Predicting teacher burnout as a function of school characteristics and irrational beliefs

Irrational beliefs have been linked to negative unhealthy emotions that can contribute to occupational burnout. Maladaptive cognitive schemas, such as irrational beliefs, are theorized to interfere with an appraisal of the perceived balance of resources and demands. The aim of the current study is to investigate the extent to which irrational beliefs account for occupational burnout among high school teachers when considering school resources, job demands, and teacher characteristics. A sample of 79 high school teachers, primarily from New York and New Jersey, completed self‐report questionnaires measuring burnout, the perception of school demands and availability of resources, and irrational beliefs. Among school‐based characteristics, correlational analyses indicated that burnout was positively related to school demands (i.e., student disrespect and student lack of attentiveness) and negatively related to school resources (i.e., support from the administration and colleagues), supporting previous research findings. Among teacher characteristics, burnout was negatively related to self‐efficacy and positively related to irrational beliefs. Results from regression analyses indicated that, whereas irrational beliefs were predictive of teacher burnout, they did not moderate the relationship between demands and burnout. Implications, limitations, and directions for future directions for research are discussed.     

Student,home, and school socio-demographic factors: links to school,home, and community arts participation

This study explored the role of student (e.g., age, language background, gender), home (e.g., parent/caregiver education), and school (e.g., school type, size) socio-demographic factors in students’ school (e.g., in-school arts tuition, arts engagement), home (e.g., parent/caregiver–child arts interaction), and community (e.g., arts attendance, arts tuition) arts participation. The sample comprised 1172 elementary and secondary school students from 15 schools. Findings revealed that student and home socio-demographic factors were the most salient in predicting arts participation across school, home, and community contexts. Age, gender, and prior achievement were the key student socio-demographic factors, while parent/caregiver education and occupation were also associated with students’ arts participation. Implications for practice and intervention pertinent to young people’s arts participation are discussed.     

School climate factors relating to teacher burnout: A mediator model

The present study investigated components of school climate (i.e. parent/community relations, administration, student behavioral values) and assessed their influence on the core burnout dimensions of Emotional Exhaustion, Depersonalization, and feelings of low Personal Accomplishment. The study weighed the relative contributions of demographic factors (i.e. gender, age, years of teaching experience), teacher satisfaction, and teacher-rated school climate that predict resultant levels of teacher stress and burnout from 17 rural schools in southeastern Ohio. Results revealed that different aspects of school climate related to each of the three primary burnout dimensions. Further, the inverse relationship between school climate and burnout was mediated by teacher satisfaction levels for both Emotional Exhaustion and Depersonalization dimensions. Results from the present study may be used in the development of future intervention targets for reducing teacher stress and burnout.     

Do students notice stress in teachers? Associations between classroom teacher burnout and students' perceptions of teacher social–emotional competence

The goal of the present study was to investigate the link between elementary school teacher burnout and students' perceptions of teacher social–emotional competence (SEC). A total of 676 Grades 4–7 students in 35 classrooms rated their classroom teachers' SEC. In addition, teachers self-reported their current level of experienced burnout at work (i.e., depersonalization and emotional exhaustion). Multilevel analyses revealed significant classroom-level variability (i.e., 34%) in student-ratings of teacher SEC. Teacher burnout significantly predicted student-rated teacher SEC, over and above significant student-level variables (school self-concept, sense of autonomy in the classroom) and contextual variables (teacher age, school neighborhood income). Specifically, higher levels of teacher burnout were related to receiving lower SEC ratings by students. Teacher burnout explained a significant portion of the classroom-level variability in student-rated teacher SEC. The present study emphasizes the link between teacher burnout and the SEC. Furthermore, given that teacher reports (burnout) were linked to student reports (teacher SEC), these findings also suggest that students notice stress in their classroom teacher.     

Academic and Psychological Functioning in Late Adolescence: The Importance of School Belonging

Few researchers have considered the influence of school context, an important construct at earlier ages, on late adolescents' college adjustment. In a sample of second-semester freshmen (N = 266), the authors explored associations between a sense of school belonging and academic and psychological adjustment. Students' reports of belonging at the university as well as in high school were both significant in predicting current academic (e.g., grades, academic competence) and psychological adjustment (i.e., self-worth, internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors), even after controlling for other important demographic and relationship factors. Last, the authors found that parental education (i.e., whether the participant was a first-generation college student) interacted with high school belonging in predicting externalizing problem behaviors.     

