Stress on the road: Linking coping strategies, resilience, and fatigue in female school service drivers

BackgroundOccupational stress can lead to various physical and psychological issues, including fatigue, anxiety, and burnout. Fatigue, in particular, influences drivers' behavior, and resilience is a key factor in mitigating occupational stress and fatigue.ObjectiveThis study aims to explore the relationship between coping styles, occupational fatigue, occupational stress, and resilience in female school service drivers.MethodsA cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in 2024 among 206 female school service drivers in Isfahan, selected through random sampling. Data were collected using the Swedish Job Fatigue Questionnaire (SOFI-20), Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, HSE Questionnaire, and the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS). Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS22 at a 0.05 significance level.ResultsThe study found that female drivers had mean scores of 61.44 (±11.37) for resilience, 109.31 (±21.95) for occupational fatigue, and 118.10 (±31.68) for occupational stress. Emotion-oriented coping was the most frequent strategy (37.5%), while avoidance-oriented coping was the least frequent (26.4%). A significant negative correlation between resilience and occupational fatigue indicated that higher fatigue levels reduce resilience, increasing the risk of health-related issues.ConclusionThe study reveals that occupational fatigue negatively impacts resilience and shifts coping strategies toward emotion-oriented approaches, increasing accident risks among female school service drivers. It emphasizes the need for interventions to reduce fatigue and enhance resilience through targeted training programs for safer driving behavior.