, this study grouped each stressor
to different sections for clarity. For example, Leung and Chan (2012) grouped work overload
as a form of task stressor; thus, this study classified work overload under task stressor.
Figure 3 depicts a conceptual framework of the classification of stressors into similar
constructs based on previous studies classification and definitions. The classification was
also constructed with the motive of grouping identical stressors with the assumption that
interventions developed for a stressor with a construct can go a long way to check other
stressors within the same construct. For instance, an intervention designed to mitigate
workload can be employed to prevent role ambiguity, long working hours and work
underload. After the classification, the constructs identified were organizational, task,
personal, physical and gender-related stressors.
Moreover, the prepositions that constitute the conceptual framework are based on the
transactional theory of stress (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984), which identified stress as an
interplay between individual and environment. Based on the theory, interactive links were
developed to indicate the relationships between the environmental and organizational factors
in the construction industry. According to the model, organizational stressors interact with
task stressors, physical stressors, gender-related stressors, personal stressors to predict
occupational stress. This indicates that organizational stressors play a powerful role in the
generation of occupational stress. Task stressors negatively shaped the risk factors that stem
from individual and institution policies for gender discrimination. Physical stressors mold
personal stressors and occupational stressors. These stressors demonstrate that
environment and physical amenities can influence personal characteristics of the
construction workers and occupational stress. Additionally, the framework shows how
personal stressors affect gender related stressors to predict occupational stress. This proved
that gender related stressors can be impacted by sociopsychological factors in an
organization.
4.1 Organizational stressors
Organizational stressors can be defined as the sources of stress emanating from the
organization (Leung et al., 2009). Organizational stressors are attributed to the organizational
characteristics, which generate diverse stressors leading to poor mental health. The stressors
include home-work conflict, lack of career guidance, lack of organizational support and poor
organizational structure. According to the study findings, organizational stressors for
occupational stress in the construction industry accounted for 18 out of 49 stressors identified
in the 38 papers. Among them is the home-work conflict, which was identified by 21 out of 38
publications, constitutes 55% of the entire publications reviewed. As mentioned earlier,
home-work conflict is one of the organizational stressors that is referred to as interrole
conflict in which the role pressures from home and work are mutually incompatible
(Greenhaus and Beutell, 1985). It has detrimental effects on individual, families, job
IJBPA
Hypotheses Exp lanations Examination
H1 Organizational stressors negatively impact task stressors Untested
H2 Organizational stressors negatively impact personal stressors Untested
H3 Organizational stressors negatively impact occupational stress Tested
H4 Organizational stressors negatively impact physical stressors Untested
H5 Organizational stressors negatively impact gende- related stressors Untested
H6 Phy sical stre ssors negative ly imp act gen der-re lated st ressor s Untested
H7 Physical stressors negatively impact personal stressors Untested
H8 Physical stressors negatively impact occup ational stress Untes ted
H9 Physical stressors negatively impact personal stressors Untested
H10 Gender-related stressors interact w ith personal stressors Untested
H11 Task stressors negatively impact gender-related stressors Untested
H12 Task stressors negatively imp act occupational stress Test ed
H13 Task stressors negatively impact personal stressors Untested
H14 Personal stressors negatively impact on occupational stress Tested
H12
H1
H3
H13
H14
H2
H4
H8
H5
H9
H6
H7
H10
H11
Figure 3.
Conceptual framework
for stressors
interaction
A systematic
review of
mental
stressors
satisfaction and organizational commitment (Lingard and Francis, 2005a); therefore, ranking
home-work conflict as one of the topmost stressors reported in the construction industry is
justifiable. This finding is supported by many researchers on the adverse effects of home-
work conflict, lack of career guidance and organizational support on the mental health of the
construction workers (Lingard and Yip, 2007c;Love et al., 2010).
In addition, career-developing culture refers to job stability and the degree of participation
in the decision making process in a working environment (Karasek et al., 1998). Lack of career
development is a stressor leading to occupational stress in the construction industry (Bowen
et al., 2013;Cattell et al., 2017;Sang et al., 2007). Based on the studied literature, 10 out of 38
papers accounting for 26.3% of the publications retrieved identified lack of career
development. The findings are consistent with many studies that emphasized the critical
role of career progression on mental health (Bryson and Duncan, 2018;Leung et al., 2009).
