The professional auditing literature identifies the need to evaluate a client's control environment prior to the auditor's design of compliance tests. This study seeks to: (1) identify client attributes that adequately describe a client's control environment; (2) investigate auditors' perceptions of the importance of these attributes on actual engagements; (3) highlight the contextual factors that condition the importance ratings of the attributes; and (4) ascertain the audit team member responsible for evaluating the various attributes. This study identified 48 client attributes that appear to serve as cues for auditors' control environment evaluations. The reported levels of importance for certain attributes differed across auditors. It was found that audit firm affiliation, auditor rank, audit office specialization, the client's management structure, and the client's total assets exhibited significant associations with auditors' ratings. In addition, it was found that seniors were responsible for evaluating most of the control environment attributes.

One purpose of this study is to identify major sources of stress for audit seniors. Fifty‐nine different job‐related stressors are identified and investigated. Statistical evidence of increased dysfunctional psychological symptoms associated with increases in the presence of certain stressors is provided. In addition, four stress models that incorporate job stressors, personality types, coping behaviors, and psychological symptoms are investigated. Two mediating‐effects models were found to portray suitably the relationships among these items. Résumé. Les auteurs ont entre autres pour but de déterminer les principales sources de stress chez les chefs de mission. Cinquante‐neuf éléments inducteurs de stress différents liés au travail sont identifiés et analysés. L'analyse statistique démontre que les symptômes psychologiques dysfonctionnels augmentent avec la présence accrue de certains inducteurs de stress. Les auteurs analysent en outre quatre modèles de stress faisant intervenir des inducteurs de stress dans le travail, des types de personnalité, des comportements face aux difficultés et des symptômes psychologiques. Ils en viennent à la conclusion que deux modèles d'effets médiateurs illustrent de façon appropriée les relations entre ces éléments.