Psychosocial Work Environment and Profiles on Head Start Teachers’ Wellness Behavior and Well-being

• In Event: A Holistic Approach to Early Childhood Educators’ Well-being and Work Environments

Abstract

Children living in poverty often experience delays in school readiness as they confront more challenges in developmental trajectories (Welsh et al., 2010). For children exposed to stressful and toxic environments, it is critical for schools to provide supportive, responsive, and sensitive environments that promote children’s positive development (Jeon et al., 2014). In particular, physically and emotionally healthy teachers are essential to creating a positive climate in early care and education (ECE) (Hamre & Pianta, 2014). Despite the critical role of teachers, Whitaker et al. (2015) found that 24% of Head Start teachers, who serve preschoolers from low-income families, reported depressive symptoms. Teachers who work with children in poverty must be supported themselves before they support their students. Despite the critical need for research on teacher well-being, few studies examined ECE teachers’ health and well-being holistically. In this study, using a person-centered approach, we explored profiles of Head Start teachers regarding their wellness behaviors, psychological well-being, and physical well-being. Furthermore, we used mixed methods to investigate psychosocial environmental factors, which may involve psychological appraisal processes related to the social context of teachers’ work (Stansfeld & Candy, 2006), and their associations with teachers’ wellbeing.
The data were collected from 166 Head Start teachers in an urban community during February-March 2020. Table 1 describes demographics by teacher role (lead/assistant). Teachers responded to a survey related to wellness behaviors (e.g., exercise, sleep, nutrition), physical health (e.g., work-related musculoskeletal pain), and psychological well-being (e.g., personal stress [Cohen et al., 1983], depressive symptoms [Radloff et al., 1977], feelings of anxiety, symptoms of traumatic stress as a Head Start teacher [Stamm, 2009], and resilience [Smith et al., 2008]). We also asked about teachers’ perceptions of psychosocial work environments around physical safety (La Salle & Meyers, 2014), sense of community (McGinty et al., 2008), diversity climate (McKay et al., 2011), and organizational climate (Bloom et al., 1998). Nineteen teachers were then selected for individual interviews.
Using a latent profile analysis, we first explored group membership of teachers on wellness behaviors and psychological/physical well-being. We found that a 4-profile model fit the data best. As shown in Table 2, four groups varied by health behaviors and well-being: high (Profile 1), average (Profile 3), and low (Profile 4) health behaviors/well-being profiles, and a profile with high health behavior/physical health but low psychological well-being (Profile 2). In the following analysis of variance, we found that teachers’ perceptions of physical safety were strongly related to teachers’ profile membership (F=12.24, p<.001). The thematic analysis of the interview data corroborated the findings that teachers are concerned about physical safety due to neighborhood violence (e.g., shooting near the center) or aggressive threats by children’s families.
The results suggest that it is critical to provide differentiated support for teachers to improve and maintain positive health habits/behaviors and promote optimal well-being. Consequently, a comprehensive biopsychosocial intervention model targeting holistic wellness, improved self-care strategies with health-related benefits, and leadership engagement for improved work environments appears warranted.

Authors

• Lieny Jeon, University of Virginia - Charlottesville
  Presenting Author

• Arik Marcell, Johns Hopkins University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Christina Harnett, Johns Hopkins University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kyong-Ah Kwon, University of Oklahoma
  Non-Presenting Author

• Katherine Ardeleanu, Johns Hopkins University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Briana Bostic, Johns Hopkins University
  Non-Presenting Author

• R Christopher Swanson, Johns Hopkins University
  Non-Presenting Author