UNIVERSITY TEACHER AND PERCEIVED STRESS: BEHAVIORS RELATED TO HEALTH AND WORKING CONDITIONS

Abstract

In the educational field, the work demands to which university professors are submitted daily become factors prone to trigger behavioral changes of psychophysiological nature. In this perspective, stress can be one of the events that most trigger risk behaviors and the work environment, occasionally, becomes the main factor involved in the emergence of behavioral imbalances that directly impact productivity, effectiveness, and professional life. The purpose of this study was to correlate perceived stress with health-related behaviors and working conditions of university professors. This is a cross-sectional, descriptive observational study, with a quantitative approach, consisting of 45 professors from higher education courses at a private university in São Luís-MA. A questionnaire with sociodemographic data and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS 10) was used. The results pointed out that the perceived stress was higher among women and also that it is significantly and positively related to job satisfaction, because the higher the perception of stress, the higher the job dissatisfaction. Or the opposite, the lower the satisfaction, the more perceived stress. Thus, the work environment directly influences the teachers' teaching and quality of life when it is not associated with their dissatisfaction. Therefore, the results suggest the implementation of programs and actions to provide a less stressful work environment, as a way to prevent the mental illness of teachers.