The relationship of school organizational health and teacher need satisfaction to teacher stress

The study aimed 1) to test an exploratory path model of the relationship between teacher stress and organizational and role stressors; 2) to assess the importance of using the school as the "unit of analysis" in such studies, and 3) to examine the factor composition and scale reliabilities of the three instruments adapted for the study.
Organizational stressors were defined by Miles' model of Organizational Health. Role stress was operationalized with Porter's definition of Need Satisfaction, and teacher stress included Maslach and Jackson's dimensions of Emotional Exhaustion, Depersonalization, and Personal Accomplishment.
A two-stage random sample generated responses from 736 regular classroom teachers in 50 Connecticut public high schools on the three intensity scales of the Maslach Burnout Inventory, the Porter Need Satisfaction Questionnaire, and the Organizational Health Instrument (Form B), with teacher age, gender, and experience for statistical control.'
The path analysis showed that Emotional Exhaustion was related at the school level to Resource Utilization, and that Depersonalization was related at the school level indirectly through Need Satisfaction to Morale and Optimal Power Equalization. But over 90% of the variation in stress was within schools and not explained by these relationships.
Organizational factors are apparently only minor sources of stress, and stress management should emphasize the stressed teacher. Subsidiary analysis suggests that the nature of teacher interaction with segments of the organization may be more important in teacher stress than qualities of the wider organization.
Pearson product moment correlations for 33 relationships were computed three ways: using observed scores, weighted school mean scores, and using deviation from school mean scores. Comparison of the three coefficients confirmed that relationships with school characteristics cannot be accurately estimated from observed teacher scores, but must use school mean scores.
Principal component analyses with oblique rotations and alpha internal reliability estimates indicated that 1) the three intensity scales of the MBI function the same alone as when used with the frequency scales; 2) the PNSQ is best scored as a single factor with the current items, and 3) the OHI has seven reliable factors which approximate Miles dimensions.