Job Stress among Primary and Secondary Schoolteachers

Abstract

The relationship between job-related stress and individual ill-being was explored in a random probability sample of 200 public schoolteachers. The responses of these teachers were used to (1) test the hypothesis that stress is positively related to personal strain; (2) explore the theoretically derived stress categories of role demands, instructional problems, and interpersonal relations as predictors of individual strain; and (3) identify individual stressors within these categories that are predictors of strain. The results indicate that teacher stress is related to strain and that role demands are the most important predictor of strain, followed by instructional problems and then by interpersonal relations. In addition, structural role conflict, interrole conflict, role overload, student discipline, and interpersonal conflict were identified as individual predictors of strain.