Chirico Francesco, Sharma Manoj, Zaffina Salvatore, Magnavita Nicola
Post-graduate School in Occupational Health, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy.
Department of Behavioral and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Jackson State University, Jackson, MS, United States.
Front Psychol. 2020 Jan 21;10:2933. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02933. eCollection 2019.
Teaching is a stressful profession that exposes workers to the risk of burnout. Techniques involving higher mental functions, such as transcendental meditation and prayer, have been used in stress and burnout prevention programs. In this study, we report the results of an experience conducted in a group of teachers of a religious institute, in which prayer was used as a technique to prevent burnout.
Fifty teachers and support staff employed at a Catholic school of a Congregation of nuns volunteered for this study. They were randomized into two groups: prayer treatment ( = 25) or control group ( = 25). The treatment protocol was based on the combination of individual Christian prayer and a focus group of prayer-reflection. The participants received two 30 min training sessions a week over 2 months. Job satisfaction, well-being, and burnout symptoms (emotional exhaustion and depersonalization sub-scales) were measured at baseline and at follow-up (4 months) with the Italian versions of the Maslach Burnout Inventory validated for teaching and education sector, the General Health Questionnaire, and the Warr, Cook, and Wall's Job Satisfaction Scale.
At follow-up, a significant improvement of all outcome measures was observed. Emotional exhaustion (16.80-4.92, < 0.001), depersonalization (3.72-0.60, < 0.001) levels, and psychological impairment (10.08-2.04, < 0.001) were significantly decreased, and job satisfaction (45.96-77.00, < 0.001) was increased. The effect sizes (Glass' Δ) of the therapeutic interventions ranged from 0.53 (satisfaction level) to 2.87 (psychological health), suggesting moderate to large effects.
Prayer could be effective, no less than meditation and other spiritual or mind-body techniques, in contrasting the negative effects of occupational stress and preventing burnout among teachers and possibly other human service professionals.
教学是一项压力巨大的职业，从业者面临职业倦怠的风险。一些涉及高级心理功能的技巧，如超觉静坐和祈祷，已被应用于压力和职业倦怠预防项目中。在本研究中，我们报告了在一所宗教机构的教师群体中开展的一项实验结果，该实验将祈祷作为预防职业倦怠的一种技巧。
一所天主教修女会学校的50名教师和后勤人员自愿参与本研究。他们被随机分为两组：祈祷治疗组（n = 25）和对照组（n = 25）。治疗方案基于个人基督教祈祷与祈祷反思焦点小组的结合。参与者在2个月内每周接受两次30分钟的培训课程。使用针对教学和教育领域验证的意大利版马氏职业倦怠量表、一般健康问卷以及沃尔、库克和沃尔的工作满意度量表，在基线和随访（4个月）时测量工作满意度、幸福感和职业倦怠症状（情感耗竭和去个性化子量表）。
在随访时，所有结局指标均有显著改善。情感耗竭水平（16.80 - 4.92，P < 0.001）、去个性化水平（3.72 - 0.60，P < 0.001）和心理损伤（10.08 - 2.04，P < 0.001）显著降低，工作满意度（45.96 - 77.00，P < 0.001）提高。治疗干预的效应量（格拉斯Δ）范围为0.53（满意度水平）至2.87（心理健康），表明有中度至较大的效果。
祈祷在对抗职业压力的负面影响以及预防教师和可能其他人类服务专业人员的职业倦怠方面可能与冥想及其他精神或身心技巧同样有效。
