보육교사의 총근무시간과 스트레스 반응에 따른 휴게시간의 매개효과

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between working hours, break time, and stress response among childcare teachers. We hypothesized that break time could help alleviate the negative impact of long working hours on stress levels among childcare teachers. We measured stress response across four sub-dimensions: emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and physical. We collected data from 362 childcare teachers working in various daycare centers (e.g., national and corporate, private and home day care centers) in the Gyeonggi-do area. We analyzed the data using descriptive statistics and a stepwise regression model using SPSS 28 and JAMOVI. Our results show that working hours were positively associated with all four dimensions of stress response, indicating that longer working hours can lead to increased stress in all domains. However, when we included break time in the analysis, the association between working hours and behavioral/physical stress response was no longer significant. For emotional and cognitive stress response, the working hour coefficient remained significant but decreased in magnitude. Additionally, we found a direct negative effect of break time on stress, suggesting that taking breaks can help alleviate stress across all four dimensions. The results of this study are meaningful in that they provided basic data and ideas on the direction of institutional development for this, hoping that the need for rest time and the working environment for childcare facilities will be re-examined.