Stress ocupacional: perceção social da profissão docente e seu desgaste

The discussion about stress in society has been increasing by experts. Occupational stress is a set of emotional, cognitive, behavioral and physiological reactions to adversity at work, characterized by high levels of excitement and disturbance, usually accompanied by feelings of incapacity (European Commission, 2002). Through the application of the Teachers' Stress Questionnaire (QSP) by Gomes, Montenegro, Peixoto and Peixoto (2010), we seek to understand the stress levels in teachers in the 2nd and 3rd cycle of basic education. In this way, 50 teachers were surveyed with an average age and length of service between 43.9 and 17.38 respectively. A comparison of means was carried out through the t-test of independent samples between the variables, the teacher's teaching cycle and professional situation (contractors and staff). The results did not show statistically significant differences, however, it can be said that the teachers' stress levels are between “moderate stress” and “quite stress”. Teachers feel more stress when students show inappropriate behaviors, while students 'lack of motivation and skills is not a relevant factor in increasing teachers' stress.