Role stress and perceived intensity of burnout among school psychologists

This study investigated the relationship between role stress and perceived intensity of burnout for 209 school psychologists. It also investigated differences in role stress and burnout for school psychologists and four other educator groups (i.e., classroom teachers, school social workers, guidance counselors, and reading specialists). Concerning the three measures of burnout, school psychologists reported midrange perceptions of burnout along the Emotional Exhaustion and Personal Accomplishment dimensions and the second lowest level of burnout for Depersonalization, the second aspect of burnout. School psychologists also reported the second highest level of Role Conflict and the highest level of Role Ambiguity compared to other teacher groups. Findings also indicated that the components of role stress are significant predictors of the three aspects of burnout. Implications of these findings and suggestions for further research are offered.     

Predictors of classroom stress and burnout experienced by gifted and talented students

Classroom stress and burnout experienced by 121 gifted and talented students were assessed in combination with seven background variables (i.e., sex, age, IQ, etc.), five personal variables (i.e., creative personality typology, locus of control, family environment, other-rated behavioral, academic self-esteem, and self-rated self-esteem), three general anxiety and stress variables (i.e., state/trait anxiety, life change events), and two organizational variables (i.e., classroom tedium and quality of school life). The student's age, sex, birth order, IQ, and achievement level bore little relationship to either stress or burnout. Poor self-esteem, an externalized locus of control, high levels of state and trait anxiety, poor school life quality, and tedium proved to be significant predictors of classroom stress. These, plus problems in the family environment and high classroom stress levels, predicted significant levels of classroom burnout. Males reported a greater number and different types of stress and burnout sources than did females, indicating differentiated sex-related problems with stress and burnout.     

Stress and Burnout in Teachers

The purpose of this study was to determine causes of, and differences in, stress and burnout in 405 middle, upper, high school and sixth form college teachers in one Local Education Authority in England. Stress and bumout were generally low, but individual, e.g. locus of control, stability of personality; environmental, e.g. too much work, taking extra‐curricular activities, taking work home to do more often; and psychological, e.g. role conflict, role ambiguity; variables correlated with stress and burnout. Multiple regression analyses showed that high anxiety, spending more hours on work at home each time it was taken home and high role conflict collectively predicted stress, and high anxiety and high role conflict collectively predicted bumout. Role conflict, locus of control, stability of personality and anxiety were among the variables that accounted for significant differences in stress and bumout. There were no significant differences between headteachers and subject teachers or men and women on stress or bumout. Results indicated that although individual stress and burnout management is important, elimination of stress and burnout will not be possible without action to reduce/ eliminate environmental Stressors. Further studies could include case studies of a particular school, or studies of stress in students to determine whether it is possible to anticipate who is more likely to experience stress and burnout.     

Rating students’ problem behaviour: the role of teachers’ individual characteristics

This study examined the role of teachers’ personal characteristics and mental health status on their frequency ratings of student problem behaviour. A sample of 121 primary school teachers were asked to rate the frequency of a student’s behavioural problems, and to self-report their personality traits, psychopathology symptoms and burnout. Overall, the results revealed that teachers’ ratings were significantly predicted by their psychopathology symptoms and to a lesser extent by their personality traits and burnout levels. Student and teacher demographic characteristics were also predictive of teacher ratings. Since teachers are among the primary informants of students’ mental health, the results of this study pose the need to take into consideration teachers’ individual characteristics, when their ratings are critically evaluated during a student’s referral process.     

Self‐efficacy,school resources,job stressors and burnout among Spanish primary and secondary school teachers: a structural equation approach

This study examines the relationship between school resources, teacher self‐efficacy, potential multi‐level stressors and teacher burnout using structural equation modelling. The causal structure for primary and secondary school teachers was also examined. The sample was composed of 724 primary and secondary Spanish school teachers. The changes occurring in the Spanish teacher role in the last decade were taken into account to select job stressors. The results obtained revealed that external (school support resources) and internal (management classroom self‐efficacy and instructional self‐efficacy) coping resources have a negative and significant effect on job stressors. In turn, job stressors have a positive and significant effect on teachers’ burnout considering it as both a unidimensional and multidimensional construct. Furthermore, the hypothesised structure of burnout dimensions revealed that emotional exhaustion plays a key role in explaining Spanish school teachers’ burnout. Practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Student Engagement and School Burnout in Finnish Lower-Secondary Schools: Latent Profile Analysis

Self-ratings of behavioural engagement, cognitive engagement and school burnout were used in person-centred analyses to identify latent profiles among 2,485 Finnish lower-secondary school students. Three profiles were identified: high-engagement/low-burnout (40.6% of the sample), average-engagement/average-burnout (53.9%), and low-engagement/high-burnout (5.5%). Another sample of lower-secondary school students was used to validate the 3 profiles. The factors most strongly associated with the high-engagement/low-burnout profile of lower-secondary school students’ were high levels of support from teachers and family, good academic performance, and lack of truancy. The study indicated that teacher and family support and students’ academic achievement are pivotal in understanding student engagement and school burnout.     

