Salivary Cortisol In Stress Research In Education – Considerations, Pitfalls And Promises From The Teacher And Student Stress And Interaction In Classroom Study

The Teacher and Student Stress and Interactions in the Classroom (TESSI) Study examines teacher and student stress and well-being, the relationship between teacher and student stress, the effect of classroom interactions on these relationships, as well as how all of the above affect the development of students’ academic skills, motivation and social skills.

We use salivary cortisol as an indicator of physiological stress. Concurrently with several other psychophysiological measures, the use of salivary cortisol is becoming widespread in educational studies. At the same time, there are no well-established protocols for cortisol data management or interpretation guidelines for non-clinical and non-experimental settings. The presentation will summarize our methodological experiences in using salivary cortisol as a stress indicator and discuss considerations, pitfalls and promises we have encountered.