Occupational stress among childcare professionals: How psychological safety predicts perceived stress beyond noise, time pressure and physical demands

This study examined how job demands and psychological safety relate to perceived stress among professionals working in early childhood education and care. Drawing on the Job Demands-Resources model, the study investigated both the individual and combined effects of workplace demands and explored the role of psychological safety as a psychosocial resource. Specifically, we focused on noise exposure, time pressure, and physical demands, which were selected a priori to capture distinct environmental, temporal, and bodily stressors characteristic of childcare settings. Data were collected through an anonymous survey of 344 childcare professionals employed in daycare centers across Germany. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to assess the predictive value of noise exposure, time pressure, physical demands, interaction effects among demands, and psychological safety. The results showed that time pressure and physical demands were significant positive predictors of perceived stress. In addition, the interaction between time pressure and physical demands significantly increased stress levels, indicating a cumulative effect when both demands were high. Noise exposure was not significantly associated with stress in the multivariate model. Psychological safety emerged as a significant negative predictor of stress and explained additional variance beyond the effects of job demands and their interactions. The findings highlight the importance of considering both structural working conditions and team climate in understanding occupational stress in early childhood education and care settings. Promoting psychologically safe work environments and reducing excessive job demands may contribute to improved well-being and more sustainable working conditions for childcare professionals.