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Endocrine and Mood Responses to two Working Days in Female Teachers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 May 2014

Miguel Angel Serrano ,
Luís Moya-Albiol  and
Alicia Salvador
Miguel Angel Serrano*
Affiliation:
Universitat de Valencia (Spain)
Luís Moya-Albiol
Affiliation:
Universitat de Valencia (Spain)
Alicia Salvador
Affiliation:
Universitat de Valencia (Spain)
*
*Correspondence concerning this articleshould be addressed to Miguel A. Serrano Rosa. Departamento dePsicobiología. Facultad de Psicología. Universitat deValència. Avda. Blasco Ibáñez, 21. 46010.Valencia (Spain). Phone: +34–963983456. E-mail: maserrar@uv.es
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Abstract

Currently, a considerable amount of work stress is present in school teachers,one of the occupational groups with the highest levels of job strain andburnout. As chronic stress produces significant modifications in emotionaladjustment and neuroendocrine functioning, we aimed to investigate the role ofthese work stress constructs in the endocrine and mood responses of a group offemale teachers during two working days (WD) at different moments in theacademic year. We studied mood as well as levels of cortisol and testosterone,representative of a predominant catabolic or anabolic balance. Our resultsshowed that higher “control” was associated with higherpositive mood (p = .028 on WD1 andp = .057 on WD2) and salivary testosterone (Tsal)(p = .022 on WD1), whereas“demands” and “total job strain”were related to negative mood (p = .011 andp = .015, respectively). Participants withhigher scores on “total burnout” and “emotionalexhaustion” also had higher negative mood (p< .05 in all cases). Depersonalization correlated positively withnegative mood (p = .019 and p= .006 on WD1 and WD2, respectively). Finally, personalaccomplishment showed an inverse relationship with negative mood(p = .038 on WD2). These results are useful for jobrisk prevention and interventions that should focus on the control dimension ofthe job strain questionnaire and on personal accomplishment from the burnoutscale.

Keywords

work stresscortisoltestosteronemoodteachers
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 17 , 2014 , E25
Copyright
Copyright © Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid 2014 

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