Exploring Diurnal Cortisol Rhythms of Kindergarten Teachers in Kosovo and Ukraine

• Published in: American journal of community psychology Vol. 63; no. 3-4; pp. 286 - 297
• Main Authors: Suchodoletz, Antje, Rojas, Natalia M., Nadyukova, Iryna, Larsen, Ross A. A., Uka, Fitim
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Blackwell Science Ltd 01.06.2019
• Subjects: Adult; Circadian Rhythm; Developed Countries; Economic conditions; Educational attainment; Educational Status; Female; Hormones; Humans; Hydrocortisone - metabolism; Kindergarten; Kindergarten teachers; Kosovo - epidemiology; Latent Class Analysis; Low income groups; Low‐resource context; Middle Aged; Poverty - statistics & numerical data; Saliva - chemistry; Salivary cortisol; School environment; School Teachers - psychology; Stress; Stress, Psychological - metabolism; Stress, Psychological - psychology; Teachers; Teachers’ stress; Time Factors; Tobacco Use - epidemiology; Ukraine - epidemiology; Work environment; Working conditions; Kosovo; Ukraine; Kindergarten; Low-resource context; Teachers’ stress; Salivary cortisol
• ISSN: 0091-0562; 1573-2770
• DOI: 10.1002/ajcp.12308

Teachers’ stress is a dynamic combination of the individual teacher's characteristics and characteristics of the classroom and school environment. To date, there are limited studies on teachers’ stress in the context of lower‐middle‐income countries (LMICs), where working conditions as well as general political and economic circumstances might pose a considerable threat for teachers’ well‐being. This study explores whether certain combinations of individual and environmental experiences of teachers in LMICs may result in stress, assessed as patterns of diurnal cortisol rhythm. Participants were kindergarten teachers in Kosovo and Ukraine, two LMICs in Europe. Latent Profile Analysis identified three subgroups of teachers that significantly differed on teachers’ education and experience. Preliminary results of Latent Growth Modeling suggested differences between profiles in baseline waking cortisol and patterns of diurnal decline. Teachers in the profile that was characterized by the longest experience working in the field but the lowest level of education showed blunted cortisol in the morning and a flatter slope; a pattern that could indicate a maladaptive cortisol response. Future directions for studying stress processes among teachers in LMICs and implications for policy and practice on how to support teacher well‐being in low‐resource contexts are discussed. Highlights Teachers’ stress was investigated in the context of lower‐middle‐income countries (LMICs). Explores whether certain combinations of experiences might make teachers more prone to stress. Finds differences between groups of teachers in waking cortisol and patterns of diurnal decline. Results may lead to new hypotheses on stress processes among teachers in LMICs.