Lack of career development is linked to embryonic exit of the women in the construction
industry (Goldenhar et al., 1998;Sang et al., 2007).
Lack of organizational support contributes to the organizational stressors of mental
health. Organizational support refers to respect, trust and support gained from work
colleagues and supervisors (Leung et al., 2008b). It can also be regarded as an employee’s
resources in the workplace, which is critical to the employee’s emotion, psychological,
physical and job satisfaction (Lynch, 1997). Nine out of 38 papers representing 23.7% of the
publications identified a lack of organizational support as a mental stressor. This finding is
supported by many empirical evidences (Leung et al., 2016;Love et al., 2010), which found a
negative relationship between lack of organizational support and occupational stress. Lack of
organizational support negatively affect personal, task and physical stressors Leung et al.
(2008b), signifying the interactions between organization, personal, task and physical
stressors.
Moreover, poor organizational structure entails the presence of bureaucracy and
hierarchies, supremacy of rules and unjust treatment by the organization in a construction
company (Enshassi and Al Swaity, 2014;Rogers, 1975). Eight out of 38 papers identified poor
organizational structure as a stressor leading to poor mental health. The number of papers
that reported organizational structure is understandable because construction workers
working in the office environment suffer more from poor organizational structure due to the
enormous administrative procedures (Ng et al., 2005). The complexity of the organizational
structure in regards to rules and bureaucracy is directly proportional to the level of
intrapersonal conflicts in the organization (Enshassi and Al Swaity, 2014;Gmelch, 1982).
Thus, centralization in the organizational structure augments the decision-making process
and improves the mental health of construction workers (Ibem et al., 2011;Ng et al., 2005).
The remaining organizational stressors, which include lack of autonomy, job insecurity
and lack of human resources, were reported by less than 8 out of 38 papers. Because of word
counts, the remaining stressors are presented in Table 3 to visualize the results of the findings
of organizational stressors. These clusters of stressors highlighted in the table constitute
organizational stressors variable utilized in the conceptual framework.
4.2 Task stressors
Task stressors refer to sources of stress ascribed to job characteristics that shape the mental
state of workers (Enshassi and Al Swaity, 2014). The stressors include project overload,
project role ambiguity, tight time frames and long working hours and accounted for 11 out of
the 49 stressors identified in the literature. Project overload is regarded as a situation where
there are discrepancies between project demands and individual’s ability to cope with the
project (Leung et al. 2005,2010a,b;Zika-Viktorsson et al., 2006). Excessive project overload is
detrimental to work-family life, resulting into occupational stress (Bowen et al., 2018a;Leung
IJBPA
Stressors Description
Number of
papers Sources
Home-work conflict Home-work conflict is one of the topmost and continuous
risk factor for occupational stress. It has huge
repercussions on individual and families
21 [10][12][21][18][15][17][36][34][33][32][5][7][6][29][26][16][11][4][2][3][40]
Lack of career
guidance
Construction workers suffering from lack of career
guidance exit the construction industry abruptly
10 [15][17][36][35][33][31][29][26][3][24]
Lack of
organizational
support
Inadequate organizational support is an antecedent to
occupational stress that influence construction workers’
emotional, psychological and physical state
9 [12][23][20][37][35][33][8][28][16]
Poor organizational
structure
Bureaucracy and supremacy of rules sparked poor
organizational structure that shaped occupational stress
8 [21][15][33][32][31][29][16][11]
Unfair reward and
treatment
Unfair reward and treatment are experienced between
female and male construction workers. Female workers
are paid lower salary than their male counterparts,
thereby leading to occupational stress
8 [21][12][9][11][8][32][29][26]
Lack of autonomy In a construction working environment, lack of autonomy
is a major stressor causing mental ill-health. Production
pressure from clients and managers promotes lack of
autonomy
7 [14][9][11][32][28][24][11]
Job insecurity Temporary nature of construction projects and reliance on
sub-contractors result into job insecurity
6 [22][17][35][8][26][41]
Lack of human
resources
Human resources is an institutional practices of
construction organizations that have a significant
implication on mental health of workers. Inadequate
human resources is a precursor to occupational stress
5 [36][33][29][3][2]
Lack of promotion
opportunity
Lack of promotion opportunity is one of the major
problems causing occupational stress in construction
industry, especially among construction professionals
4 [17][29][26][3]
Freedom of
expression
Construction workers deprived from freedom of
expression suffers from occupational stress
4 [8][28][26][3]
(continued )
Table 3.
