Psychophysiological aspects of work and health enhancement in physical education teachers (a randomized controlled study)

Abstract

The leading factors associated with teachers’ work are mental workload and stress, which reduce teachers’ productivity. Some authors believe that a high workload leads to stress, while others consider stress as its component. The need to regularly perform a significant number of prescribed requirements results in stress reactions among teachers. A decrease in their functional reserves can manifest itself in cardiovascular and nervous system changes. Many remedial programs use relaxation as a means to restore mental balance. Despite the large number of works in this area the effect of relaxation on the body requires further comprehensive study. The paper aims to find changes in psychophysiological functions in female university teachers under relaxation exercises. Materials and methods. Two groups of female university teachers were examined: the first group (EG) participated in a 3-month relaxation program; the second group (CG) did not perform any relaxation exercises. Before and after a three-month training program, the indicators of heart rate and blood pressure were obtained, electroencephalogram and cardiac measurements were obtained, psychomotor reactions were recorded and psychological testing was carried out. Results. The results showed that in the experimental group, compared to the control group, there was an improvement in the performance of the cardiovascular and nervous systems, as well as a decrease in functional stress. Thus, the indicators of the stress index decreased from 96 ± 1.1 to 67 ± 3.5 (P <0.05). In the control group, there were no significant changes in the above-mentioned indicators. EEG measurements showed that in the experimental group there was a significant predominance of -activity in the frontal, central and temporal brain areas (p <0.01). During immersive relaxation, generalization and synchronization of -activity was observed with an increase in the alpha power in most areas (average frequency - 10.5 Hz). The improvement of psychoemotional state was also recorded. A conclusion was made on the efficacy of the program for university teachers.