Abstract

BackgroundTeachers often face high job demands that might elicit strong stress responses. This can increase risks of adverse strain outcomes such as mental and physical health impairment. Psychological detachment has been suggested as a recovery experience that counteracts the stressor-strain relationship. However, psychological detachment is often difficult when job demands are high. The aims of this study were, first, to gain information on the prevalence of difficulties detaching from work among German teachers, second, to identify potential person-related/individual (i.e., age, sex), occupational (e.g., tenure, leadership position), and work-related (e.g., overload, cognitive, emotional, and physical demands) risk factors and, third, to examine relationships with mental and physical health impairment and sickness absence.MethodsA secondary analysis of cross-sectional data from a national and representative survey of German employees was conducted (BIBB/BAuA Employment Survey 2018). For the analyses data from two groups of teachers (primary/secondary school teachers: n = 901, other teachers: n = 641) were used and compared with prevalence estimates of employees from other occupations (n = 16,266).ResultsPrimary/secondary school teachers (41.5%) and other teachers (30.3%) reported more difficulties detaching from work than employees from other occupations (21.3%). Emotional demands and deadline/performance pressure were the most severe risk factors in both groups of teachers. In the group of primary/secondary school teachers multitasking demands were further risk factors for difficulties to detach from work whereas support from colleagues reduced risks. In both groups of teachers detachment difficulties can be linked to an increase in psychosomatic and musculoskeletal complaints and, additionally, to a higher risk of sickness absence among primary/secondary school teachers.ConclusionsDifficulties detaching from work are highly prevalent among German teachers. In order to protect them from related risks of health impairment, interventions are needed which aim at optimizing job demands and contextual resources (i.e., work-directed approaches) or at improving coping strategies (i.e., person-directed approaches).

Highlights

  • Teachers often face high job demands that might elicit strong stress responses

  • Difficulties detaching from work are highly prevalent among German teachers

  • In order to protect them from related risks of health impairment, interventions are needed which aim at optimizing job demands and contextual resources or at improving coping strategies

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Summary

Introduction

Teachers often face high job demands that might elicit strong stress responses. This can increase risks of adverse strain outcomes such as mental and physical health impairment. Psychological detachment has been suggested as a recovery experience that counteracts the stressor-strain relationship. Teachers face various job demands such as student misconduct, difficult interactions with colleagues or growing administrative demands [1, 4, 5] Dealing with these demands is likely to increase teachers’ stress, which is associated with higher levels of burnout, resulting in low physical and psychological well-being [6, 7]. “Switching off” from work, known as “psychological detachment”, describes the recovery experience of being mentally distanced from work-related thoughts during nonwork time and is suggested as one strong recovery indicator linking work stressors and strain outcomes [13, 14, 16]

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