Factors relating to regular education teacher burnout in inclusive education

The aims of the research were to identify the environmental factors that relate to the work of regular school teachers who have students with special needs in their classroom, and to find out the correlation between these factors and teacher burnout. A total 330 primary school teachers filled in a questionnaire that had three parts: (1) personal background data; (2) the Friedman’s burnout questionnaire; and (3) environmental features typical of the work of school teachers that include students with special needs in their classroom, in four areas: psychological features, organizational, structural and social. Results show that the background data that related significantly to burnout was teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion. The more positive the attitude was, the more the teacher experienced burnout in the category of self‐fulfilment. This finding was contrary to the hypothesis of the research. Two other background variables were found to relate to the de‐personalization aspect of burnout, teaching higher‐grade students and having an additional administrative role in school. Two other findings that were found to correlate with higher burnout rates were the number of students with special needs in class (more than 20%) and very little assistance provided to the teacher. Three environmental factors were found to have negative correlation with burnout: the organizational factor, the psychological and the social, with the latter being the most significantly negatively correlated with burnout—i.e. the less social support the teacher experienced, the higher was her level of burnout.     

School Counselors in International School: Critical Issues and Challenges

This study sought to examine the views of school counselors in international school settings; international schools being those that enroll students from varying nationalities (both English speaking and non-English speaking countries) and follow an American/International college preparatory education curriculum. Results were pursued in regard to three important areas: (1) mental health needs of students (e.g., coping with cultural transitions, aggression, self-esteem), (2) their own professional development needs (e.g., multicultural development, networking), and (3) their interactions with teachers, administrators, and parents (e.g., lack of knowledge of the counselor’s role, lack of trust in the counselor, lack of teamwork). Implications for supporting international school counselors are provided. An earlier version of this article was presented at the International Counseling Psychology Conference, Chicago, Illinois (2008).     

Teachers' Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Transition Classes

Teachers' perceptions of the effectiveness of transition classes and the potential relationships between these perceptions and demographic variables were investigated. Seventy-eight first grade teachers from the six New England states completed questionnaires that asked them (a) to rate how children who have participated in transition classes compared in academic achievement, social- emotional development, and attitudes toward school with similar "unready" children who did not participate; (b) to indicate if they would recommend a transition program for their best friends' children; (c) to indicate how they would vote if asked whether their school should continue transition classes; and (d) to supply demographic information. The results clearly indicated that this sample of first grade teachers overwhelmingly supported transition classes and perceived them as beneficial despite the lack of empirical evidence to support these beliefs. No relationships between various background or demographic variables (e.g., certification, degree, membership in professional organizations) and perceptions of effectiveness were found, as evidenced by the support of all types of teachers for transition programs. The findings are attributed to a lack of communication between the primary school practitioners and the early childhood research community.     

Stressors,Self‐Efficacy,Coping Resources,and Burnout among Secondary School Teachers in Spain

The relationships among teacher occupational stressors, self‐efficacy, coping resources, and burnout were investigated in a sample of 247 Spanish secondary school teachers. Concretely, two specific aims were formulated in order to examine the effect of teaching stressors on teacher burnout and the role of self‐efficacy and school coping resources as mediator or moderator variables in the stressor–burnout relationship. Teachers reported that when their pedagogical practice in the school setting was being interfered with or hindered by a set of factors from the multiple contexts involved in students’ learning, problems of burnout occurred. In addition, results revealed that teachers with a high level of self‐efficacy and more coping resources reported suffering less stress and burnout than teachers with a low level of self‐efficacy and fewer coping resources, and vice versa.     

