La Marca Roberto, Schneider Sandra, Jenni Gabriel, Kühne Fabienne, Holtforth Martin Grosse, Wettstein Alexander
Department of Research and Development, University of Teacher Education Bern, Bern, Switzerland; Clinica Holistica Engiadina, Centre for Stress-Related Disorders, Susch, Switzerland; Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Department of Research and Development, University of Teacher Education Bern, Bern, Switzerland; Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Department of Psychology, University of Bern, Switzerland.
Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2023 Aug;154:106291. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2023.106291. Epub 2023 May 12.
Challenging interactions are the main source of teacher' stress in the classroom. We investigated the association of chronic stress and characteristics of teacher-student interactions with teachers' Hair Cortisol Concentration (HCC). Forty-one teachers (27 women; M = 39.65 ± 12.14 years; M = 23.15 ± 3.99 lessons per week; grade: elementary, secondary, high, and vocational school teachers) participated in the present study, with participation lasting over the length of one year. HCC was assessed from a 3 cm hair segment near the scalp. Self-reported chronic stress in the last three months was further assessed using the 'Trier Inventory for Chronic Stress' (TICS). Additionally, four consecutive, same-day lectures of each teacher were videotaped and coded offline in an event sampling procedure by trained external observers. The videos were analyzed for two stressors, i.e., classroom disruptions and total student aggression, as well as two resources, i.e., teacher-student relationship and classroom management. Overall, hair samples were collected M = 120.34 days (SD = 84.39) after the distribution of the questionnaires, and M = 67.63 days (SD = 18.40) prior to the observations. Lesson number, classroom disruptions, as well as total student aggression were all significantly positively correlated with HCC. In addition, both teacher-student relationship and classroom management were significantly negatively related to HCC. With regard to self-rated chronic stress, only the TICS subscale 'Pressure to perform' was positively related to HCC. Exploratory moderation analyses revealed that an increasingly good, observed teacher-student relationship buffered the positive association between lesson number and HCC. Our findings show significant associations between HCC and mainly objectively assessable stress, supporting HCC as a biological indicator of chronic stress. In this association, a good relationship between teachers and students acts as a buffer. While the findings underline the importance of examining objective and behavioral data for better understanding the psychobiology of stress, they also support the importance of boostering teachers' (social) resources to increase their overall resilience.
具有挑战性的互动是课堂上教师压力的主要来源。我们调查了慢性压力以及师生互动特征与教师头发皮质醇浓度（HCC）之间的关联。41名教师（27名女性；平均年龄M = 39.65 ± 12.14岁；每周授课节数M = 23.15 ± 3.99节；年级：小学、初中、高中和职业学校教师）参与了本研究，参与时间持续一年。HCC是从靠近头皮的3厘米头发段进行评估的。使用“特里尔慢性压力量表”（TICS）进一步评估过去三个月自我报告的慢性压力。此外，由训练有素的外部观察者通过事件抽样程序对每位教师连续四天的同一堂课进行录像，并在离线状态下进行编码。对视频分析了两种压力源，即课堂干扰和学生总体攻击行为，以及两种资源，即师生关系和课堂管理。总体而言，在问卷分发后M = 120.34天（标准差SD = 84.39）采集头发样本，在观察前M = 67.63天（标准差SD = 18.40）采集。授课节数、课堂干扰以及学生总体攻击行为均与HCC显著正相关。此外，师生关系和课堂管理均与HCC显著负相关。关于自我评定的慢性压力，只有TICS子量表“表现压力”与HCC呈正相关。探索性调节分析表明，观察到的师生关系越来越好，缓冲了授课节数与HCC之间的正相关。我们的研究结果表明，HCC与主要可客观评估的压力之间存在显著关联，支持HCC作为慢性压力的生物学指标。在这种关联中，师生之间的良好关系起到了缓冲作用。虽然研究结果强调了检查客观和行为数据对于更好地理解压力心理生物学的重要性，但它们也支持了增强教师（社会）资源以提高其整体恢复力的重要性。
