Humanization, Adaptation to Change, and Mental Health in Teachers in Three European Countries

Background: The aim of this study was to explore the relationships between humanization, adaptability to change, and mental health in European teachers (Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian teachers), as well as the relationship between humanization and mental health in teachers through the analysis of the mediating role of adaptability to change. Method: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted with teachers from three European countries (Spain, n = 263; Portugal, n = 344; and Italy, n = 287). The Healthcare Professional Humanization Scale (HUMAS), General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28), and the Adaptation to Change Questionnaire (ADAPTA-10) were administered. Results: In all three countries, negative associations were observed between humanization and the presence of problematic symptoms. With respect to the adaptability to change factors, humanization showed negative associations with the emotional factor and positive associations with the cognitive-behavioral factor. Comparative mean analysis revealed differences in humanization, the emotional factor of adaptability to change, and the presence of problematic symptoms. Finally, the mediation models showed the absence of a direct effect in the relationship between humanization and the presence of GHQ-28 symptomatology when it was mediated by the emotional factor (Spanish and Portuguese sample). In the Italian sample, the direct effect of humanization-GHQ-28 symptomatology was significant, with a smaller proportion of the indirect effect of the emotional factor acting as a mediator. On the other hand, when considering the cognitive-behavioral factor as a mediator, the same result was obtained for all three countries: a negative direct effect between humanization and GHQ-28 symptomatology, with no mediation by the cognitive-behavioral factor. Conclusions: The need to improve training in humanization competencies lies in the potential protective function that these competencies can have on the mental health of teachers. Antecedentes: El objetivo del trabajo fue explorar la relacion entre humanizacion, capacidad de adaptacion al cambio y salud mental en docentes europeos (espanoles, portugueses e italianos) y la relacion entre humanizacion y salud mental en docentes mediante el analisis del rol mediador de la capacidad de adaptacion al cambio. Metodo: Se realizo un estudio descriptivo transversal con docentes de tres paises europeos (Espana, n = 263, Portugal, n = 344 e Italia, n = 287). Se administro la Healthcare Professional Humanization Scale (HUMAS), el General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) y el Cuestionario de Adaptacion al Cambio (ADAPTA-10). Resultados: En los tres paises se obervo una asociacion negativa entre humanizacion y la presencia de sintomatologia problematica. Con los factores de adaptacion al cambio la humanizacion presento una asociacion negativa con el factor emocional y positiva con el cognitivo-conductual. Del analisis comparativo de medias se obtuvieron diferencias en humanizacion, el factor emocional de adaptacion al cambio y la presencia de sintomatologia problematica. Finalmente, los modelos de mediacion mostraron la ausencia de un efecto directo en la relacion entre humanizacion y la presencia de sintomatologia GHQ-28 cuando esta se encontraba mediada por el factor emocional (muestra espanola y portuguesa). En la muestra italiana fue significativo el efecto directo de la humanizacion-sintomatologia GHQ-28, con menor proporcion del efecto indirecto del factor emocional actuando este como mediador. Por otro lado, tomando como mediador el factor cognitivo-conductual, se obtuvo el mismo resultado para los tres paises: un efecto directo negativo entre la humanizacion y la sintomatologia GHQ-28, no estando este mediado por el factor cognitivo-conductual. Conclusiones: La necesidad de mejorar la formacion en competencias de humanizacion reside en la potencial funcion protectora que pueden ejercer sobre la salud mental de los docentes.