Relationship between leisure activities and resilience in school teachers

Abstract

It is known that Japanese teachers suffer from far more psychological stress in their workplaces than company workers. Moreover, the number of teachers that are away from work on medical leave has become a serious problem in Japan. This study examined how teachers should spend their leisure time to facilitate resilience. Japanese teachers (N=495) of elementary, junior high, high schools, and special schools participated in this survey. Results indicated that hobby activities facilitated resilience. Moreover, especially for men, resilience increased when doing output activities, such as participating in sports or playing musical instruments than when doing input activities, such as watching games or listening to music. There were no differences between junior high and high school teachers in the relationship between hobby activities and resilience, even though instructing junior high school students is most difficult.