Relationship of Some Demographic and Class Characteristics and School Climate and Social Support to Teacher Stress

Teacher stress is present in all schools, and teachers' demographic and class characteristics and school climate as well as social support are important for perceiving stress levels. The aim of the research was to examine the correlation between stress level and demographic and class characteristics, as well as school climate and social support among 311 Croatian classroom teachers. The teachers completed the Sources of teacher stress scale, the Social provisions scale, and the School climate survey, and provided demographic, class and school information. The results showed that demographic characteristics were not significant in relation to the level of stress, but of the class characteristics, the number of students in the class proved significant for the experience of stress. It was also found that teachers who experience higher level of total stress and higher level of stress caused by workload and need for professional recognition experience a more negative school climate, and higher level of stress is also associated with poorer social support.