Early Childhood Education Teacher Psychophysiology and Teacher Stress: Prior Findings, Current Studies, and Future Directions

• Published in: Psychoneuroendocrinology 2023-07, Vol.153, p.106134, Article 106134
• Main Authors: McGee, Andrew (Drew), Wiltshire, Cynthia, Hatton-Bowers, Holly
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0306-4530; 1873-3360
• DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2023.106134

Although teaching can be a rewarding profession, national data suggest that teaching is highly stressful, and chronic stress is related to adverse health outcomes (Harmsen et al., 2018; Phillips et al., 2016; von Haaren-Mack et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2019). Teacher stress presents unique challenges as teaching is a dynamic combination of individual characteristics and school and classroom environments, setting the stage for young children's learning and development. Previously identified sources of stress for teachers include high workload, a lack of professional support or development, lack of autonomy, student behavior problems, low compensation, and poor working conditions (Bassok et al., 2021; Scheuch et al., 2015; von Haaren-Mack et al., 2020). In addition, teachers are broadly underfunded, overworked, and undertrained, and teacher stress is characterized by high burnout, exhaustion, and turnover compared to other professions (Bassok et al., 2021; Faraci, 2018; Phillips et al., 2016). COVID-19 specific issues include increased role ambiguity and blurring of professional and private lives, increased exhaustion and isolation, lack of appropriate training for distance learning, and increased workload (Jakubowski & Sitko-Dominik, 2021; Petrakova et al., 2021; Pressley, 2021; Pressley & Ha, 2021). Various studies across the globe found that at the height of the pandemic, teachers experienced increased levels of stress and psychopathology, such as anxiety and depression, and teacher's health and well-being consequently suffered (Crawford et al., 2021; Jakubowski & Sitko-Dominik, 2021; Petrakova et al., 2021; Pressley, 2021; Pressley & Ha, 2021; Randall et al., 2021; Santamaría et al., 2021). Recent data shows that more than one-third of teachers leave the field each year, and most teachers who leave are not teaching elsewhere the following year (Bassok et al., 2021; Phillips et al., 2016; Ronfeldt et al., 2013). These working conditions and stress sources considerably influence teacher and child well-being both directly and indirectly, such as poor health, lower-quality instruction, and teacher absenteeism and turnover (Phillips et al., 2016; Sandilos et al., 2018; Siegrist & Li, 2017). A better understanding of physiological stress experienced by educators may help governments, non-profit organizations, and healthcare providers mitigate adverse health outcomes, improve education quality, and better understand the interaction of teacher characteristics and