Occupational Stress and Mental Health of Employees of a Petrochemical Company before and after Privatization

Background: Many countries make many of their governmental sectors private. This transition,however, may affect their employees in numerous ways.Objective: To determine the level of occupational stress and mental health of employees ofa petrochemical company in Isfahan, Central Iran, before and 3 months after privatization.Methods: Out of the 700 employees of the studied company, using a stratified randomsampling technique, 140 persons were selected. We used Steinmetz occupational stress andGHQ-28 questionnaires to determine the level of stress and mental health status of participants.Results: The reliability of the questionnaires used was acceptable (Chronbach alpha coefficients:0.85 and 0.86, respectively). Job stress level was significantly increased 3 monthsafter privatization; the mean±SD job stress score before and after privatization were22.9±10.43 and 28.3±12.25, respectively (p 0.001). The mean±SD mental health scoreafter privatization (17.57±11.63) was also significantly (p 0.001) higher than that beforethe privatization (13.8±6.0). There was a significant (p 0.001) positive correlation betweenthe mental health status score and job score (r=0.476).Conclusion: After privatization, the job stress of employees increased significantly. Thisincrease was associated with a decrease in mental health. To lessen the side effects of privatization,the process should be performed cautiously.