UCF Psychology Professor Named as New Editor for American Psychological Association’s International Journal of Stress Management

Dr. Nathan Bowling is helping organizations improve employee well-being while providing mentorship and research opportunities for the next generation of scholars.

By: Ana G. Hidalgo | July 2, 2025

Work can be a major source of both stress and fulfillment—and its impact on people’s lives is significant. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 83% of U.S. workers suffer from work-related stress, and 54% of workers report that work stress affects their home life. 

The International Journal of Stress Management, an academic journal published by the American Psychological Association, publishes research on the various sources of stress, including work. This is a particular focus area for its new editor, Dr. Nathan Bowling, professor of psychology and associate director of the Industrial-Organizational Psychology Ph.D. program in UCF’s Department of Psychology. Through his research, Bowling is working to identify and reduce stress in the workplace. His goal is to help organizations function more effectively while improving employee well-being. 

Bowling’s research focuses on understanding the causes of stress at work and developing strategies to mitigate those effects. His findings have broad relevance, with the potential to improve workplace conditions across various industries.

One key area of his research is organizational constraints—a term used since the 1980s to describe factors that hinder an employee’s ability to perform their job. These constraints can include inadequate training, poor supervisory or coworker support, and lack of access to necessary tools or equipment. 

“Organizational constraints are strongly linked to negative outcomes like anxiety, depression, insomnia, fatigue, and even physical symptoms like headaches,” Bowling says. “In turn, those issues can lower job performance and lead to workplace behavior problems, ultimately affecting an organization’s bottom line.” 

Industrial-organizational (IO) psychology applies psychological theories and methods to the workplace, with the aim of improving employee productivity, satisfaction, and health. Occupational stress falls under this umbrella, and Bowling’s work focuses on identifying and measuring specific job stressors.  

“Lack of resources, unbalanced workloads, and poor treatment from supervisors or coworkers are just a few of the many factors that can generate stress in the workplace,” Bowling says. 

UCF offers both doctoral and master’s degree programs, as well as an undergraduate track in Industrial-Organizational (IO) psychology through the College of Sciences. Bowling and other faculty members’ research and mentorship are helping influence the development of the field.  

Historically, researchers treated organizational constraints as a single, general category, but Bowling saw limitations in that approach. 

“Researchers often measured constraints as one broad factor, which made it hard to identify the exact source of the problem,” he says. “I wanted to change that.” 

Last year, Bowling published a paper introducing a self-reporting tool that breaks organizational constraints into distinct dimensions.   

“The tool allows organizations to pinpoint specific sources of stress that may be hurting employee performance and take action accordingly,” he says. 

Bowling’s interest in IO psychology began 25 years ago in graduate school, where he enrolled to work with a leading occupational stress researcher. Since then, he has applied occupational stress in a civilian context and, more recently, in the U.S. Navy. 

“I received a grant from the Office of Naval Research under the U.S. Department of Defense and analyzed performance behaviors of personnel under stressful conditions,” he says. “While military and civilian contexts differ, we were able to apply general principles from one to the other and identify common stressors across occupations.” 

In other words, while specifics may vary by job, the sources of stress are often consistent—such as excessive workload.

In addition to his research, Bowling plays a key role in shaping the field through academic publishing and mentorship—providing students with hands-on experience in both research and the peer-review process. 

He was recently featured in the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Journal Editor Spotlight as the incoming editor of the International Journal of Stress Management.  

“Doing research that contributes to our understanding is something I really enjoy,” Bowling says. “It’s also a way to involve students and mentor them.” 

As an editor, he helps determine whether submitted papers meet the journal’s standards for publication. One of his priorities as incoming editor is to expand opportunities for graduate student involvement in the peer-review process—a practice not commonly done. 

“I want to involve graduate students as apprentice reviewers, working closely with a faculty member to assess submissions,” Bowling says. 

The peer-review process typically begins with an action editor, who recruits two anonymous reviewers to evaluate the quality of a submitted manuscript. Based on their feedback, the action editor makes the final editorial decision—whether to accept or reject the paper. 

“The process is double-blind—reviewers don’t know the author’s identity and authors don’t know who reviewed their work,” he says. “This ensures the research is judged solely on its merit.” 

Bowling’s model would invite graduate students to participate as co-reviewers once a paper reaches the external review stage. The student and a primary reviewer, typically a faculty member, would evaluate the manuscript independently, compare notes and collaborate on a feedback letter to the author. 

“As a discipline, we need to encourage reviewer training earlier,” he says. “Most graduate students don’t gain this experience until they’re already in faculty roles or professional positions. Learning to evaluate research critically not only helps them become better reviewers, but also stronger researchers.” 

Textbook assignments can’t fully replicate the value of hands-on experience, Bowling says. He works with many undergraduate and graduate students, often co-authoring papers that are presented at academic conferences or published in peer-reviewed journals. For many students, these research opportunities become a turning point in their academic journey.

“I find that when I work with undergraduates on research, that’s when the lightbulb often clicks,” he says. “They become part of something bigger, take ownership of their work, and start to see the real-world impact. That’s often when they discover their passion for research and decide to continue their academic studies in graduate school.” 

Bowling encourages students to visit faculty pages, learn about professors’ areas of expertise and reach out to inquire about research assistant opportunities. 

“If you’re planning to apply to graduate programs, research experience is essential,” he says. “It not only gives students a competitive edge, but also sets them up for strong recommendation letters from faculty who know their work firsthand.”