Teachers on the margins: How low-income public schools burden our teachers

BACKGROUND: Teachers experience high work-related stress, which can lead to missed workdays and lower quality of life. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this exploratory pilot study was to assess occupational and environmental stressors in public school districts by income level to examine the influence these stressors have on teachers perceived stress and biological stress response. METHODS: Fifty-nine teachers were recruited from four school districts in Michigan (three low-income and one high-income). Participants completed a self-administered survey on teaching stressors, health, and demographics. Stress response was measured through blood pressure, heart rate, and salivary cortisol. Six salivary cortisol measurements were collected for each participant; three in the afternoon and three in the evening. Each teacher’s classroom and school underwent an environmental assessment on quality and proximity to environmental hazards. RESULTS: Teachers at low-income school districts had significantly higher afternoon cortisol levels, lower self-reported health, higher body mass index, higher perceived teaching stressors, and worked at schools within one km of a greater number of environmentally-contaminated sites, in comparison to their high-income school district counterparts. CONCLUSIONS: This research aims to inform future interventions that could lessen occupational and environmental stressors for teachers, improve teacher health outcomes and retention, and impact student success rates.

Teacher Efficacy, Collective Self-Esteem, and Organizational Commitment of Childcare Teachers: A Moderated Mediation Model of Social Support

This study explored the moderated mediation model from the viewpoint of whether the job resource of social support can reinforce relationships among teacher efficacy, collective self-esteem, and organizational commitment based on the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model. A sample of 212 childcare teachers completed a self-report battery that included measures of teacher efficacy, collective self-esteem, organizational commitment, and social support. The results indicated that collective self-esteem partially mediated the relationship between teacher efficacy and organizational commitment. The findings also demonstrated that teacher efficacy translated into a higher organizational commitment among teachers that perceive relatively higher degrees of social support in both the indirect effect through collective self-esteem and the direct effect without collective self-esteem. The study highlights the need to establish public childcare policies that are conducive to increasing social support for teachers. Based on these results, the benefits of understanding this moderated mediation path, the limitations of the study, and future research directions are discussed.

Intercorrelation between Immunological Biomarkers and Job Stress Indicators among Female Nurses: A 9-Month Longitudinal Study

Some immunological biomarkers have been reported to be associated with job-related stress. This study was conducted to explore the intercorrelation between the psychosocial components of job stress and various immunological biomarkers among female nurses. To assess monthly and weekly job stress, 41 nurses have repeatedly completed questionnaires such as the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health General Job Stress Questionnaire, the profile of mood states short version and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale. Using flow cytometry and radioimmunoassay, the number of white blood cells, lymphocytic proliferation to mitogens, and toxoid were measured. Moreover, levels of hydrocortisol, interleukin-β, interferon-γ, and tumor necrosis factor-α and salivary immunoglobulin A were evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. When the Pearson correlation coefficients between job stress and immunological biomarkers were estimated after adjusting for age and smoking status, “Clashes: conflict at work” was significantly related to the number of CD4 cells (r = 0.36, p-value <0.05), CD4 to CD8 ratio (0.35; <0.05), response to concanavalin A (0.42; <0.05), and phytohemagglutinin (0.35; <0.05). Additionally, the level of hydrocortisol was significantly related to seven psychosocial measures; i.e., role conflict (−0.47; <0.01), role ambiguity (−0.39; <0.05), clashes at work (−0.38; <0.05), control and influence at work (0.53; <0.01), task control (0.55; <0.001), resources at work (0.35; <0.05), and skill underutilization (0.43; <0.05). The results indicate that (1) the psychosocial job stress is associated with the levels of some immunological biomarkers in nurses; and in particular, (2) hydrocortisol shows a remarkable relationship with diverse job stress indicators.

Cohort study on clustering of lifestyle risk factors and understanding its association with stress on health and wellbeing among school teachers in Malaysia (CLUSTer)--a study protocol

Background

The study on Clustering of Lifestyle risk factors and Understanding its association with Stress on health and wellbeing among school Teachers in Malaysia (CLUSTer) is a prospective cohort study which aims to extensively study teachers in Malaysia with respect to clustering of lifestyle risk factors and stress, and subsequently, to follow-up the population for important health outcomes.

Method/design

This study is being conducted in six states within Peninsular Malaysia. From each state, schools from each district are randomly selected and invited to participate in the study. Once the schools agree to participate, all teachers who fulfilled the inclusion criteria are invited to participate. Data collection includes a questionnaire survey and health assessment. Information collected in the questionnaire includes socio-demographic characteristics, participants’ medical history and family history of chronic diseases, teaching characteristics and burden, questions on smoking, alcohol consumption and physical activities (IPAQ); a food frequency questionnaire, the job content questionnaire (JCQ); depression, anxiety and stress scale (DASS21); health related quality of life (SF12-V2); Voice Handicap Index 10 on voice disorder, questions on chronic pain, sleep duration and obstetric history for female participants. Following blood drawn for predefined clinical tests, additional blood and urine specimens are collected and stored for future analysis. Active follow up of exposure and health outcomes will be carried out every two years via telephone or face to face contact. Data collection started in March 2013 and as of the end of March 2014 has been completed for four states: Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Melaka and Penang. Approximately 6580 participants have been recruited. The first round of data collection and blood sampling is expected to be completed by the end of 2014 with an expected 10,000 participants recruited.

