Stress in Greek Primary Schoolteachers Working Under Conditions of Financial Crisis

Abstract

Teachers come in daily contact with a number of students and colleagues and are likely to report high levels of job-related stress. This study aims to explore the effect of gender, age, years of teaching experience, teaching students with special educational needs and burnout on teacher stress. The participants were 384 Greek primary schoolteachers, aged 25 to 59 years old (mean age = 41 years and 4 months), 146 males (38%) and 238 females (62%). They completed the Questionnaire on Teacher Stress (Kyriacou & Sutcliffe, 1978) and the Maslach Burnout Inventory – Educators Survey – MBI-ES (Maslach, Jackson, & Leiter, 1996). It was found that Greek primary schoolteachers report low levels of stress and that their stress is predicted by burnout and teaching students with special educational needs. More specifically, teachers with higher levels of burnout and those who do not teach students with special educational needs report higher levels of stress.