Impact of the psychosocial aspects of work on the quality of life of teachers

Abstract

IntroductionThe labor force has undergone a restructuring process due to the new socio economic model arising from globalization, which has brought about structural changes based on capitalist practices 1 .This new worldwide demand has led to negative consequences, such as precarious working conditions, intensified professional activities, and increased exposure to health risk factors, which, in turn, has resulted in social exclusion and a progressive decline in health conditions 2 .Teachers have been increasingly presented with significant occupational health problems 3 . They have been assigned an increasing number of activities, which exceed those traditionally allocated to this profession. These activities are held mainly responsible for the success or failure of educational results 4 .The teaching profession is characterized by overcrowded classrooms, the presence of unhealthy factors and the structural inadequacy of the institutions. When added to the increased work load, these deficiencies may cause discomfort and dysfunction. They stem from the lack of rest breaks, a situation that contributes to high absenteeism and job abandonment 5 .The work environment and psychosocial factors have been considered largely responsible for the health problems observed in teachers 1 .Psychosocial aspects refer to the interaction between work environment, content and conditions and worker capacity, needs, culture, extra-work personal elements, which may, according to perception and experience, influence health, satisfaction, and work performance 6 .Therefore, the assessment of these aspects may be fundamental for the prevention of occupational diseases and in promoting the workers' health. The model developed by Karasek 7 , denominated Demand-Control, analyzes factors related to the psychosocial characteristics of work, considering occupational stress as a result of the differences between working conditions and the response capacity of workers involved in task performance and the level of control available to meet their demands.The aforementioned model focuses on two psychosocial dimensions of work: control over work and the psychological demand of the professional activities developed. Control corresponds to the use and development of skills, such as the need to learn new practices, repetition level, creativity, diversified tasks and the development of special individual skills. Psychological demands include requirements imposed on workers in the course of their activities. These include variables that measure pace, volume, time to perform tasks, and the existence of conflicting requests 8 .The combination of experiences in the higher and lower levels of these two dimensions results in different work characteristics represented by four categories as follows: low work demand (low psychological demand, high control over the work itself), active work (high demand and high control), passive work (low demand and low control) and high demand (high demand and low control). Some of these situations can be considered as potenti...

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