Docência e exaustão emocional

Abstract

An epidemiological cross-sectional study among the 808 teachers from Vitória da Conquista, State of Bahia, Brazil, revealed that most of them complained of mental tiredness (70,1%) and nervousness (49,2%). Several risk factors were statistically associated with mental tiredness and nervousness: age ≥ 27 years, being female, having children, having secondary education, teaching for ≥ 5 years, stable job, working in urban areas, weekly work hours e"35 hours, income ≥ BRL 360 (± USD 185), medium/high domestic overload, having no leisure activity, high psychological demand at work and low social support. According to Karasek's demand-control model, teachers' work was classified in the "low strain" (40.3%) and "active work" (39.7%) quadrants, both with high control of activities by teachers. Teachers with "high strain" and "active work" presented higher prevalence of mental tiredness and of nervousness than those with "low strain" jobs. © 2006 CEDES.