Results of
organizational
stressors
A systematic
review of
mental
stressors
Stressors Description
Number of
papers Sources
Lack of feedback Feedback assists construction workers to improve their
performance; nevertheless, lack of feedback is a precursor
to mental stress
4 [14][9][36][11]
Poor
communication
Communication among project professionals and project
teams facilitate project performance. Poor communication
is a risk factors among construction project teams
4 [29][26][3][2]
Inadequate room
for innovation
Innovation promotes construction workers well-being.
Lack of innovation in construction organizations cause
occupational stress
3 [33][26][2]
Table 3.
IJBPA
et al., 2009). A total of 23 out of 38 papers reported project overload as a stressor of
occupational stress accounting for 60% of the publications; the percentage is reasonable
because of the connection of project overload to a cognitive and emotional state (Hwang et al.,
2018;Jebelli et al., 2018). Construction project managers mostly suffer from excessive project
workload due to demanding time pressures and the structure of a construction project
(Bowen et al., 2014c). This finding is also supported by those studies (Bowen et al., 2014c;
Leung and Chan, 2012) whose findings revealed workload as acute prominent stressor
inherent in construction projects.
Long working hours is a task stressor that exacerbate the stress level of construction
workers due to project deadlines and overcoming job insecurity (Bryson and Duncan, 2018;
Leung et al., 2009). Averagely, construction workers work 60 h per week subjected to the
nature of the construction firms and complexity of the construction (Love et al., 2010). In
certain instances, construction workers working for contractors exceeded the standard
working hours to meet up with client objectives (Lingard and Francis, 2009). A total of 12 out
of 38 papers reported long working hours as mental stressors of occupational stress
accounting for 32% of the publications. Long working hours is a core contributor to work-
family conflict and occupational stress, which enhance embryonic exit from the construction
industry (Sunindijo and Kamardeen, 2017). This result is also supported by those studies
(Bowen et al., 2014c;Leung and Chan, 2012) whose findings revealed workload as acute
prominent stressor inherent in construction projects.
Moreover, project role ambiguity is another stressor that refers to as unclear role
responsibilities of the individual emanated from project complexity, lack of project
information and time frame to complete construction projects (Leung and Chan, 2012). A
total of 15 out of 38 papers accounting for 39.47% of the publication identified role ambiguity
as a stressor. Project role ambiguity predicts burnout due to tight time frames and unclear
role responsibilities, especially in large construction projects with many trade contractors
(Leung and Chan, 2012). Construction project organizations need robust information
management and effective job allocation especially in construction projects with multiple
teams of contractors and subcontractors to overcome role ambiguity (Jepson et al., 2017).
The remaining stressors, which include tight time frames, project underload and
unpredictable working hours, were identified in less than 15 out of 38 papers and are
presented in Table 4. The number of papers that reported the remaining stressors is
reasonable and logical because the stressors focused on multitasking and job monotonous,
which less important to construction workers. Because of the financial motive, construction
workers are less concern about the time and monotonous issues inherent in the construction
industry (Bryson and Duncan, 2018), although excessive time frame becomes a serious issue
for the construction workers when it strains the marital relationship (Lingard and Francis,
2005a;Townsend et al., 2012).
4.3 Personal stressors
Personal stressors refer to personal characteristics and private life of an individual (Leung
et al. 2008a,2010a,b). These stressors are individual level risk factors emanated from
construction workforce social relationship and personal traits. Personal stressors including
interpersonal and intrapersonal stressors accounted for 10 out of 49 stressors retrieved
within the studied period. Under the personal stressors, the factors identified were poor
working relationship, Type A behavior, problems with superiors and distrust. Table 5
presented personal stressors identified in the literature.
