Teachers’ mental health and illness: study in burnout and quality of life

Abstract

From the historical trajectory of the teaching career in Brazil, it is possible to perceive that the teaching profession is inserted in a context of deep contradictions: on the one hand, the teaching work is protected by laws intended to guarantee its recognition and the adequate conditions for its exercise; on the other, it is a demanding and complex work, which does not always have the working conditions guaranteed. The objective of the present study was to identify aspects related to the mental health and illness of teachers from private and public schools in the state of Bahia. Sixty teachers participated in the study, most of them female (83.3%) and post-graduate (69.5%). It is a quantitative cross-sectional study. The research used validated Burnout and Life Quality at Work (LQW) scales for the Brazilian context. The analysis procedures involved descriptive and inferential statistics. The results indicated that 35% of the participants expressed the presence of Burnout Syndrome. Regarding the analysis of teachers' LQW, it was obtained that the general average was 3.16 (SD = 0.66), which can be considered as a moderate level. The joint analysis of the Burnout and LQW levels allowed the finding that teachers who do not present Burnout syndrome have a tendency to present better LQW. Such findings reveal the interdependence of both phenomena. It is believed that the present research brings results that are able to contribute with future interventions carried out with the teachers of public and private organizations.