Tell Me! How to Diminish Stress and Sick Leave in an Organization: A Cognitive Behavioral Quasi-Experimental Intervention

Interventions aimed at reducing stress levels and sick leave have been implemented from different perspectives for workers. The aim of this study is to analyze the effectiveness of two interventions, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and strategies and workshops enhancing well-being (Well-being Route), on stress and sick leave levels. A quasi-experimental design was employed, with three conditions (control group, n = 41; Well-being Route group, n = 36; and Well-being Route + Cognitive Behavioral Therapy group, n = 17). A two-way MANCOVA with one within-subjects factor (intervention: 2 levels, pretest (Time 1), posttest (Time 2)), one between-subjects factor (group: 3 levels, CG, WBR, and WBR+CBT), and a covariate (job control) was used for analysis. Baseline differences among groups were found. The interaction between the intervention and the three conditions was statistically significant. The findings suggest that WBR+CBT within organizations can effectively mitigate stress and sick leave among workers, although sick leave was measured with a single item.