Teachers' Occupational Stress Questionnaire: Psychometric properties

The psychometric properties of the Teachers’ Occupational Stress Questionnaire (TOSQ) were determined on a population of 1137 participants, 1018 women and 119 men, aged 19 to 60 years. The 20 items of the questionnaire were derived based on Shirom, Oliver, and Stein (2009) description of the main sources of stress in teaching. The items of the TOSQ were shown to possess a high level of internal consistency, as measured by a Cronbach's alpha of 0.90, while the criterion validity of the instrument was also shown to be satisfactory. The findings of the exploratory factor analysis revealed a factorial structure in three factors: stress elicited by current professional activities, stress elicited by working conditions, and stress related to discipline and classroom management, which explained 53.62% of the variance. Gender and teachers' perceptions about the quality of relationships they have with pupils and parents both significantly influenced the way our participants answered to the items of the TOSQ. Implications and suggestions for future research on the validity of this questionnaire are discussed.