The impact of positive psychological capital on psychological distress of primary and secondary education teachers

Abstract

Teaching is one of the professions in which individuals are more likely to develop high levels of anxiety and stress. The persistence of these symptoms can lead to severe depressive cases. Nevertheless, numerous teachers are able to react functionally while facing these profissional difficulties by developing positive psychological capacities that opposethe negative symptomatology. This study examines the impact of positive psychological capital (PsyCap) on psychological distress of primary and secondary education teachers. The sample consists of 425 teachers in public and private schools aged between 26 and 62 years. For this purpose, we used the Psychological Capital Questionnaire and the scales of Depression, Anxiety and Stress. Findings show that optimism is the variable with the highest positive impact on psychological distress, because the most optimistic teachers showed lower ratings of anxiety, depression and stress. The negative correlations between all the variables in the study suggest that the higher the PsyCap values are, the lower the psychological anguish of the teachers. In this study, it was also to confirm that teachers with ages between 45-62 and academic qualification higher than degree level reveal greater medium values of psychological distress.