Work stress and successful recovery processes

This study examined the relationship between daily work stress, leisure time activities like physical activities, social activities or watching television and their recovery effects. It was hypothesized that people would spend less time on active activities like sports after a stressful work day. Further the study analysed the relationship between work stress, evaluation of the leisure activities after work and well-being at the end of the day.83 police officers participated in the study and completed a diary on work stress, leisure time activities and situational well-being over a period of 5 days. Multilevel analyses provided only little support for the hypotheses. Analyses showed no significant relationship between work stress and the time spent with leisure time activities. But it seems that positive evaluation plays an important role in recovery processes.The study contributes new impulses to further research on successful and healthy recovery from work stress