The understaffing of nursery schools and kindergartens and the increasing workload of childcare workers are becoming significant issues in Japan. In this study, a cross-sectional survey was conducted to investigate the stress experienced by childcare workers and its antecedents. We distributed 2,640 questionnaires to childcare workers in Miyagi prefecture, obtaining a response rate of 51.9% (n=1,370). Finally, 1,210 valid questionnaires were used in the analysis. As a stress indicator, psychological distress was measured with the Kessler Screening Scale for Psychological Distress (K6). The mean K6 score was 7.0 (SD=5.4), and the prevalence of psychological distress (K6 score ≥5) was 60.0%. Considering work-related factors, the mean scores were as follows: supervisor support 11.8 (2.6), coworker support 12.1 (2.0), work engagement 3.2 (1.2), and effort-reward ratio 0.93 (0.53). A multivariate logistic regression analysis with adjustment for possible confounders revealed that increased psychological distress was associated with higher effort-reward ratio, lower support from supervisors and coworkers, lower work engagement, and insufficient sleep. These results suggest that elevated psychological distress is strongly associated with effort-reward imbalance, while high work engagement in childcare workers helped to reduce their distress.

托儿所和幼儿园的人手不足以及育儿工人的工作量日益增加，已成为日本的重要问题。在这项研究中，进行了一项横断面调查，以调查保育员及其前身所承受的压力。我们向宫城县的保育人员分发了2,640份问卷，获得了51.9％（n= 1,370）。最后，在分析中使用了1,210份有效问卷。作为压力指标，使用凯斯勒心理困扰筛选量表（K6）测量心理困扰。平均K6得分为7.0（SD = 5.4），心理困扰的患病率（K6得分≥5）为60.0％。考虑到与工作相关的因素，平均得分如下：主管支持11.8（2.6），同事支持12.1（2.0），工作投入3.2（1.2）和工作报酬比0.93（0.53）。通过对可能的混杂因素进行调整的多因素logistic回归分析表明，心理困扰的增加与较高的工作报酬率，较低的主管和同事支持，较低的工作投入以及睡眠不足有关。