Mediating stress: Survival of the hardy

The present study explored variation in individual personality characteristics, termed “hardiness,” among female elementary teachers who had differing levels of burnout despite high levels of occupational stress. One hundred thirty-four female elementary teachers completed the Teaching Events Stress Inventory, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, The Allienation Test, and the Internal-External Control Scale. Data also were collected on demographic variables, incidence of stress-related physical and mental illness, and coping activities. Teachers with high stress and low burnout were less alienated than were teachers with high stress and high burnout. The low burnout teachers chose more active types of coping activities than did the high burnout teachers. Incidence of stress-related physical illness was significantly correlated with level of stress, emotional exhaustion (burnout), and alienation. Implications for future research and school district interventions are discussed.     

Effects of support on stress and burnout in school principals

Background: More than ever before, school principals are dealing with stress and burnout, resulting from increasing role demands and decreasing decision latitude and autonomy. Following the Demand–Support–Constraints model, reasons for stress and burnout can be found in the lack of social support in the environment.

Purpose: This longitudinal study investigates whether changes in social support from colleagues, supervisors and/or the broader community affect levels of principal stress and burnout.

Sample: Approximately 26% of Australia’s school principals took part (N = 3572): primary (n = 2660) and secondary (n = 912) spread across all Australian states and territories. Age ranged between 46 and 55 years, and mean leadership experience was 12 years.

Design and methods: Since stress and burnout are psychological phenomena that develop over time, a longitudinal approach was adopted. Data were collected across four waves, spread over four years, from 2011 to 2014.

Results: It was found that social support predicts decreased stress and in turn burnout in school principals, however differences were found according to the type of social support. The data provide strong evidence for a positive effect of stress on burnout (e.g. the more stress at time 2, the more burnout in principals at time 3) and partial support for indirect negative effects of social support on burnout (e.g. the more support from colleagues at time 2, the less burnout in principals at time 3). However, we also found two instances of positive effects of social support from the broader community on burnout. This suggests that the more support principals receive from the broader community, the more likely they are to show burnout symptoms. This might be explained as the ‘the downside of empathy’, where principals who are strongly supported by their community might also feel more connected to that community. When their community is struggling, they are probably struggling as well.

Conclusions: The findings highlight the positive impact the wider school community can play in providing supplementary professional support to the principal. Unbundling or repackaging the job responsibilities with an administrative team that shares the leadership of the school, could be part of the solution.     

Cultural validation of the Maslach Burnout Inventory for Korean students

The purpose of this study was to examine the factorial validity of the MBI-SS in Korean students. Specifically, we investigated whether the original three-factor structure of the MBI-SS was appropriate for use with Korean students. In addition, by running multi-group structural equation model analyses with factorial invariance tests simultaneously for both genders (i.e., males and females) and academic settings (i.e., middle school and high school), we tested whether the factor loading and correlations between factors can be similarly interpreted across the different groups. Results indicated that the MBI-SS is a valid instrument to measure academic burnout of Korean students. Furthermore, results presented the possibility that the MBI-SS could be used regardless of cultural background. Implications for future research and practice and limitations are discussed.     

The effect of the demand control and effort reward imbalance models on the academic burnout of Korean adolescents

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the Demand Control Model (DCM) and the Effort Reward Imbalance Model (ERIM) on academic burnout for Korean students. Specifically, this study identified the effects of the predictor variables based on DCM and ERIM (i.e., demand, control, effort, reward, Demand Control Ratio, Effort Reward Ratio) on academic burnout. Participants were 1,530 elementary, middle, and high school students and multivariate multiple regression analysis was used. Results indicated that the variables of ERIM (i.e., effort, reward, Effort Reward Ratio) were more influential predictors than the variables of the DCM (i.e., demand, control, Demand Control Ratio). Implications and limitations are discussed.     

Teachers' Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Transition Classes

Teachers' perceptions of the effectiveness of transition classes and the potential relationships between these perceptions and demographic variables were investigated. Seventy-eight first grade teachers from the six New England states completed questionnaires that asked them (a) to rate how children who have participated in transition classes compared in academic achievement, social- emotional development, and attitudes toward school with similar "unready" children who did not participate; (b) to indicate if they would recommend a transition program for their best friends' children; (c) to indicate how they would vote if asked whether their school should continue transition classes; and (d) to supply demographic information. The results clearly indicated that this sample of first grade teachers overwhelmingly supported transition classes and perceived them as beneficial despite the lack of empirical evidence to support these beliefs. No relationships between various background or demographic variables (e.g., certification, degree, membership in professional organizations) and perceptions of effectiveness were found, as evidenced by the support of all types of teachers for transition programs. The findings are attributed to a lack of communication between the primary school practitioners and the early childhood research community.