Work-related stress: open issues and future directions

Work-related stress has received significant and increasing attention in the last 20 years and it is now considered a pervasive problem with relevant implications for health and safety at work. However, the continuous technological transformations and the emergence of new forms and modalities of work, together with the marked demographical changes, suggest the need to maintain a high degree of attention on the problem, both from a research and applied perspectives (e.g., development of models and measures of new psychosocial risk factors, refinement of policies and interventions). the present article analyses, in light of the more recent scientific evidence, the most important stressors in the modern world of work and suggests a series of improvements at different levels (e.g., methodological, policies and regulations) for a more effective control and prevention of work-related stress.