Stress-coping strategies among bankers in Southwest Nigeria.

Background: Work-related stress is the reaction individuals may have when faced with work expectations and forces that are not in tandem with their skill set and capacities and which frustrate their ability to cope. Coping strategies are paradigms used to limit the impact of stressful experiences, thus inhibiting the psychological and physical responses and making it more possible to maintain normal functioning at the time.

Aim: This study aims to determine how bankers cope with stress from work in Ado-Ekiti, Southwest Nigeria.

Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was done among three hundred and two bankers in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti state. A sociodemographic questionnaire was designed to obtain data on the sociodemographic characteristics of the respondents, while coping with work-related stress was assessed with The Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced (Brief-COPE).

Results: Two hundred and ninety-eight respondents (98.7%) used adaptive coping strategies, while four (1.3%) did not use them. One hundred and ninety-seven respondents (65.2%) used maladaptive strategies, while one hundred and five respondents (34.8%) did not cope with them. In essence, the majority of the respondents used adaptive strategies to cope with stress.

Conclusion: Most of the bankers utilized adaptive strategies in coping with work-related stress.