OCCUPATIONAL STRESS, DEPRESSION AND JOB SATISFACTION OF SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate occupational stress, depression and anxiety of primary education special education teachers, as well as levels of job satisfaction and how these are related to a number of demographic variables. Method: One hundred (100) special education teachers (39 males & 61 females) from the Regional Directorate of Attica took part in this study. Four self-report questionnaires were administered to the participants, i.e., the Perceived Stress Scale-14, the Depression Anxiety Stress-21, the Employee Satisfaction Inventory scale, and the Job Satisfaction Scale. A short health status questionnaire was also administered to the participants with questions related to the demographic data of the participants (gender, age, etc.), questions related to the work of the participants (level of education, years of service, etc.), as well as questions related to participants' health (e.g. How good is your health?). The statistical package SPSSv.21 was used for statistical analysis of the data. A variety of descriptive measures (frequency, percentages, mean, etc.) were used to describe the results. Pearson's linear correlation coefficient r was used to test the correlation between two variables. Additionally, the PROCESS macro (version 3) for SPSS was used in order to conduct moderation analysis. Results: The results showed that participants reported moderate levels of perceived stress, anxiety and depression, as well as levels of job satisfaction. Negative correlations between perceived stress and job satisfaction and between depression and job satisfaction were observed. Regarding stress and health status, elevated levels of stress were related to poorer health. Furthermore, correlations between stress, anxiety and depression with job satisfaction appeared to be influenced by gender, and in most cases the correlations had different directions between males and females. Therefore, occupational stress, depression and anxiety can be considered as predictors of the health status of special education teachers, as high levels of occupational stress and anxiety are strongly related to low levels of self-reported health-well-being, satisfaction. Conclusions: The results of this study highlight the need to explore the mental health of special education needs teachers that are associated with specific physical health issues so that measures can be taken for the development of prevention programs and personal strategies in order to cope with stress, anxiety and depression in teachers. Article visualizations: