STRESS AMONG UNIVERSITY TEACHERS: AN EMPIRICAL RESEARCH IN BULGARIA

Abstract

Purpose: The main purpose of the study was to assess the levels of perceived stress among university teachers and to investigate whether a statistically significant relationship exists between perceived stress scores and age, sex, marital status, workload, financial status, years of teaching and physical activity of university teachers. Method: The research was carried out at Trakia University, Stara Zagora, Bulgaria. The sample was comprised of 86 university teachers. For statistical processing of the data were used descriptive analysis, Student's T-test and ANOVA with Dunnett's Post Hoc Tests for comparing the means. The IBM Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) 25th Version software was used to analyse the data. Results: There were no significant differences in the level of stress when the respondents were grouped as to age, sex, marital status and workload while a significant difference was found between perceived stress score and financial status, years of teaching, and physical activity. Conclusion: Stress among university teachers is a serious problem that requires additional research with a larger sample. University teachers should adopt positive coping strategies, such as regular rest and physical activity. Specific recommendations for coping with stress are suggested.

Keywords

• perceived stress score
• coping
• university teachers
• health
• physical activity