ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to examine early childhood professionals’ (ECPs) work engagement, burnout and stress regulation in integrated special day-care groups. The participants consisted of 89 ECPs from 21 integrated special day-care groups in Helsinki, Finland. ECPs’ work-related well-being was assessed using self-report questionnaires that measured work engagement and burnout. Stress regulation was assessed by measuring salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase activity during consecutive working and weekend day with a total five samples per day. The results indicated that ECPs experienced high levels of work engagement, and even though signs of burnout appeared among ECPs, compared to reference values in general population results showed ECPs generally experienced lower levels of stress. On average ECP's stress regulation was regular, and there were no differences in salivary AA/Cortisol or Cortisol/AA ratios between the working day and weekend day. No connections between stress regulation, work engagement and burnout were found. However, we found associations between ECPs’ characteristics and work engagement and burnout; younger ECPs showed lower professional self-esteem and ECPs with higher level qualifications (e.g. special teachers) were more likely to report higher levels of work engagement. The main findings drawn from the data are discussed, and suggestions for future research are provided.

中文翻译：

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幼儿专业人员的职业幸福感和压力：使用创新策略来衡量工作场所的压力反应性

摘要这项研究的目的是研究综合特殊日托组中幼儿专业人员的工作参与，倦怠和压力调节。参加者包括来自芬兰赫尔辛基21个综合特殊日托小组的89个ECP。使用自我报告调查表评估了ECP与工作相关的幸福感，该调查表测量了工作投入和职业倦怠。通过测量连续工作和周末期间唾液皮质醇和α-淀粉酶的活性来评估压力调节，每天总共五个样品。结果表明，ECP经历了很高的工作投入程度，尽管在ECP中出现了倦怠的迹象，但与普通人群的参考值相比，结果表明ECP通常承受的压力较低。平均而言，ECP的压力调节是有规律的，在工作日和周末之间的唾液AA /皮质醇或皮质醇/ AA比没有差异。在压力调节，工作投入和倦怠之间没有发现联系。但是，我们发现ECP的特征与工作投入和倦怠之间存在关联。年轻的ECP表现出较低的专业自尊心，而具有较高资历的ECP（例如特殊教师）则更有可能报告较高的工作投入。讨论了从数据中得出的主要发现，并提供了未来研究的建议。我们发现ECP的特征与工作投入和倦怠之间存在关联；年轻的ECP表现出较低的专业自尊心，而具有较高资历的ECP（例如特殊教师）则更有可能报告较高的工作投入。讨论了从数据中得出的主要发现，并提供了未来研究的建议。我们发现ECP的特征与工作投入和倦怠之间存在关联；年轻的ECP表现出较低的专业自尊心，而具有较高资历的ECP（例如特殊教师）则更有可能报告较高的工作投入。讨论了从数据中得出的主要发现，并提供了未来研究的建议。