Poor Relationships and Physical Violence at School Are Associated With More Forms of Psychological Violence Among Brazilian Teachers: A Cross-Sectional Study

The association between pupils´ aggressive behaviour and burnout among Danish school teachers - the role of stress and social support at work

Background

Pupils´ aggressive behaviour towards teachers is a serious problem which is slowly gaining attention and has been found to be linked to burnout. However, prospective studies investigating the role of stress and social support from colleagues and supervisor are lacking. Therefore, the aims of the present study were 1. to investigate the association between pupils´ aggressive behaviour and burnout among Danish primary and lower secondary school teachers, 2. to investigate whether the association between pupils´ aggressive behaviour and burnout depends on the level and duration of stress, and 3. to investigate whether social support from colleagues or a supervisor at the work place has a mitigating effect on the association between pupils´ aggressive behaviour and burnout among teachers.

Methods

This study is a longitudinal study using data from 1198 teachers collected in two survey rounds at an interval of 1-year. Teacher-reported aggressive behaviour in pupils measured as harassment, threats, and violence towards teachers was collected at baseline. Burnout was measured at follow-up. The analyses were performed using multilevel logistic regression.

Results

Statistically significant associations between harassment, threats, or violence and burnout 1 year later were found (all ORs 1.6) after adjustment for potential confounders. After further adjustment for stress, the estimates attenuated to ORs between 1.4 and 1.5, and were also statistically significant. Pupils´ aggressive behaviour in combination with low support from colleagues increased the risk of burnout, whereas the risk of burnout increased among those experiencing pupils´ aggressive behaviour in combination with receiving high support from the supervisor.

Conclusions

The results indicate associations between all three types of pupils´ aggressive behaviour and burnout among teachers in Danish primary and lower secondary schools. Stress explained only a minor part of the association between teachers’ perceptions of pupils’ aggressive behaviour and burnout in teachers, and the results regarding social support were conflicting. The results of this study emphasize the growing need for preventive initiatives directed towards pupils´ aggressive behaviour, and future research should focus on exploring in depth how to support and prevent burnout in teachers exposed to aggressive behaviour.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-022-12606-1.

Violence Against Teachers and Work Ability: A Cross-Sectional Study in Northeast Brazil

This study aimed to describe teacher work ability in relation to violence against teachers and certain sociodemographic and occupational features. A cross-sectional study investigated 525 kindergarten and elementary grade school teachers from Jaboatão dos Guararapes, Northeast Brazil. Information from each teacher was collected through a self-administered questionnaire. The main outcome was teacher reports about their current and future (in 2 years' time) physical and emotional work ability. The teachers were predominantly female, young, with heavy workloads and on low incomes. Teachers reported being victimized in the school by physical violence (22.9%), verbal violence (42.9%), theft or robbery (36.4%), aggression or threats with a firearm or a non-firearm weapon (knife, glass, etc.; 7.0%), or by some form of violence (58.4%). Teachers reported low physical (56.0%) and emotional (40.6%) current work ability. Low physical work ability was significantly associated with physical and verbal violence, theft and robbery, and some form of violence; low emotional work ability was associated with physical and verbal violence, aggression or threat with a weapon, and some form of violence. Expectation of low work ability in the future was reported by 42.9% of the teachers and was associated with higher education level, and physical violence, verbal violence, theft or robbery, aggression or threat with a weapon, and some form of violence. The association between violence and work ability was modified by education level. Subsequent control of confounding in the strata of education confirmed the associations between violence and low work ability. The physical, emotional, and future work ability of teachers was low and associated with school violence, indicating the need to promote a safer work environment inside the school and in society as a whole.

Recurrence of Violence Against Teachers: Two-Year Follow-Up Study

The objective of this study was to analyze whether the experience of violence by teachers in the school environment increases the risk of teachers suffering violence again within a 2-year period. This longitudinal study included 430 primary and secondary public school teachers from a city in the south of Brazil, with data collected at two time points: T1 (2012-2013) and T2 (2014-2015). The data were obtained via face-to-face interviews and the completion of a questionnaire. The forms of violence investigated included reports of insults from students, humiliation or embarrassment by colleagues or superiors, and threats and physical violence from any member of the school occurring in the 12 months prior to the study. McNemar's test and the Poisson regression with robust error variance were used in the analyses, and the relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were calculated. After 2 years, there was a reduction in violence reported by the teachers from 65.4% (T1) to 56.9% (T2) (p = .003). Teachers who suffered a certain form of violence had three times the risk of suffering that type of violence again. Those who reported three or four forms of violence at T1 had an RR of 2.23 of suffering any form of violence at T2 (95% CI [1.70, 2.93]) compared with those who did not report violence at T1. Psychological violence at T1 was not associated with physical violence at T2, nor was physical violence at T1 associated with psychological violence at T2. Despite the reduction in violence against teachers reported at T2, some forms of violence remained stable after 2 years. Suffering more forms of violence increases the risk of suffering any future violence.

Cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships between psychological violence and teacher burnout

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to identify cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships between psychological violence (PV) and burnout after two years of follow-up.

METHODS

This is a longitudinal study involving 430 public school teachers from a city in southern Brazil. PV was defined as insults by students, humiliation or embarrassment by colleagues or superiors or threats by any member of the school. Burnout was measured using the emotional exhaustion (EE) and depersonalization (DP) subscales of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey. Analyses were performed using structural equation models in R.

RESULTS

Younger age (β = - .167) and poor/fair relationship with students (β = .275) had a direct effect on PV. Temporary employment (β = - .111) and poor/fair perception of the number of students in the classroom (β = .124) had a direct effect on EE. Cross-sectionally, PV showed a direct effect at both T0 and T1 on EE (T0: β = .435; T1: β = .334) and on DP (T0: β = .332; T1: β = .325). Longitudinally, PV at T0 did not have a significant direct effect on burnout at T1. However, indirect effects of PV on EE (β = .459) and DP (β = .428) at T1 were observed.

CONCLUSIONS

The effect of PV on burnout occurs in a short period of time. However, the long-term effect should be considered because there is a cumulative burden of exposure to violence over time.

Job strain is prospectively associated with a lower frequency of fruit consumption in schoolteachers

OBJECTIVE

The current study aimed to analyse the prospective association between perceived work demand and changes in eating behaviours in schoolteachers.

DESIGN

This was a prospective cohort study with self-reported information obtained on the Demand Control Support Questionnaire and eating behaviours at baseline and after a 2-year follow-up. The analyses were performed using mixed-effects models adjusted for the main confounders.

SETTING

The setting consisted of elementary and secondary schools located in a large city in southern Brazil.

PARTICIPANTS

The participants were 502 schoolteachers (65·9 % females, median age of 42·7 years [interquartile range 34·2, 49·4]).

RESULTS

A total of 39·2 % of the schoolteachers were classified at baseline with job strain, 28·9 % with passive job, 12·2 % with active job and 19·7 % with low-strain job. In the fully adjusted models, compared with teachers who reported low-strain job, those with higher levels of job strain were more likely to reduce (coefficient = 0·064; 95 % CI 0·018, 0·109) and less likely to increase (coefficient = -0·066; 95 % CI -0·115, -0·016) their frequency of fruit consumption regardless of sociodemographic, lifestyle, health conditions and social support at work.

CONCLUSION

Job strain plays a relevant role in the frequency of fruit consumption over time in schoolteachers. The balance between demand and control at work must be considered in strategies for promoting healthy eating despite perceived social support.

Prospective association between burnout and road traffic accidents in teachers

We investigated whether burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced professional efficacy) is a risk factor for traffic accidents. A prospective cohort study was conducted with 509 school teachers. The teachers were interviewed in 2012-2013, and the Maslach Burnout Inventory was applied. After 2 years, the teachers were interviewed again to determine the occurrence of traffic accidents. Poisson regression models with robust variance were used to adjust the analyses. Relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) were calculated to assess changes in c-units in the scores of each Burnout dimension, with c equal to 1, 5 and 10 units. The incidence rate of road traffic accidents at follow-up was 10.8%. After adjustments for sex, age, high workload/exposure to the traffic environment, daily consumption of alcoholic beverages and the other dimensions of burnout, depersonalization was a risk factor for traffic accidents. For each 1- and 10-point increase in the depersonalization score, the risk increased by 8 and 119%, respectively. Emotional exhaustion was not associated with these accidents. Increases in the professional efficacy score increased the risk of traffic accidents. The association of depersonalization with future road traffic accidents reinforces the need for measures to improve teachers' work conditions to reduce burnout.