Teacher stress and coping over an autumn term in Finland

Abstract

Abstract Psychological stress, coping process and the relationships between stress and coping were examined among 66 teachers representing comprehensive and upper secondary schools in Finland. The research design was longitudinal. Each person was studied four times during the autumn term of 1991 using questionnaires, which were focused on teachers' stress feelings, ways of coping and social relations to colleagues and pupils during Mondays to Thursdays and Friday morning lessons. The results showed a clear accumulation of stress during the autumn term. Four different teacher groups emerged according to the type of stress reported: (1) teachers who were only moderately stressed, (2) those who were not at all stressed, (3) teachers who were exhausted throughout the term, and (4) those whose stress increased strongly during the term. These stress process groups differed with regard to their coping styles, but not background variables. On the level of the whole sample, different ways of coping were quite stab...