Teacher Burnout: Is Stress in the Classroom Contagious?

A classroom full of rowdy students is generally thought to cause teachers stress, but a new study suggests that burnt out teachers may pass on their stress to their pupils.  

"Considering that classroom teachers can take on many roles for elementary school students, including mentor, role model, and parental roles, it is possible that spending most of the school day in interaction with a stressed and burned out teacher is taxing for students and can affect their physiological stress profile," the research reads, as quoted by Time.     

The study titled "Stress contagion in the classroom? The link between classroom teacher burnout and morning cortisol in elementary school students," published on the Social Science & Medicine journal, explores the links between the burnout felt by school teachers and the psychological stress response of their elementary level students, from grades 4 to 7.  

Researchers Eva Oberle and Kimberly A. Schnonert-Reichl of the University of British Columbia determined the burnout levels of 17 instructors through the Maslach Burnout Inventory that was modified for teachers.  

On the other hand, they determined the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) functioning of more than 400 of their students by collecting saliva samples three times during the school day: the first at 9 a.m.; the second at 11:30 a.m.; and the third at 2 p.m. This was to record each student's level of cortisol, a steroid hormone that is produced by the body in response to stress and low blood sugar.  

The data showed the researchers that the students' morning cortisol levels between classrooms varied by 10 percent, but this unexplained variability decreased to 4.6 percent when the teacher was burnt out. The study, Live Science explains, found that when a teacher's burnout level was high, their students were more likely to have higher cortisol levels, but only in the morning.  

"This is the first study to show that teachers' occupational stress is linked to students' physiological stress regulation," the study says. "We discuss the present findings in the context of potential stress contagion in the classroom, considering empirical and practical relevance."  

According to Time, more research is needed in this subject as the study was not able to make a definitive correlation or connection between a teacher's burnout level and the students' cortisol levels.