Stress among Brazilian Security Guards: Analysis of Vulnerability Factors

Fraught with cognitive, physical, and emotional consequences, stress is a phenomenon that may be generally understood as a form of exhaustion under specific conditions. The work environment can be an important stressor. Through a quantitative study, different aspects of stress and its consequences in the security guard profession are reviewed. The main factors of vulnerability to stress in Brazilian security guards employed by a private company were evaluated and correlating with sociodemographic parameters. Security guards were selected by non-probabilistic criteria (i.e., by convenience). Data were collected using a sociodemographic characterization questionnaire, and the Scale of Vulnerability to Stress at Work (EVENT) employed to assess the stress levels to which the participants were exposed. Security guards generally showed a low vulnerability to stress. Correlations among variables were non significant (P > 0.05), the strongest correlation, that between the civil state (i.e., married vs. single) variable and the pressure at work factor (r 2 = 0.25, P = 0.119) indicated that vulnerability to stress in this case was extremely low. This correlation was stronger because 56% of the sample population were married. It is assumed that no vulnerabilities were identified because of the personnel management policies adopted, which targets, early in the selection process, adequate psychological profiles for the specific organizational culture and work environment.