Working relationships identified in 16 out of 38 papers signifies harmonic interpersonal
relationship and trust among the construction workers. Poor working relationships cause
occupational stress and lower job satisfaction; thus, good working relationship is paramount
A systematic
review of
mental
stressors
Stressors Description
Number of
papers Sources
Project overload Project overload is a stressor emanated from
discrepancies between job demand and
individual’s ability to cope. It is the topmost
stressor in construction environments caused
by time pressure
25 [22][21][14][19][20][15][37][17][9][36][35][33][8][32][31][6][28][26][3][16][24][11][2][3][41]
Project role
ambiguity
Project role ambiguity occurs due to project
complexity, lack of information and time
frame. Role ambiguity is the second most
reported stressor among task stressors
15 [22][14][23][15][37][9][36][11][32][31][6][26][3][16][11]
Tight time frame Owing to construction project complexity,
time frame is a strong precursor to
occupational stress. Unrealistic time frame
triggered mental ill health among
construction workers
14 [23][18][20][15][37][36][35][34][33][28][26][3][4][2]
Long work hours Long work hours are a consequence of
excessive workload stemmed from
construction projects. Construction industry
is notorious for long work hours, which makes
it a stressful sector
12 [22][18][20][17][34][33][8][7][29][3][4][2]
Project underload Project underload is uncommon in the
construction industry as it is recorded in small
number of publications
9 [12][37][35][11][32][6][26][3][11]
Unpredictable
working hours
Unpredictable working hours is also form of
stressors in the construction industry. Albeit
limited number of literature investigated the
negative influence on occupational stress
4 [33][7][26][3]
Too specified job
nature
Scanty empirical studies confirmed the
interaction between specified job nature and
occupational stress in construction working
environments
3 [8][26][3]
(continued )
Table 4.
Results of Task
stressors
IJBPA
Stressors Description
Number of
papers Sources
Much contact with
people
Much contact with people refers to the
responsibility of construction professionals to
manage multiple project parties. Decision
making process within the project parties can
result to occupational stress. Only limited
study explore the stressor
3 [8][6][26]
Unfair
assignment of
workload
One of the consequences of injustice is unfair
assignment of workload. However, it is the
least considered stressor in the construction
industry
2 [26][16]
Inadequate
knowledge of
project
It is an uncommon stressor in the construction
industry impinging mental state of
construction workers
1 [26]
Multitasking Very low studies reported the stressor as
causes of occupational stresses
1 [2]
Table 4.
A systematic
review of
mental
stressors
in the construction working environment (Leung and Chan, 2012). Social interaction in
construction environment improves mental health of construction workers (Love et al., 2010);
Stressors Description
Number
of papers Sources
Poor working
relationship
Social interaction in
construction
environment
improves mental
health of
construction
workers; therefore
inadequate working
relationship is an
antecedent to
occupational stress.
It is one of the
highest ranked
stressors in the
construction
industry
16 [21][14][23][20][15][9][36][33][8][32][31][26][16][11][2][41]
Type A
behavior
Type A behavior is a
personality behavior
driving an
individual to desire
perfection in their
work activities
12 [12][21][14][18][15][37][17][9][34][11][31][11]
Problem with
superior
Poor relationship
with leadership and
supervisor is a
source of stress for
construction
workers due to the
crucial role played
by superiors
5 [8][30][29][26][2]
Harassment
and
discrimination
Harassment and
discrimination is
prominent in
construction
industry due to
macho culture.
Women in the
construction
industry suffers
from this stressor
and leading to
embryonic exit from
the industry
5 [19][37][35][27][24]
Language
barrier
Migrant workers
often face language
barrier issues
leading to
occupational stress
3 [21][27][16]
(continued )
Table 5.