Discussion

Our study will provide a good basis for exploring the clustering of lifestyle risk factors and stress and its association with major chronic medical conditions such as obesity, hypertension, impaired glucose tolerance, diabetes mellitus, coronary heart diseases, kidney failure and cancers among teachers.

Potential Contribution of Work-Related Psychosocial Stress to the Development of Cardiovascular Disease and Type II Diabetes: A Brief Review

Two of the major causes of death worldwide are cardiovascular disease and Type II diabetes. Although death due to these diseases is assessed separately, the physiological process that is attributed to the development of cardiovascular disease can be linked to the development of Type II diabetes and the impact that this disease has on the cardiovascular system. Physiological, genetic, and personal factors contribute to the development of both these disorders. It has also been hypothesized that work-related stress may contribute to the development of Type II diabetes and cardiovascular disease. This review summarizes some of the studies examining the role of work-related stress on the development of these chronic disorders. Because women may be more susceptible to the physiological effects of work-related stress, the papers cited in this review focus on studies that examined the difference in responses of men or women to work-related stress or on studies that focused on the effects of stress on women alone. Based on the papers summarized, it is concluded that (1) work-related stress may directly contribute to the development of cardiovascular disease by inducing increases in blood pressure and changes in heart rate that have negative consequences on functioning of the cardiovascular system; (2) workers reporting increased levels of stress may display an increased risk of Type II diabetes because they adopt poor health habits (ie, increased level of smoking, inactivity etc), which in turn contribute to the development of cardiovascular problems; and (3) women in high demand and low-control occupations report an increased level of stress at work, and thus may be at a greater risk of negative health consequences.

Increased salivary immunoglobulin A and reduced α-amylase activity in whole saliva from spastic cerebral palsy individuals

BACKGROUND

Salivary immunoglobulin A (SIgA) together with innate defenses such as α-amylase, provides the 'first line of defense' against pathogens present at mucosal surfaces. This study aimed to evaluate salivary α-amylase and immunoglobulin A (IgA) in whole saliva of spastic cerebral palsy (CP) individuals.

METHODS

Whole saliva was collected from 22 CP and 24 sibling volunteers with no neurological damage control groups (CG) (aged 7-14 years). The salivary flow rate, total protein and SIgA concentrations, and α-amylase activity were determined.

RESULTS

The CP group presented higher salivary flow rate (35%) and lower total protein concentration (18%) compared with the CG (P ≤ 0.05). CPG had higher absolute (68%, μg SIgA/ml) and relative (55%, μg SIgA/mg prot and 108%, μg SIgA/min) concentrations of IgA compared with the CG (P ≤ 0.05). CPG had lower relative α-amylase activity (15% mg malt/mg prot and 33%, mg malt/min) compared with the CG (P ≤ 0.05).

CONCLUSION

This study concluded that CP individuals presented alterations in the profile of salivary proteins involved in the defense system of the oral cavity.

Prevalence and associated factors of stress in the Malaysian Police Force

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to determine the prevalence of stress and the associated socio-demographic and work factors among police personnel in Metropolitan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

METHOD

A cross-sectional study was conducted in two randomly selected police districts in Kuala Lumpur from 2009 to 2011. A total of 579 police officers from 11 police stations and two headquarters participated in this study. The 21-item Depression, Anxiety and Stress questionnaire was used. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were carried out to examine the effect of socio-demographic and work factors on stress.

RESULTS

The overall prevalence of stress was 38.8% (95% CI 34.2, 43.6) with 5.9% (3.9, 8.8), 14.9% (11.6, 18.8) and 18.0% (14.5, 22.2) for severe, moderate and mild stress, respectively. Inspectors were more likely to suffer from severe stress (aOR 10.68, 95% CI 3.51, 32.53) compared to junior officers. Those who complained that their salaries were not commensurate with their jobs were more likely to suffer from moderate levels of stress (aOR 2.73, 95% CI 1.43, 5.22) compared to those who were happy with their salaries.

CONCLUSIONS

This study strengthens findings that police job is stressful. Special attention needs to be paid to Inspector-level ranks and the remuneration structure of police officers to address this issue.

Psychosocial job stress and immunity: a systematic review

The purpose of this review was to provide current knowledge about the possible association between psychosocial job stress and immune parameters in blood, saliva, and urine. Using bibliographic databases (PubMed, PsychINFO, Web of Science, Medline) and the snowball method, 56 studies were found. In general, exposure to psychosocial job stress (high job demands, low job control, high job strain, job dissatisfaction, high effort-reward imbalance, overcommitment, burnout, unemployment, organizational downsizing, economic recession) had a measurable impact on immune parameters (reduced NK cell activity, NK and T cell subsets, CD4+/CD8+ ratio, and increased inflammatory markers). The evidence supports that psychosocial job stresses are related to disrupted immune responses but further research is needed to demonstrate cause-effect relationships.