Job strain and sense of coherence: Associations with stress-related outcomes among teachers.

Background: Teachers constitute an occupational group experiencing high levels of stress and with high sick-leave rates. Therefore, examining potentially protective factors is important. While prior research has mainly focused on the link between teachers' own experiences of their work environment and stress-related outcomes, it is also possible that colleagues' perception of the work environment and their possibilities for dealing with work-related stress contribute to influencing individual teachers' stress. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate how teachers' reports of high job strain (i.e. high demands and low control) and sense of coherence (SOC), as well as the concentration of colleagues reporting high strain and high SOC, were associated with perceived stress and depressed mood. Methods: The data were derived from the Stockholm Teacher Survey, with information from two cross-sectional web surveys performed in 2014 and in 2016 (N=2732 teachers in 205 school units). Two-level random intercept linear regression models were performed. Results: High job strain at the individual level was associated with higher levels of perceived stress and depressed mood, but less so for individuals with high SOC. Furthermore, a greater proportion of colleagues reporting high SOC was associated with lower levels of perceived stress and depressed mood at the individual level. Conclusions: High SOC may be protective against work-related stress among teachers. Additionally, the proportion of colleagues reporting high SOC was related to less individual stress, suggesting a protective effect of school-level collective SOC.

The Association between Parental Support and Adolescents' Psychological Complaints: The Mediating Role of a Good School Climate.

Parental support is an important factor affecting young people's mental well-being, but the school climate also plays an important role. However, few studies have previously examined whether the school climate serves as a mediator for adolescents' mental health problems. This study aimed to investigate the association between parental support and students' psychological complaints, while also examining the possible mediating role that a good school climate may have. Data derives from 5783 senior-level students (age 15-16) distributed over 152 school units in Stockholm municipality. Regression linear analysis was used for the analysis and Baron and Kenny's four-step mediation model has been applied. Sobel's test was conducted in order to test the significance of the mediation effect. The results show that there is a significant negative association between parental support and students' psychological complaints, and that school climate has a mediating role in this association. It can be concluded that school climate has a partly mediating role in the association between parental support and students' psychological complaints. Therefore, it seems important to develop the school climate in order to strengthen this source of support to reduce mental health problems among adolescents.

School Ethos and Recurring Sickness Absence: A Multilevel Study of Ninth-Grade Students in Stockholm.

School absence has been identified as a severe problem in Sweden, both at the individual level and for society as a whole. Despite the multitude and complexity of reasons behind school absence, health-related problems are likely to be one important determinant. This indicates that knowledge about factors that may contribute to preventing health-related absence among students is relevant. The aim was to investigate whether a higher level of teacher-reported school ethos was associated with less recurring sickness absence among students. Data from four cross-sectional surveys performed in 2014 and 2016 were combined. The Stockholm School Survey was carried out among 9482 ninth-grade students (ages 15-16 years) in 150 school units, and the Stockholm Teacher Survey was performed among 2090 teachers in the same units. School ethos was operationalised by an index of 12 teacher-reported items that was aggregated to the school-level. Recurring student sickness absence was captured by self-reports and defined as absence on >10 occasions during the current school year. Two-level logistic regressions were performed. The results show that about 9.5% of the students reported recurring sickness absence. Students attending schools with higher levels of teacher-rated school ethos were less likely to reporting recurring sickness absence than those attending schools with lower levels of ethos, even when adjusting for potential confounders (OR 0.79, 95% CI 0.65-0.97). In conclusion, recurring sickness absence was less common among students attending schools with higher levels of teacher-rated ethos. The findings suggest that schools may contribute to promoting student health.