Results of Personal
stressors
IJBPA
Stressors Description
Number
of papers Sources
Distrust Lack of trust is also
another form of
stressor causing
stress among
construction
workforce. Limited
study reported the
stressor
2 [32][6]
Adaptability
with change of
job
Adaptability with
change of job is an
antecedent to
occupational stress
2 [6][26]
Personal traits
of the locals
Personal traits of the
locals is a stressor
peculiar to
construction
expatriates
stemmed from
personal behavior of
the locals
2 [21][16]
Work traits of
the locals
Construction
expatriates working
with local
professionals faced
work traits
challenge that
causes mental ill-
health
2 [21][16]
Alcohol and
drug use
Stressful nature of
construction project
environments
triggered
consumption of
alcohol and drug use
2 [38][19]
Competitive
teamwork
Competitive
atmosphere of the
construction
industry create a
stressful
environment for
construction
professionals, which
negatively affects
occupational stress
1 [6]
(continued )Table 5.
A systematic
review of
mental
stressors
therefore, inadequate working relationship is an antecedent to occupational stress. It is one of
the highest ranked stressor in the construction industry.
Additionally, Type A behavior can be defined as the action-emotion complex that entails
hostility, aggressiveness, competitiveness and a sense of time urgency (Suntherland and
Cooper, 1990). Twelve out of 38 papers mentioned Type A behavior. Workers who display
Type A behavior are vulnerable to occupational stress (Ganster, 1987). Construction
professionals such as construction project managers, architects and estimators are more
susceptible to Type A behavior because of their competitive working environment (Leung
et al., 2008b). Other stressors identified such as harassment and discrimination and language
barriers were identified in papers that are less than 6 out of 38 papers.
4.4 Physical stressors
Physical stressors can be described as environmental sources of stress inherent in either
home or work (Leung et al., 2009). Table 6 highlighted physical stressors causing mental ill-
health among workforce. It represents 5 out of 49 stressors retrieved for this study. The
identified physical stressors include poor working environment, safety equipment and injury
and accident. Poor working environment is the most identified stressors with 17 out of 38
papers considered for this study. Working environment refers to the job setting, temperature
and design of office, and empirical studies demonstrated the relationship between working
environment and occupational stress among construction workers (Leung et al. 2005,
2010a,b). Most studies on impact of physical environment on occupational stress mainly
focused on office environment; thus, it is difficult to generalize the result to all construction
project organizations (Leung et al., 2005;Senaratne and Rasagopalasingam, 2017).
Moreover, poor safety equipment was identified in 5 out of 38 papers. It deals with the
provision of obsolete safety equipment, which creates stress for construction workers due to
worries (Goldenhar et al., 2003). Construction workers consciousness of the working
environment due to obsolete safety equipment predicts occupational stress (Goldenhar et al.,
2003). Poor safety equipment leads to accidents and injuries among construction workers
(Leung et al., 2010a,b). The remainder of the physical stressors, which include poor
Stressors Description
Number
of papers Sources
Proliferation of
virtual team
Multitude of virtual
teams in a complex
project imposes
strain on
construction
professionals.
Limited studies
identify the stressor
as a root cause of
mental ill-health
1 [2]
Poor social
network
Social interaction is
vital for workers’
mental health; thus,
poor social network
among construction
workers can result
into occupational
stress
1 [25]
Table 5.
IJBPA
Stressors Description
Number
of papers Sources
Poor working
environment
Poor working
environment
affects that
psychological
state of
construction
workers.
Excessive noise,
poor lighting and
sounds are some of
the environmental
factors resulting
into occupational
stress. Abundance
studies reported
the stressor as root
causes of mental
ill-health
17 [12][14][18][15][17][9][34][11][8][32][31][6][26][3][16][24][11]
Inadequate
safety
equipment
Obsolete safety
equipment create
negative
perception of
unsafe working
environment
among
construction
frontline workers,
thereby leading to
occupational
stress
5 [14][23][37][35][24]
Poor
transportation
Some construction
workforce
commutes long
distance to work,
which affects their
mental state.
Researchers
identified poor
transportation
system as one of
the causes of
mental stress
4 [21][33][29][16]
Injury and
accident
Exposure to injury
and accident is
attributed to poor
mental state.
Nevertheless,
sparse studies
report the stressor
2 [39][14]
(continued )
Table 6.
