Abstract: Occupational stress is increasingly recognised as a threat to clergy wellbeing and ministerial effectiveness, yet the pathways through which stress-management resources translate into pastoral performance remain under-examined in African dioceses. This study investigated the influence of four stress-management resources (psycho-spiritual support, self-care practices, work–life balance, and institutional support) on the pastoral performance of priests in the Catholic Diocese of Kitale, Kenya. A convergent parallel mixed-methods design combined an ex-post facto quantitative survey of 61 priests, drawn through stratified random sampling from a target population of 104, with in-depth interviews among eight purposively selected key informants. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and simple and multiple linear regression, interpreted against Erikson’s psychosocial development theory, Maslach’s burnout theory, role theory, and the transactional theory of stress and coping. The four predictors jointly explained 48.5% of the variance in pastoral performance, R² = .485, F(4, 55) = 12.977, p < .001. Institutional support was the strongest individual predictor (β = .381, p = .001), followed by work–life balance (β = .344, p = .003), self-care practices (β = .289, p = .009), and psycho-spiritual support (β = .267, p = .011). Priests relied more heavily on personally initiated resources, notably prayer and informal peer support, than on formalised diocesan structures. Sustaining pastoral effectiveness in resource-constrained dioceses appears to require deliberate institutional investment, including structured leave, accessible counselling, and workload management, rather than reliance on individual clergy resilience alone.
Keywords: occupational stress management; pastoral performance; institutional support; work–life balance; Catholic priests; Kenya.
Title: Occupational Stress Management and Pastoral Performance among Catholic Priests in the Diocese of Kitale, Kenya
Author: John K. Rotich, Prof. Jennifer K. Munyua, Dr. Richard Korir
International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research
ISSN 2348-3156 (Print), ISSN 2348-3164 (online)
Vol. 14, Issue 3, July 2026 - September 2026
Page No: 398-404
Research Publish Journals
Website: www.researchpublish.com
Published Date: 23-September-2026
