Pixel International Conferences

Employees in 3 kindergartens participated in the current study by filling in a questionnaire during their routine medical check-up, based on: Brief COPE (SC Carver, having 14 scales of coping methods), Rotter J. (1966) locus of control questionnaire, Maslach burnout inventory, perceived self-efficacy scale, Work ability index (WAI), as well as demographics (age, gender, type of residence, level of education, and income), and 16 occupational stressors (stress level) such as:
Communication with other employees, Communication with superiors, Tasks, Work schedule, Limitations in career development, Risks of illness / injury, Inappropriate environment, Verbal aggression towards oneself, Gossip circles about oneself, Verbal aggression or gossip circles towards other employees; Verbal aggression from other employees; Verbal aggression from children; Verbal aggression from children's parents; Difficult collaboration with children’s parents; Difficult collaboration with children.
Of the total 87 employees, 75 agreed to fill in and returned the questionnaires. Only 11 of the respondents had a rural residence and only 3 were males. In the whole group of respondents, over 4/5 had low ​​and only 1/7 had average burnout scores.
WAI had good and very good values ​​in over 4/5 of the respondents, the rest of respondents having average values. Although in each kindergarten the number of respondents is relatively small, in each of them the score of the "Use of emotional support" scale correlates positively, significantly with that of the "Use of instrumental support" scale (p = 0.039; p = 0.006 and p = 0.010), and the stressor "gossip circles about oneself" is negatively correlated with the scale score (Brief Cope) "Positive reframing" (p = 0.013; p = 0.049; p = 0.046).
The whole group of respondents evinced significant correlations that indicate the type of coping depending on the occupational stressor or the studied variable, of which we mention:

• Education correlates positively with the Positive reframing scale (p = 0.010);
• The stressor "Difficult collaboration with children" correlates positively with Behavioral disengagement (p = 0.006) and Self-blame (p = 0.002) scales;
• Difficult collaboration with parents is positively associated with Behavioral disengagement (p = 0.003);
• Children’s verbal aggression is positively associated with Behavioral disengagement (p = 0.012) and negatively with Positive reframing (p = 0 .036);
• Communication with superiors correlates positively with Behavioral disengagement (p = 0.049) and Venting (p = 0.046);
• Gossip circles about oneself correlates positively with Behavioral disengagement (p = 0.011) and negatively with Positive reframing (p = 0.000) and Humor (p = 0.002).

The correlations between the Brief cope scales and the studied variables show the importance of both coping evaluation and approach at individual and organizational level due to the multitude of factors involved. As the results of this study demonstrate, knowledge of the organizational environment, more precisely the empolyees’ coping with stressors, is all-important.

Keywords: cope scales, locus of control, occupational stressors.

References:

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