Stress management 1: nature, causes and effects of stress - In the first of our two-part examination of stress management, Rob Briner, senior lecturer in organisational psychology at Birkbeek College, argues that it is time to clearly define what we mean by the term "work-related stress". He concludes that the imprecise use of the term in recent years, coupled with an absence of hard evidence of any association between work stress and ill health, has done little to advance knowledge and management of the phenomenon.