Stress and coping among workers at psychosocial care centers in the interior of the state of Sao Paulo.

Psychosocial Care Centers (CAPS) are community-based facilities designed as a substitutive model to break with asylum-based care and aligned to the principles underlying the Unified Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde-SUS); thus they promote patient-centered care.To establish the prevalence of stress and its association with biosocial characteristics and coping strategies within the work process of healthcare providers at CAPS in a city in the interior of the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil.Cross-sectional quantitative study involving administration of three questionnaires: biosocial, Work Stress Scale and a checklist of coping strategies. The sample comprised 193 healthcare providers from 11 different CAPS.Most participants were female, with average age 35 years old, single and without children. The levels of stress were rated high, with prevalence of 50.2%. The main associations found concern the participants' subjective appraisal of their job, particularly personal recognition and satisfaction. The coping strategies most frequently cited were problem-solving and social support.We found high levels of stress in the analyzed population and association of stress mainly with biosocial characteristics.