Biopsychosocial impact of the voice in relation to the psychological features in female student teachers.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the study was to assess biopsychosocial impact of the voice in relation to the psychological features in female student teachers.

METHODS

This research was a cross-sectional study in 755 student teachers using general questionnaires, the Voice Handicap Inventory (VHI), Type D Scale-16, Symptom Check List (SCL-90), and Utrecht Coping List (UCL). Student teachers with a relative high score on the VHI (>75th percentile) and students with a relative low score (<25th percentile) were compared.

RESULTS

Type D student teachers had a 4x greater risk of a high VHI-score (OR 4.23) than the non-type-D group. The student teachers with relative high VHI scores scored significantly higher (P<.001) on the SCL-90 total and all subscales, compared to the student teachers with relative low VHI scores. Furthermore, the students with a relative high VHI score had significant high scores on the subscales passive attitude (P<.001), palliative reactions (P<.001), avoidance and a waiting attitude (P<.001), and expression of emotions (P=.003) of the UCL.

CONCLUSION

This study showed that a relative high biopsychosocial impact of the voice is related to the personality trait Type D, psychosomatic well-being and coping strategies in female student teachers. These features should be implemented in screening and training programs for students for a voice demanding profession. The students have to be prepared to cope with psychological, physical and vocal demands of the teaching profession. The speech therapist (of the vocational university) has to be aware of an important role in coaching the students into a more active coping attitude.