Occupational stress is all too common, especially for employees in the criminal-legal system. Many sources of stress (i.e., stressors) have been shown to be associated with perceived occupational stress in the literature; yet, methodological variations and inconsistent findings across research articles obscure the empirical status of the effect of stressors on occupational stress among criminal-legal employees. To synthesize the research on this stressor-stress link, a meta-analysis was conducted. Based on 80 peer-reviewed articles representing 57 unique data sets that contained 1,993 effect size estimates, random-effects analyses using multilevel modeling techniques were used to establish the grand mean effect of stressors on occupational stress. Results showed a modest effect of stressors on occupational stress (Mz = 0.15, 95% CI = [0.13, 0.18]). Importantly, the findings indicate that the strength of the effect size differed by the type of stressor. Specifically, larger effect sizes were yielded if the type of stressor was operational, followed by organizational stressors. The predicted effect size was smaller if the stressor was an individual demographic. Also, certain methodological decisions and study quality indicators moderate this effect. Overall, researchers must continue to explore the dimensions of these stressors to better understand their impact on occupational stress in criminal-legal systems. Theoretical, methodological, and practical implications of the meta-analytic findings are discussed and several directions for future research are identified in an effort to bring synergy to a disjointed evidence base.
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