Abstract
Purpose
In order to evaluate a manual-based group program for teachers aiming at strengthening mental health, we examined (1) whether the teachers interested in participating differ from their colleagues without interest and (2) whether there is evidence of subgroups benefiting more than others among those who participated.
Methods
Out of a basic sample of 949 schoolteachers, 337 teachers declared interest in a group program. All teachers were surveyed with the “General Health Questionnaire”, the “Maslach Burnout Inventory” and the “Effort Reward Imbalance Questionnaire”. In addition, participating teachers were screened with the “Symptom Checklist 27” T and χ2-tests were calculated to detect differences between those interested in the program and the remaining 612 teachers. Six factors were established and used for a regression analysis that identified specific parameters more or less correlating with health benefits of those who participated in the program.
Results
Findings showed that those declaring interest in the intervention displayed a higher degree of occupational stress according to all health parameters examined. Teachers interested in the program were significantly younger, more frequently female and single. The regression analysis showed that the baseline scores of the six health parameters were the strongest predictors for improvement. Worse scores before the beginning of the intervention correlated with a more positive effect.
Conclusions
Intervention programs aiming at alleviating the mental stress of teachers find the interest of those who need it most. More importantly, the latter are the ones who—at least if our program is applied—benefit best.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bakker AB, Van Emmerik H, van Riet P (2008) How job demands, resources, and burnout predict objective performance: a constructive replication. Anxiety Stress Coping 21:309–324. doi:10.1080/10615800801958637
Bauer J, Stamm A, Virnich K, Wissing K, Müller U, Wirsching M, Schaarschmidt U (2006) Correlation between burnout syndrome and psychological and psychosomatic symptoms among teachers. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 79:199–204
Bauer J, Unterbrink T, Hack A, Pfeifer R, Buhl-Griesshaber V, Müller U, Wesche H, Frommhold M, Seibt R, Scheuch K, Wirsching M (2007a) Working conditions, adverse events and mental health problems in a sample of 949 German teachers. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 80:442–449
Bauer J, Unterbrink T, Zimmermann L (2007b) Gesundheitsprophylaxe für Lehrkräfte, Manual für Lehrer-Coachinggruppen nach dem Freiburger Modell. In: Seibt R, Scheuch K (eds) Handlungsanleitungen zur Erhaltung und Förderung der Gesundheit von Lehrerinnen und Lehrern. Selbstverlag der Technischen Universität Dresden, Dresden
Bellingrath S, Hellhammer DH, Kudielka BM (2007) Dysregulations of the HPA-axis and increased allostatic load in job-related chronic stress: a link to burnout and exhaustion in school teachers? Psychosom Med 69:A109
Biondi M, Picardi A (1999) Psychological stress and neuroendocrine function in humans: the last two decades of research. Psychother Psychosom 68:114–150
Bowers T (2001) Teacher absenteeism and ill health retirement: a review. Camb J Educ 31:135–157
Brown J, Gilmour WH, Macdonald EB (2006) Ill health retirement in Scottish teachers: process, outcomes and re-employment. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 79:433–440
Büssing A, Perrar K (1992) Die Messung von Burnout. Untersuchung einer deutschen Fassung des Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI-D). Diagnostica 38:328–353
Derogatis LR (1977) SCL-90-R: administration, scoring and procedures manual I for the revised Version. Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine
Friedman IA (1991) High- and low-burnout schools: school culture aspects of teacher burnout. J Educ Res 84:325–333
Goldberg D, Williams P (1988) A user’s guide to the general health questionnaire. NFER-NELSON, Windsor
Grossi G, Perski A, Evengard B, Blomkvist V, Orth-Gomer K (2003) Physiological correlates of burnout among women. J Psychosom Res 55:309–316
Hardt J, Gerbershagen HU (2001) Cross-validation of the SCL-27: a short psychometric screening instrument for chronic pain patients. Eur J Pain 5:187–197
Hardt J, Egle UT, Kappis B, Hessel A, Brähler E (2004) Die Symptom-Checkliste SCL-27 - Ergebnisse einer deutschen Repräsentativbefragung. Psychother Psychosom Med Psychol 54(5):214–223
Hättinen M, Kinnunen U, Mäkikangas A, Kalimo R, Tolvanen A, Pekkonen M (2009) Burnout during a long-term rehabilitation: comparing low burnout, high burnout—benefited, and high burnout—not benefited trajectories. Anxiety Stress Coping 22(3):341–360
Jin P, Yeung AS, Tang TO, Low R (2008) Identifying teachers at risk in Hong Kong: psychosomatic symptoms and sources of stress. J Psychosom Res 65:357–362
Maguire M, O’Connell T (2007) Ill-health retirement of schoolteachers in the Republic of Ireland. Occup Med 57:191–193
Melamed S, Shirom A, Toker S, Berliner S, Shapira I (2006) Burnout and risk of cardiovascular disease: evidence, possible causal paths, and promising research directions. Psych Bull 132:327–353
Meulenbroek LF, Thomas G, Kooijman PG, de Jong F (2010) Biopsychosocial impact of the voice in relation to the psychological features in female student teachers. J Psychosom Res 68(4):379–384
Moher D, Schulz K, Altman D (2001) The CONSORT statement: revised recommendations for improving the quality of reports of parallel-group randomised trials. Lancet 357:1191–1194
