Longitudinal study of the feasibility of using ecological momentary assessment to study teacher stress: Objective and self-reported measures.

Abstract

There is a lack of comprehensive research on Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) feasibility to study occupational stress, especially its long-term sustainability. EMA application in education contexts has also been sparse. This study investigated the feasibility of using EMA to study teacher stress over 2 years using both objective compliance data and a self-reported feasibility survey. It also examined the influence of individual and school factors on EMA feasibility. Participants were 202 sixth through eighth grade teachers from 22 urban middle schools in the southern United States. EMA was implemented via an iPod-based Teacher Stress Diary (TSD). Teachers recorded demands, stress responses, and resources during 12 days (6 waves) over 2 years. Feasibility was assessed via compliance data generated by the TSD (e.g., entry completion) and an EMA Feasibility Survey of self-reported user-friendliness and EMA interference. The results showed high compliance regarding entry and item completion, and completion time, which was sustained over time. User-friendliness was appraised as very high and EMA interference as low. Initial difficulties regarding timing and length of assessments were addressed via EMA method refinement, resulting in improved feasibility. Teachers' ethnicity, age, marital status, grade/course taught, class size, class load, and daily workload impacted feasibility. The results supported the feasibility of using EMA to study work stress longitudinally and the value of continued feasibility monitoring. They also support EMA use to study teacher stress and inform EMA implementation in schools. Some teacher and school factors need to be taken into consideration when deciding on EMA implementation in education contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record

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“…These results are congruent with the ones found by Renshaw, Long, and Cook (2015), which reveal that the higher the age the bigger the emotional exhaustion. Similar results were found by McIntyre et al (2015), who refer that younger teachers showed higher stress levels than the older ones. Our results indicate no significant differences between the teachers aged 26-44 years, who present higher medium levels in all PsyCap dimensions.…”

“…Nevertheless, this imbalance may emerge because the situation truly requires excessively from the individual. Several studies (e.g., McIntyre et al, 2015;Tomioka, Morita, Saeki, Okamoto, & Kurumatani, 2011) state that not only stress has a direct effect but it also has an indirect effect on depression and generates particular psychological responses. …”

Protocol of the STRess at Work (STRAW) Project: How to Disentangle Day-to-Day Occupational Stress among Academics Based on EMA, Physiological Data, and Smartphone Sensor and Usage Data

“…Participants also always had the option to snooze the notification: if they dismissed it (swiped it away), it reappeared after 15 min. Previous research has shown that such a snooze function generating reminder notifications increases participant adherence [12]. As an additional alert, if a notification was waiting, it appeared as a heads-up notification (in a floating window) on each smartphone unlock.…”

“…Data are collected repeatedly over a certain period (often several days) and, more recently, through digital platforms like smartphone applications [9]. Several recent studies have shown the feasibility of using an EMA approach to investigate work stress experiences [10][11][12]. There are three main benefits to it compared to traditional epidemiological methods.…”

Stress and Sensitization in Chronic Pain

“…Because stress is part of life and cannot always be prevented, measuring stress-vulnerability factors (p.182) can also be useful in order to identify individuals at risk. For example, investigators may screen for neuroticism, hyper-vigilance, worrying, fearavoidance, and catastrophizing (Evers, Kraaimaat, Geenen, Jacobs, & Bijlsma, 2003;Evers, Gieler, Hasenbring, & Van Middendorp, 2014;Van Middendorp & Evers, 2016 To gain insight into the number, severity, and consequences of daily stressors, ecological momentary assessment (EMA) procedures can be used to measure acute stress (and potential consequences such as pain) levels by means of (electronic) diaries over a specific period of time, varying from several days up to a year (McIntyre et al, 2016;Shiffman, Stone, & Hufford, 2008). Technological advances such as EMA allow investigators to gauge specific thoughts, actions, and emotions that might provide detailed insight into the stress experience and its consequences.…”