Health and Work Environment among Female and Male Swedish Elementary School Teachers—A Cross-Sectional Study

Maria Boström, Christina Björklund, Gunnar Bergström, Lotta Nybergh, Liselotte Schäfer Elinder, Kjerstin Stigmar, Charlotte Wåhlin, Irene Jensen and Lydia Kwak
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Maria Boström: Unit of Intervention and Implementation Research for worker health, Institute for Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm 17177, Sweden
Christina Björklund: Unit of Intervention and Implementation Research for worker health, Institute for Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm 17177, Sweden
Gunnar Bergström: Unit of Intervention and Implementation Research for worker health, Institute for Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm 17177, Sweden
Lotta Nybergh: Unit of Intervention and Implementation Research for worker health, Institute for Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm 17177, Sweden
Liselotte Schäfer Elinder: Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm 171 77, Sweden
Kjerstin Stigmar: Department of Health Sciences, Lund University, Lund 221 00, Sweden
Charlotte Wåhlin: Unit of Intervention and Implementation Research for worker health, Institute for Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm 17177, Sweden
Irene Jensen: Unit of Intervention and Implementation Research for worker health, Institute for Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm 17177, Sweden
Lydia Kwak: Unit of Intervention and Implementation Research for worker health, Institute for Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm 17177, Sweden

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 17, issue 1, 1-17

Abstract: Background and objectives: Changes in teachers’ work situation in Sweden since the 1990s may have contributed to an increase in common mental disorders (CMDs) and burnout. However, there is a lack of research in this field. The aim was to describe how Swedish elementary school teachers experience their health, organizational and social work environment, and the psychosocial safety climate at the workplace, and especially differences and similarities between female and male teachers. Materials and methods: Data were collected with the COPSOQ, OLBI, UWES and PSC-12 from 478 elementary teachers, 81.0% of them women, from twenty schools. The response rate was 96.4%. Results: Teachers reported relatively good general health but experienced high stress, high work pace and emotional demands, low influence at work and a poor psychosocial safety climate. These factors were especially prominent among female teachers. Both women and men experienced good development possibilities and high work engagement. Conclusions: The results of this study can help us to develop a more sustainable work environment for female and male teachers. A more sustainable work environment might attract more people to the profession and incentivize existing teachers to remain in the profession.

Keywords: organizational and social work environment; stress; common mental disorders; school; teachers; Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire; Psychosocial Safety Climate scale (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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