Results of physical
stressors
A systematic
review of
mental
stressors
transportation and medical services were reported in less than 5 out of 38 papers. It indicates
that transportation and medical services are not considered as crucial stressors.
4.5 Gender-related stressors
Male dominated culture inherent in the construction industry created stressors impinging the
mental health of female construction workers (Marshall, 1990). Gender-related stressors refer
to risk factors encountered by female workers in a male dominated industry (Goldenhar et al.,
1998). In the construction industry, the identified gender-related stressors include sexual
harassment, gender inequality and limited job opportunities. It represents 4 out of 49
stressors retrieved for this study. Surprisingly, limited studies focused on the gender-related
stressors despite the advocation for gender diversity in the construction industry. Table 7
presents gender-related stressors in the construction industry.
Occupational stress among female construction workers can manifest as a result of
gender-related stressors. A total of 5 out of 38 publications examined the negative
repercussions of gender-related stressors on female construction workers. Out of 5
publications, only 3 cited gender inequality, while 1 reported sexual harassment and
limited job opportunities respectively. Gender inequality is a serious issue in the construction
industry as it exacerbated the premature exit of the female construction workers (Sunindijo
and Kamardeen, 2017). The finding is supported by the study (Sang et al., 2007) that explored
the negative interaction between gender inequality and mental ill-health among female
Stressors Description
Number
of papers Sources
Poor medical
services
Provision of
medical facilities
in construction
workplace is
considered a
facilitator of good
mental health.
Lack of medical
services can result
into occupational
stress. Although
limited studies
confirmed this
stressor for mental
health
1 [21]
Table 6.
Stressors Description
Number of
papers Sources
Sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a greater concern among female
construction workers
1 [24]
Gender inequality Masculinity culture in the construction industry promote
gender inequality causing mental stress
3 [27][29][25]
Limited job
opportunities
Limited job opportunities stymie career development
among construction workforce
1 [8]
Table 7.
Results of gender-
related stressors
IJBPA
construction workers. Sexual harassment and limited job opportunities were reported in
limited literature because of sparse attention paid to the stressors among the female
construction workers (Goldenhar et al., 1998). The result is consistent with many studies
(Goldenhar et al., 1998;Marshall, 1990) that suggested extensive studies on sexual
harassment and career development to attract women into the construction industry.
4.6 Data collection methods of stressors studies
Figure 4 depicts data collection methods embraced in research studies on mental stressors.
The rationale was to explore in detail the methodological process adopted during the studied
period. Thus, this could spark more rigorous research methodologies to achieve an all-
inclusive product. Based on Figure 4, it is apparent that questionnaire survey, case study and
interview are the primary data collection methods employed by previous studies. Generally, a
questionnaire survey is the prominent primary data collection in stressors studies (with 36
out of 38 papers). The prominence can be attributed to the broader usage of questionnaire
survey in the construction management research (Root and Blismas, 2003). Case study and
interview received slow adoption as one empirical study used both methods. Culture of using
questionnaire survey in the construction management research might have contributed to the
scanty studies on case study and interview. Additionally, mental ill-health symptoms are
measured by questionnaires (Langdon and Sawang, 2018;Lingard and Francis, 2005a),
which explained the low usage of case study and interview in the stressors research.
5. Directions for future research
Comprehensive review of the previous studies on mental stressors shaped the future analysis.
Organization stressors are most cited stressors influencing the stress level of construction
workers; home-work conflicts, lack of career guidance and organizational support are core
contributors to organizational stressors. Considering the identified sources of organizational
stressors, there are needs to broaden the investigation of sources of organizational stressors.
Extant studies failed to explore the stressors from the construction business strategies, which
shape organizational practices. Supply chain, tendering process, human resources,
construction business strategies drive the organizational management, therefore, future
studies should investigate the stressors emanated from the supply chain, tendering process
and business strategies in order to address the organizational stressors in a proactive
manner.
36
11
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Quesonna ire Case st udy Intervi ew
Number of papers
Data collecon methods
Figure 4.
