Too stressed to de-stress? The experience of work stress and recovery among attorneys during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

It is well-established that legal professionals experience high stress and often high rates of associated health problems. Much less is known about attitudes and behaviours around stress prevention in this occupation. Our study examined views of stress and recovery among 131 U.S. attorneys. In open-ended data, attorneys commonly expressed that their job is very demanding, and it impacts their health. Many respondents felt it was important to manage their stress but had difficulty doing so. Quantitative analyses showed that attitudes about stress (stress-related comparisons, viewing stress as achievement, stress-related impression management, and stigma around stress concerns) demonstrated several significant relationships with perceived stress, recovery experiences, remorse for relaxation, and work-family conflict. Our findings suggest that practical interventions to support the health and well-being of legal professionals may need to target the workload norms, as well as attitudes and beliefs about the normalness of high stress and insufficient recovery.

Keywords: Attitudes; attorneys; legal professionals; occupational health; recovery; relaxation remorse; stress; stress management; work–family conflict.