Prevalence and Causes of Stress among Employees in Tanzanian Local Government Authorities: An Experience from Chemba District Council

Workplace stress has increasingly been reported to be an issue of concern in theglobal, regional and local workforce. Several studies have contributed toknowledge on stress especially on effects of stress in several specific sectorsleaving prevalence level and causes of stress with scanty information. This paperapplied Conservation of Resources (COR) theory to address two study objectivesmainly; to determine the prevalence of stress among employees and to examinethe causes of stress among employees at Chemba District Council. The studyemployed a Cross-sectional research design and collected data from 14 keyinformants and from 60 respondents through interview and questionnairemethods respectively. The study collected both qualitative data and quantitativedata which were analysed by content analysis method and descriptive statisticsmethod respectively. The findings reveal that a good number of employeesaccounting to 80% have at least experienced stress whereby, huge workload,work deadlines, family challenges, financial challenges and job insecurity aresignificantly causing stress among employees at Chemba District Council. It isconcluded that, the revealed prevalence of stress among employees as a result ofseveral stressors needs supportive policies and mental health initiatives toaddress adverse effects. It is recommended that Chemba District Council shouldimplement stress management programs like workshops, mindfulness trainingand relaxation techniques to help employees cope with stress.