Occupational Medicine Advance Access published online on July 5, 2007
Occupational Medicine, doi:10.1093/occmed/kqm055
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Prevalence and causes of self-reported work-related stress in head teachers
1 Adastral Health Ltd, Globe House, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8DN, UK
2 Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
3 Biostatistics Group, Division of Epidemiology and Health Sciences, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
Background Work-related stress (WRS) is the leading cause of occupational ill-health in the education sector in the UK. Headship is believed to be a stressful role although there is little current research into stress in head teachers. Changes in the education sector since the late 1980s have meant that the findings of many existing studies are outdated.
Aim To investigate prevalence and causes of self-reported, WRS in head teachers in West Sussex, UK.
Methods A cross-sectional study using postal questionnaire in a population of 290 head teachers and principals. The measuring instrument was a short stress evaluation tool (ASSET) plus additional questions derived from previous studies. Stress cases were defined as respondents who felt their work was ‘very or extremely stressful’.
Results Prevalence of self-reported, WRS was 43%. Using ASSET scoring, work overload and work-life imbalance were the key stressors. Females were significantly more stressed than males for a number of stressors including overload and control. Although there was some evidence that primary head teachers fared worse than their secondary counterparts, once the confounding effects of gender were included, there were few significant differences.
Conclusions The prevalence of self-reported stress in head teachers in West Sussex is significantly increased compared to recent studies of workers in the UK. The recurring theme in existing studies of workload as a main stressor is confirmed in the findings of this study. Gender and type of school does affect outcome and female head teachers have more reported stressors than their male colleagues.
Keywords Head teachers; stressors; work-related stress
Correspondence to: Samantha Phillips, Adastral Health Ltd, Globe House, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8DN, UK. Tel: +44 1243 782826; fax: +144 1243 782827; e-mail: sam.phillips{at}adastral.co.uk