Data collection method
A systematic
review of
mental
stressors
Task stressors are pivotal factors of occupational stress. Nevertheless, the studies
generalized the task stressors irrespective of project complexity. Further research should
investigate task stressors impact on occupational stress concerning different project
complexities such as megaproject, which would reveal task stressors for various project
characteristics. Moreover, construction occupations vary in their working environment due
to job characteristics; hence, studies on task stressors on different occupation are paramount
to identify task stressors inherent in the occupations. Future studies should explore the
stressors from resources management and construction production perspectives as they
influence the execution of construction tasks.
Furthermore, each physical environmental factor such as noise and temperature have a
different effect on stress; thus, future research should examine the role of noise, sound and
light on occupational stress among the frontline workers. Also, future research should take a
practical measure in the management of the stressors, which can be incorporated into
international non-governmental organizations such as (ISO 45001) occupational health and
management system guidance. Presently, there is a dearth of international safety policy
guidance on mental health and well-being. Additionally, the Construction and Design
Management (CDM) Regulation 2015 now promulgated in the UK on health and safety of the
construction workforce. Empirical research should be conducted in future on the inclusion of
stressors of mental health in the regulation.
5.1 Limitations
Like other review papers, this study has some limitations that prevented the generalizability
of the findings. The limitation of this study is the number of papers retrieved and selected for
further analysis. Although the study considered all the academic journals without restriction,
showing that the number represented the number of available publications on the subject
matter. Additionally, contemporaries review studies in construction management also used a
smaller number of papers, which was explained in the methodology section. Thus, the
research findings are useful for future reference and represented studies on stressors in the
construction industry.
6. Conclusions
Concomitant effects of occupational stress on construction workers, families, society and
economy sparked the interest of mental health in the construction industry. Comprehending
mental stressors fuel research on mental health prevention and promotion. It enables the
government, health institutions and policymakers to develop a preventive policy to tackle
the stressors. Due to this, substantial studies have been undertaken on the mental stressors in
the context of the construction industry. Governments and other institutions have devoted
tremendous efforts to identify the stressors causing occupational stress. Nevertheless,
because there are no empirical studies conducted to review the agglomeration of stressors in
the construction industry, the authors decided to fill the important gap by conducting a
comprehensive review of the selected publications devoted for stressors over the studied
period. The three core issues that were addressed by this study were the examination of the
countries where the research on stressors was conducted, identification of the stressors,
determining the construction workers affected by the stressors and development of a
framework for easy classification of various causative factors under various stressors.
Figure 5 depicts the visualization of result to show the link between stressors, conceptual
framework, direction for future studies and conclusions.
Based on 38 selected papers, 49 different mental stressors were identified. The review
shows that the most remarkable forms of stressors include work overload, home-work
IJBPA
conflict, poor working environment and role ambiguity. The 49 stressors were used to
develop a conceptual framework, which consists of interrelated elements, namely
organizational, task personal and physical stressors. Each aspect has various causative
factors that are linked to occupational stress in the construction industry.
The findings of this study would serve as a guide for the industrial practitioners and
decision makers, especially on health and safety policy on mental health of the construction
workers. For researchers, the stressors provide in-depth insights into the causative factors
from work activities that interacted to cause occupational stress in the construction industry.
Lastly, a conceptual framework of classification of stressors was developed and intended to
inform industry practitioners that intervention developed for one causative stress factor can
Figure 5.
Framework for
visualization of results
A systematic
review of
mental
stressors
help extenuate the variables within the same stressor. For example, occupational stress
intervention directed to tackle organizational stressors could be also be used to check the
causative factors within the organizational construct, which include lack of autonomy, job
insecurity and home-work conflict.
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Appendix 1
No Journal names Journal
1 Journal of Construction Engineering Management JCEM
2 Journal of Construction in Developing Countries JCDC
3 International Journal of Construction Management IJCM
4 Construction Management and Economics CME
5 Engineering Construction and Architectural Management ECAM
6 Construction Economics Building CEB
7 Journal of Occupational Health Psychology JOHP
8 Community Mental Health Journal CMHJ
9 Psicothema PS
10 International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology IJCIET
11 Applied Ergonomics AE
12 Journal of Engineering Design and Technology JEDT
13 International Journal of Project management IJPM
14 Work and Stress WS
15 International Journal of Managing Project in Business IJMPB
16 Industrial Journal of Industrial Economics IJIE
17 Journal of Management in Engineering JME
18 International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health IJOEH
19 Advances in Dual Diagnosis ADD
20 BMC Public Health BMC
21 The Chartered Institute of Building CIOB
Table A1.
