Investigating the Relationship between Stress Coping Styles and Job Fatigue among Female School Taxi Drivers in Isfahan City, Iran

Abstract

Background: Fatigue can significantly impact drivers' behavior. Drivers must respond appropriately to critical and stressful situations, a capability referred to as stress coping styles. There is a possibility that fatigue could alter individuals' coping styles, thereby increasing the likelihood of incidents such as accidents. Therefore, the present study aims to examine the relationship between fatigue and coping behaviors among female school taxi drivers in Isfahan City, Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study was conducted among female school taxi drivers in Isfahan City in 2023. The statistical population of this study included 71 female school service drivers who were selected through random sampling. The variables examined in this study included demographic information, occupational fatigue, and coping styles, which were collected using the Swedish Occupational Fatigue Inventory (SOFI-20) and the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS) by Endler and Parker, respectively. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software at a significance level of 0.05. Findings: According to the results of this study, the subscales of job fatigue included a lack of energy (mean score: 25.68 ± 5.17), physical effort (mean score: 18.28 ± 4.58), physical discomfort (mean score: 20.49 ± 5.29), lack of motivation (mean score: 21.67 ± 3.34), sleepiness (mean score: 23.81 ± 6.74), and total job fatigue (mean score: 109.92 ± 23.13). The analysis of stress coping styles among participants showed that emotion-focused coping had the highest frequency (37.5), while avoidance coping had the lowest frequency (26.4) among the drivers participating in the study. Job fatigue subscales including lack of energy (P = 0.041), physical effort (P < 0.001), physical discomfort (P = 0.011), and sleepiness (P = 0.019) were significantly related to stress coping style. Conclusion: Even though in the present study, the level of job fatigue among female drivers of school services was observed at a relatively acceptable level, the tendency of people with a higher level of fatigue towards an emotion-focused coping style can indicate the importance of managing the fatigue of these people in reducing emotion-focused coping behaviors and their consequences such as risky driving and some traffic accidents. © 2025, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences(IUMS). All rights reserved.