Sense of coherence, occupational stressors, and mental health among Japanese high school teachers in Nagasaki prefecture: a multiple regression analysis

Abstract

Background International research has indicated that teachers have an increased risk of mental disorders and work-related stress, compared with those working in other fields. In Japan, the deterioration of teachers’ mental health has recently become a serious social issue. Teaching is a high-stress occupation, and job stress can affect teachers’ physical and mental health. This study aimed to determine how sense of coherence, job satisfaction, and workplace social support contribute to the mental health status of public and private high school teachers in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. Methods The analytic sample comprised 370 high school teachers from eight public and three private schools in Nagasaki Prefecture who answered an anonymous survey comprising the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), which is a measure of mental health status, and questions regarding sociodemographic characteristics, occupational stressors, workplace social support systems, job satisfaction, and sense of coherence. A multiple regression analysis was conducted to identify the predictors of mental health. Results The survey was sent to 681 people, of whom 370 responded and were included in the analysis (effective response rate: 54.3%). The analysis indicated that sense of coherence was the strongest predictor of mental health (β = −.391, p < .0001), followed by workload stressors (β = .260, p < .0001), low job control (β = .099, p = .021), and job satisfaction (β = −.088, p = .040). Conclusion The results suggest that a greater sense of coherence and job satisfaction are associated with greater mental health. Meanwhile, workload stressors and low job control undermined mental health status.

Association between student-teacher ratio and teachers’ working hours and workload stress: evidence from a nationwide survey in Japan

“…The history of research on teacher stress is long, and studies have been reported in many countries [ 2 , 25 , 26 ]. In Japan, significant correlations were found between workload and depressive symptoms [ 10 ], workload stress and mental health [ 11 ], and both quantitative and qualitative workload and chronic fatigue [ 14 ]. These studies indicated that Japanese school teachers experienced high levels of stress in the workplace, which was detrimental to their physical and mental health, but their results seemed difficult to generalize because they were based on a survey of teachers working in schools in geographically limited region or city.…”

“…In Japan, the percentage of school teachers taking leave due to mental illness among all teachers has increased more than fivefold from 0.11% in 1992 to 0.59% in 2018 [ 8 , 9 ]. Existing studies found significant association between occupational stress and mental health [ 10 , 11 ], long working hours and psychological distress [ 12 ], poor mental health and lower job satisfaction [ 13 ], and prolonged fatigue and both quantitative and qualitative workload [ 14 ], among school teachers in Japan. A recent large-scale survey conducted by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) found significant correlation between work hours of teachers and student-teacher ratios [ 15 ].…”

Optimized electroencephalogram and functional near-infrared spectroscopy-based mental workload detection method for practical applications

“…Mental workload has long been a factor of immense interest in designing and applying complex human–machine systems [ 1 ], and is increasingly recognized as a serious, worldwide public health concern. Only when the mental workload is in the appropriate range can high performance and operational reliability be maintained.…”

The Influence of Technology on Mental Well-Being of STEM Teachers at University Level: COVID-19 as a Stressor

“…In this sense, several studies indicated how stress or anxiety levels were higher than expected among teachers in the different educational levels [ 17 , 31 , 32 ]. This prevalence was represented as emotional tiredness, fatigue, headaches, sleep problems, eating or appetite alterations or disorders, irritability, exasperation, depressing feelings, or inability to focus [ 17 , 31 , 32 ]. One factor contributing to these emotional and mental issues is the technology or the information and communication technologies (ICTs), an external stressor [ 33 ].…”