Studying Changes in Educators' Stress Physiology in the Context of a School-Based Intervention to Promote Educator Wellbeing

Teachers encounter high levels of occupational stress that can lead to burnout, poor teaching and attrition.  Teacher burnout can have downstream, deleterious effects on student learning (Jennings & Greenberg, 2009). There is need for research to understand the origins of teacher stress and how to reduce it in order to improve teacher wellbeing and performance in the classroom. 

Consistent exposure to stress can negatively impact long term health (Miller, Chen & Zhou, 2007) including immune, cardiovascular, metabolic and neurological functions (for a review see: McEwen, 1998). Specifically, higher waking cortisol levels and/or blunting of the cortisol awakening response (CAR, the difference between the morning concentration and 30 mins later) has been associated with chronic stress and burnout (Grossi et al., 2005; Chida & Steptoe, 2009).   Physiological measures of stress like cortisol may contribute to our understanding of teacher stress and their responsiveness to interventions designed to reduce burnout and promote wellbeing. 

In this randomized control trial, 64 educators from 2 middle schools in Pennsylvania participated in an evaluation of a 16 week, daily yoga and mindfulness program called the Comprehensive Approach to Learning Mindfulness (CALM). Online surveys, in person assessments and saliva collection occurred in the Fall before the intervention, Spring after the intervention and the following Fall as follow-up. This presentation will examine the feasibility and possible benefits of collecting physiological data in an intervention study about stress and wellbeing with teachers.

Preliminary results from ANCOVAS controlling for pretest CAR, the use of hormonal and steroidal medications, gender, and years teaching reveal a positive intervention main effect on the cortisol awakening response (CAR), F(1,54) = 5.88, p<.05.  The CARs of intervention participants remained consistent from the fall to the spring whereas the control group had higher levels of cortisol at waking and a more blunted awakening responses in the Spring. Additionally, within the  intervention group, this effect is more pronounced for those who participated in CALM two or more times a week (t(31)=2.14, p<.05) These findings may indicate that regular participation in CALM may have acted as a buffer to chronic stress that compounds over the school year.

Overall, this study demonstrated the feasibility of using salivary measures to assess teacher stress in a school setting.  The benefits of incorporating physiological measures of stress in addition to self-report in this study will be discussed.