Associations between the Psychophysiological Impacts of Teacher Occupational Stress and Stress Biomarkers: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Extensive literature demonstrates associations between occupational stress and adverse health outcomes. This review addresses occupational stress’s effects on specific physiological biomarkers among teachers, a workforce with high occupational stress, and the potential for broad social impacts when stress compromises teacher health. A systematic PRISMA search identified 38 papers evaluating occupational stress and biomarkers in teachers (early childhood education (ECE) and K-12). Findings indicate that occupational stress (burnout, perceived acute stress, job strain, effort-reward imbalance) negatively relates to teacher health. Most endocrine studies (n = 20 of 29) found negative associations between higher chronic stress (burnout) and blunted hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) responses, and/or positive associations between acute stress (e.g., job strain) and increased HPA response. Cardiovascular (CV) studies (n = 10) showed inconsistent relations between stress and CV measures. Immunologic studies (n = 6) found that chronic work stress was associated with increased pro-inflammatory and less effective anti-inflammatory activity. We provide recommendations for future research topics and policy implications.