Correlation between personality or emotional status, and quality of life in Hong Kong teachers

Abstract

Teachers are frequently cited as a high-risk group for voice problem which adversely affects quality of life (Yiu & Ma, 2002). Therefore, the multiple contributing factors of the teachers’ voice problem and poorer quality of life should be identified to help developing an appropriate education preventive program that could effectively reduce the impact. Physical, vocal loading and environmental factors are the well-known contributing factors to voice problems in teachers (Ferrerira et al., 2010), but psychological factor remains unclear (Meulenbroek, Thomas, Kooijman, & de Jong, 2010). The present study investigated the relationship between personality, emotional status and quality of life related to voice condition in teachers. The perception of quality of life, personality and emotional status, were investigated in 60 teachers and 30 non-teachers. Findings showed that teachers in general were significantly more anxious and depressed than non-teachers. However, no relationship was found between personality, emotional status and quality of life. As anxiety and depression highly correlate with stress (Mundia, 2010), which relates to voice problem (Kooijman et al., 2006), the higher anxiety and depression level in teachers may relate to voice production. It was suggested that psychological counseling, focusing on anxiety and depression, should be involved in the education preventive program for teachers.