Could the complying with WHO physical activity recommendations improve stress, burnout syndrome, and resilience? A cross-sectional study with physical education teachers

Purpose Teachers are exposed to inherent psychosocial risks in the workplace such as chronic stress, psychological distress, exhaustion, and burnout syndrome. To compare the values in psychosocial variables based on compliance with the recommendations for physical activity by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the type of physical activity performed. Methods The study had a non-experimental and comparative design, with measurements in a single group. The sample was composed of 415 physical education teachers from Spain, with an age range of 21-53 years (28.78 +/- 6.15) and a heterogeneous distribution of gender (69.4% male; 30.6% women). The Perceived Stress Scale, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, and an Ad-Hoc questionnaire were used to record the sociodemographic aspects and physical-sports practice. Results Most of the teachers complied with the recommendations for physical activity practice (n = 335; 80.7%). Physical activity was associated with lower signs of burnout and a greater ability to overcome. Although, teachers who did not comply with WHO recommendations, showed greater stress and emotional exhaustion. In conclusion, enough practice of physical activity based on WHO was shown as a preventive factor of stress and signs of burnout. Conclusions The findings suggest that perform physical activity based on the WHO recommendations helps for work stress prevention and burnout syndrome in teachers, as well as to overcome work adversities.