Mental load and stress: Two related concepts

The confusion between mental load and stress originates in the poor definition of both concepts. These two concepts refer to the discrepancy between environmental demands and the availability of resources to meet them. In mental load theories resources and demands refer only to the processing needed to perform a particular task. However, in stress theories the definition of both demands and resources refer also to the physical, psychosocial and organizational aspects of work environment. In the present study, high and positive correlation coefficients between mental load and stress were found, using subjetive procedures. Similarly, we found significant effects of the task difficulty on the stress level.