Estresse acadêmico e mal-estar psicológico: uma perspectiva de técnicos administrativos em educação

Abstract

The general goal of this dissertation was to investigate academic stress among Technical-Administrative in Education (TAEs) from Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Brazil. The specific objectives involved: a) inventorying stressors and strategies to increase well-being among TAEs from Brazilian public universities; b) gathering psychometric evidence of the Academic Stress Scale (ASS-TAE) for the context of TAEs. Two empirical studies were conducted. In article 1 (N = 191), the sample of TAEs from Brazilian public universities answered a sociodemographic questionnaire and two open-ended questions involving two thematic axes: stressors in the last five months and strategies used to generate well-being. The first axis pointed to institutional stressors, interpersonal stressors in the work environment, financial and health difficulties, and multiple overloads. For the second axis, the data indicated multiple ways and strategies to deal with stress (e.g., cognitive strategies, physical activity and mental well-being, leisure and entertainment). In article 2 (N = 191), psychometric evidence was raised for the Academic Stress Scale (ASS-TAE) for the context of TAEs. The subjects answered the ASS-TAE, the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21), the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (ESV) and demographic questions. First, the ASS-TAE demonstrated evidence of content validity. Next, the data supported the plausibility of the unifactorial solution of the measure. Analyses via Item Response Theory demonstrated that the ASS-TAE items adequately discriminate participants and required a low to moderate amount of latent trait to be endorsed. Regarding the evidence of validity based on relationships with external variables, the ASS-TAE showed a more evident relationship with higher levels of depression, as expected, but it was also related to anxiety, stress and satisfaction with life. It is concluded, firstly, that there is a diversity of sources of stress faced by TAEs that are specific to the relationship of this category with the operating structure of HEIs. Furthermore, the evidence that corroborates that the ASS-TAE has psychometric quality in this population was ratified. Future studies can focus on planning short, medium and long-term interventions given the identification of stressors specific to this population stratum within Brazilian universities.