Montgomery C, Rupp AA (2005) A meta-analysis for exploring the diverse causes and effects of stress in teachers. Canad J Educ 28:458–486
Ohlson CG, Soderfeldt M, Soderfeldt B, Jones I, Theorell T (2001) Stress markers in relation to job strain in human service organizations. Psychother Psychosom 70:268–275
Pithers RT, Soden R (1998) Scottish and Australian teacher stress and strain: a comparative study. Br J Educ Psychol 68:269–279
Rödel A, Siegrist J, Hessel A, Brähler E (2004) Fragebogen zur Messung beruflicher Gratifikationskrisen: psychometrische Testung an einer repräsentativen deutschen Stichprobe. Z Differ Diagn Psychol 25:227–238
Rose U, Zimmermann L, Pfeifer R, Unterbrink U, Bauer J (2010) Intention as an indicator for subjective need: a new pathway in need assessment. J Occup Med Toxicol 5:20
Schaarschmidt U (2004) Halbtagsjobber?. Beltz, Weinheim
Schmitz N, Kruse J, Tress W (1999) Psychometric properties of the General Health Questionaire (GHQ-12) in a German primary care sample. Acta Psychiatr Scand 100:462–468
Schwarzer R, Schmitz G, Tang C (2000) Teacher burnout in Hong Kong and Germany: a cross-cultural validation of the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Anxiety Stress Coping 13:309–327
Siegrist J (1996) Adverse health effects of high effort/low reward conditions. J Occup Health Psychol 1:27–41
Strauß B, Hartung H, Kächele H (2002) Geschlechtsspezifische Inanspruchnahme von Psychotherapie und Sozialer Arbeit. Geschlecht, Gesundheit und Krankheit. Huber, Göttingen
Tang CSK, Au WT, Schwarzer R, Schmitz G (2001) Mental health outcomes of job stress among Chinese teachers: role of stress resource factors and burnout. J Organ Behav 22:887–901
Travers C (2001) Stress in teaching. In: Dunham J (ed) Stress in the workplace: past, present and future. Whurr, London, pp 130–163
Unterbrink T, Hack A, Pfeifer R, Buhl-Grießhaber V, Müller U, Wesche U, Frommhold M, Seibt R, Scheuch K, Wirsching M, Bauer J (2007) Burnout and effort-reward-imbalance in a sample of 949 German teachers. Int Arch Occup Health 80:433–441
Unterbrink T, Zimmermann L, Pfeifer R, Wirsching M, Brähler E, Bauer J (2008) Parameters influencing health variables in a sample of 949 German teachers. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 82:117–123
Unterbrink T, Zimmermann L, Pfeifer U, Rose U, Joos A, Hartmann A, Wirsching M, Bauer J (2010) Improvement in school teachers’ Mental health by a manual-based psychological group program. Psychother Psychosom 79:262–264
Unterbrink T, Pfeifer R, Krippeit L, Zimmermann L, Rose U, Joos A, Hartmann A, Wirsching M, Bauer J (2012) Burnout and effort-reward-imbalance improvement for teachers by a manual-based group program. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 85(6):667–674
Vanhoudt I, Thomas G, Wellens W, Vertomme H, de Jong F (2008) The background biopsychosocial status of teachers with voice problems. J Psychosom Res 65:371–380
von Känel R, Bellingrath S, Kudielka B (2008) Association between burnout and circulating levels of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in schoolteachers. J Psychosom Res 65:51–59
von Känel R, Bellingrath S, Kudielka B (2009) Association of vital exhaustion and depressive symptoms with changes in fibrin D-dimer to acute psychosocial stress. J Psychosom Res 67:93–101
Wang ZM, Lan YJ, Li J, Wang MZ (2002) Study of the occupational stress of the teachers in primary and secondary school. Modern Prev Med 29:129–131
Weber A, Weltle D, Lederer P (2006) Ill health and early retirement among school principals in Bavaria. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 78:325–331
Wu S, Li J, Wang Z, Li H (2006) Intervention on occupational stress among teachers in the middle schools in China. Stress Health 22:329–336
Zolnierczyk-Zreda D (2005) An intervention to reduce work-related burnout in teachers. Int J Occup Saf Ergon 11:423–430
Zurlo MC, Pes D, Cooper CL (2007) Stress in teaching: a study of occupational stress and its determinants among Italian schoolteachers. Stress Health 23:231–241
Acknowledgments
This project was supported by a grant from the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin/BAuA), Berlin. We are grateful to Prof. Klaus Scheuch and Dr. Reingard Seibt (University of Dresden) who coordinated the “Lange Lehren” project. The authors would like to thank Siegfried Specker, Head of the Department of Education of the Regierungspraesidium Freiburg, for his valuable support. Special thanks go to the psychologists and psychotherapists who, after being trained and staying under our supervision, moderated the intervention groups (in alphabetical order): Dr. Eva Albermann, Dipl.-Psych. Petra Bischoff, StDir. Veronika Buhl-Grießhaber, Dr. Irmtraud Dieterle, Lotte Fehrle, Dipl.-Psych Dorothea Fritsch, Dipl.-Psych. Brigitte Frommhold, Dipl.-Psych. Hubert Haaser, Dipl.-Psych. Anna Hack, Dr. Angela Kantner-Rauch, Dr. Klaus Kuhn, cand. phil. Mateo Lorei, Dr. Ilse Meyhöfer, Dr. Herbert Müller-Franke, Dipl.-Psych Dagmar Riepe, Dr. Gotthard von Stackelberg.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Unterbrink, T., Pfeifer, R., Krippeit, L. et al. A manual-based group program to improve mental health: what kind of teachers are interested and who stands to benefit from this program?. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 87, 21–28 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-012-0832-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-012-0832-y