Selected journal name
on stressors of
mental health
A systematic
review of
mental
stressors
Corresponding author
Bashir Tijani can be contacted at: 17872544@student.westernsydney.edu.au
For instructions on how to order reprints of this article, please visit our website:
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No Year Authors Journal
1 2017 Jepson, J. M., Kirytopoulos, K. and London, K. CEB
2 2011 Ibem, E. O., Anosike, M. N., Azuh, D. E. and Mosaku, T. O. CEB
3 2018 Bowen, P., Govender, R., Edwards, P. and Cattell, K CME
4 2016 Cattell, K., Bowen, P. and Edwards, P. CME
5 2004 Lingard, H. and Francis, V. CME
6 2005 Leung, M. Y., Ng, S. T., Skitmore, M. and Cheung, S. O. CME
7 2005 Lingard, H. and Francis, V. CME
8 2007 Sang, K. J. C., Dainty, A. R. J. and Ison, S. G. CME
9 2007 Leung, M. Y., Skitmore, M. and Chan, Y. S. CME
10 2004 Lingard, H. JCEM
11 2008 Leung, M.Y, Zhang, H. and Skitmore, M. JCEM
12 2008 Leung, M. Y., Chan, Y. S., Chong, A. and Sham, J. F. C. JCEM
13 2010 Leung, M. Y., Chan, Y. S. and Chong, A. M. L JCEM
14 2010 Leung, M. Y., Chan, Y. S. and Yuen, K. W. JCEM
15 2009 Leung, M. Y., Chan, Y. S. and Yu, J. JCEM
16 2012 Leung, M. Y. and Chan, I. Y. S. JCEM
17 2013 Bowen, P., Edwards, P. and Lingard, H. JCEM
18 2014 Bowen, P., Edwards, P., Lingard, H. and Cattell, K. JCEM
19 2014 Bowen, P., Govender, R. and Edwards, P. JCEM
20 2015 Leung, M. Y., Bowen, P., Liang, Q. and Famakin, I. JCEM
21 2017 Leung, M. Y., Liang, Q. and Chan, I. Y. S JCEM
22 2016 Leung, M. Y., Liang, Q. and Olomolaiye, P. JME
23 1998 Goldenhar, L. M., Swanson, N. G., Hurrell Jr, J. J., Ruder, A. and Deddens, J. JOHP
24 2005 Ng, S. T., Skitmore, R. M. and Leung, T. K. C. ECAM
25 2013 Bowen, P., Edwards, P. and Lingard, H. ECAM
26 2013 Boschman, J. S., van der Molen, H. F., Sluiter, J. K. and Frings-Dresen, M. H. W. AE
27 2017 Kamal, S., Gunasekaran, K. and D’Souza, L. IJCIET
28 2007 Meli
a, J. L. and Becerril, M. PS
29 2017 Senaratne, S., Rasagopalasingam, V. IJCM
30 2015 Enshassi, A. and Al. Swaity, E. JCDC
31 2017 De Silva, N., Samanmali, R. and De Silva, H. L. JEDT
32 2014 Bowen, P., Edwards, P., Lingard, H. and Cattell, K. IJPM
33 2003 Goldenhar, L. M., Williams, L. J. and Swanson, N. G. WS
34 2018 Naoum, S. G., Herrero, C., Egbu, C. and Fong, D. IJMPB
35 2011 Abbe, O. O., Harvey, C. M., Ikuma, L. H. and Aghazadeh, F. IJIE
36 2000 Bing Shuang, Hu, You Xin, Liang, Xiao Yuan, Hu, Yun Fang, Long and Lin Na, Ge IJOEH
37 2018 Bowen, P., Govender, R. and Edwards, P. BMC
38 2017 Cattell, K., Bowen, P. and Edwards, P. CIOB
Table A2.
List of selected papers
on stressors of mental
health
IJBPA
