PREVALENCE, SOURCES, AND SYMPTOMS OF TEACHER STRESS AMONG PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS IN FLORIDA

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence, sources, and symptoms of teacher stress among public school teachers in Florida. Procedure. Stress was defined as a response syndrome of negative affects resulting from aspects of the teacher's job and mediated by the perception that the demands constitute a threat to self-esteem and by coping mechanisms activated to reduce the perceived threat. The instrument used in collecting the data for this study was a mail questionnaire, with a scale ranging from zero to four, for assessing the intensity of each item. The questionnaire consisted of biographical and school environmental characteristics, fifty possible sources of teacher stress, a general stress question, and sixteen possible symptoms of teacher stress. As a pilot study, the questionnaire was administered to a group of public school teachers in Palm Beach County for the purpose of examining each item for clarity. Items found to be ambiguous were revised or deleted. The 325 sample population was randomly selected from the Florida Teaching Profession/National Education Association membership. The mail questionnaire had a 78 percent response for a total of 248 respondents. The data were transformed to computer cards and submitted for statistical analysis through the Florida Atlantic University Computer Center, Boca Raton, Florida. Means, rank-order, T-tests, analysis of variance, and factor analysis were applied to the data for the purpose of determining the level of significance in deciding to reject or accept the research hypotheses at the .05 level. Conclusions and Recommendations. It is concluded from the results of the analysis that teacher stress is prevalent in Florida. Forty-one percent of the respondents reported being a teacher was either very stressful or extremely stressful. Self-reported teacher stress appeared to be similarly distributed for the biographical and school environmental characteristics. Pupil misbehavior accounted for the largest percentage of sources of stress with high means. The priority source of stress as perceived by the teachers was inadequate teaching salaries. Teachers, regardless of biographical or environmental characteristics, appear to share common perceptions concerning the sources and symptoms of teacher stress. Recommendations for reducing and/or dealing with stress are presented with suggestions ranging from inservice programs, a teacher social support system to administrative consistency and teacher bargaining unit concerns.