UK managers have some of the highest management stress levels in the world due to the changing nature of our workplaces, new research suggests.

Gary Cooper, professor of organisational psychology and health at Lancaster University Management School told delegates at this year's CIPD Conference and Exhibition that research involving 25 countries showed that those with the most change suffered highest stress.

Prof Cooper said that while managers in the UK and US had the same long hours and job insecurity culture, those in the US appeared to show less stress. "The US has always had long hours and jobs have always been unstable, but work has changed in the UK over the past 12-15 years, we've become very Americanised," he said.

Other countries in the long-term study that showed high levels of management stress included China, South Africa and Brazil.