Psycho-physiological Stress Evaluation of School Teachers using Salivary Testosterone

Abstract

Abstract : We evaluated the psychophysiological stress of schoolteachers involved in “emotional labor” by assessing their immune substances and hormones in their saliva. Saliva collection was chosen because it is a noninvasive and nonstressful method. Participants were 28 male schoolteachers engaged at a primary and secondary school; no participant was under any prescription drugs. Salivary cortisol (COR), testosterone (TE), and secretory Immunoglobulin A (IgA) were assessed as biomarkers once between 3–7 pm. After saliva collection, participants were asked to complete a questionnaire. No correlation between COR and psychological stress was found. However, TE was positively correlated with the “depressive tendency” factors on the General Health Questionnaire 28 (r = 0.39, p < 0.05) and negatively correlated with “social support” on the Social Support Questionnaire 6 (r = -0.42, p < 0.05). Therefore, TE is suggested to be a promising biomarker for evaluating psychophysiological stress induced by emotional labor