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Burnout e patologia psichiatrica negli insegnanti

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... Teaching is not an easy task: during the last years, students and their families have become increasingly critical and demanding towards teachers; the students have being developing many expectations, classes are overcrowded, so that the workload of teachers has increased dramatically (Lodolo D'Oria et al., 2003). In Italy, another critical aspect is that teachers' salary is rather low compared with the retributions paid in other European countries (OECD Report-Talis, International Survey on Teaching and Learning carried out by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research, 2014). ...
... In Italy, another critical aspect is that teachers' salary is rather low compared with the retributions paid in other European countries (OECD Report-Talis, International Survey on Teaching and Learning carried out by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research, 2014). Teachers are not highly considered by the public, rather they are seen as part-time workers, who can even enjoy three months of vacation per year (Lodolo D'Oria et al., 2003). Because of these critical factors and others that will be examined later, teachers may experience tiredness, physical fatigue, and see their energies depleted: teachers hardly cope with this demanding situation and many gradually develop a state of Burnout. ...
... The study showed how Burnout is a syndrome characterized by a series of psychological and behavioral manifestations that can be grouped into three components: Exhaustion, Depersonalization and reduced Personal Accomplishment. There have been identified more than 40 causes from which Burnout can originate, grouped within two main categories (Lodolo D'Oria et al., 2003;Swider and Zimmermann, 2010). The first category is related to subjects' individual factors, both social and personal, as age, gender, marital status, etc., the second one includes environmental factors, related to the workplace, and the modalities through which work is organized and managed. ...
Article
Full-text available
Burnout is a psychological syndrome, stemming as a response to chronic interpersonal jobs stressors, characterized by three principal dimensions: Exhaustion (the state of depletion of the individual’s emotional and physical resources due to the difficulties in facing customers’ demands); Depersonalization (the negative, off-putting and extremely distant reaction to diverse facets of the job); reduced Personal Accomplishment (referring to reduced self-esteem concerning competence, achievement and productivity at work). (Maslach and Jackson, 1981). The stream of reforms that has recently changed the Italian School, by favoring educational deregulation and increasing levels of autonomy for school boards, has increased Burnout levels among school teachers, who may feel thorn between their internal expectations (personal beliefs, motivations and professional style) and the external pressures emerging not only from students, but also from a more and more demanding school organization, oriented towards efficiency. Various contributions have posited that in the Burnout prevention a pivotal role is played by the Interpersonal Trust at work both among teachers and between teachers and the School Manager (Ceyanes and Slater, 2005; Timms et al., 2006; Van Maele and Van Houtte, 2014), and by a good School Climate perception (Aron and Milicic, 2000; Dorman, 2003; Grayson and Alvarez, 2008). The present contribution aims at analyzing the relation between each of the three aspects of Burnout and, respectively, the diverse facets of Interpersonal Trust and the components of School Climate. Data have been collected by means of a survey encompassing three well-known instruments, namely the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI; Maslach and Jackson, 1981), the Interpersonal Trust at Work (ITW; Cook and Wall, 1980) and the Revised School Level Environment Questionnaire (SLEQ-Revised; Johnson et al., 2007). 120 teachers have been interviewed in six schools of Southern Italy, in the period between March and May 2014. Globally, results suggest the importance of Interpersonal Trust and School Climate in the prevention of Burnout. Exhaustion was negatively and significantly correlated with the dimension of Interpersonal Trust concerning the Faith in intentions of Peers, and with three dimensions of School Climate, namely, Student Relations, Instructional Innovation and School Resources. Depersonalization was negatively and significant correlated with three out of the four dimensions of Trust (with the exception of Faith in intentions of Management) and with two dimensions of School Climate, namely, Student Relations and School Resources. Finally, Personal Accomplishment was positively and significantly correlated with Faith in intentions of Peers and with Student Relations. Hence, support programs focusing on these crucial dimensions, might be helpful in increasing teachers’ well-being and reducing the level of burnout.
... Teaching is not an easy task: during the last years, students and their families have become increasingly critical and demanding towards teachers; the students have being developing many expectations, classes are overcrowded, so that the workload of teachers has increased dramatically (Lodolo D'Oria et al., 2003). In Italy, another critical aspect is that teachers' salary is rather low compared with the retributions paid in other European countries (OECD Report-Talis, International Survey on Teaching and Learning carried out by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research, 2014). ...
... In Italy, another critical aspect is that teachers' salary is rather low compared with the retributions paid in other European countries (OECD Report-Talis, International Survey on Teaching and Learning carried out by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research, 2014). Teachers are not highly considered by the public, rather they are seen as part-time workers, who can even enjoy three months of vacation per year (Lodolo D'Oria et al., 2003). Because of these critical factors and others that will be examined later, teachers may experience tiredness, physical fatigue, and see their energies depleted: teachers hardly cope with this demanding situation and many gradually develop a state of Burnout. ...
... The study showed how Burnout is a syndrome characterized by a series of psychological and behavioral manifestations that can be grouped into three components: Exhaustion, Depersonalization and reduced Personal Accomplishment. There have been identified more than 40 causes from which Burnout can originate, grouped within two main categories (Lodolo D'Oria et al., 2003;Swider and Zimmermann, 2010). The first category is related to subjects' individual factors, both social and personal, as age, gender, marital status, etc., the second one includes environmental factors, related to the workplace, and the modalities through which work is organized and managed. ...
Article
Full-text available
Burnout is a psychological syndrome, stemming as a response to chronic interpersonal jobs stressors, characterized by three principal dimensions: Exhaustion (the state of depletion of the individual’s emotional and physical resources due to the difficulties in facing customers’ demands); Depersonalization (the negative, off-putting and extremely distant reaction to diverse facets of the job); reduced Personal Accomplishment (referring to reduced self-esteem concerning competence, achievement and productivity at work). (Maslach and Jackson, 1981). The stream of reforms that has recently changed the Italian School, by favoring educational deregulation and increasing levels of autonomy for school boards, has increased Burnout levels among school teachers, who may feel thorn between their internal expectations (personal beliefs, motivations and professional style) and the external pressures emerging not only from students, but also from a more and more demanding school organization, oriented towards efficiency. Various contributions have posited that in the Burnout prevention a pivotal role is played by the Interpersonal Trust at work both among teachers and between teachers and the School Manager (Ceyanes and Slater, 2005; Timms et al., 2006; Van Maele and Van Houtte, 2014), and by a good School Climate perception (Aron and Milicic, 2000; Dorman, 2003; Grayson and Alvarez, 2008). The present contribution aims at analyzing the relation between each of the three aspects of Burnout and, respectively, the diverse facets of Interpersonal Trust and the components of School Climate. Data have been collected by means of a survey encompassing three well-known instruments, namely the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI; Maslach and Jackson, 1981), the Interpersonal Trust at Work (ITW; Cook and Wall, 1980) and the Revised School Level Environment Questionnaire (SLEQ-Revised; Johnson et al., 2007). 120 teachers have been interviewed in six schools of Southern Italy, in the period between March and May 2014. Globally, results suggest the importance of Interpersonal Trust and School Climate in the prevention of Burnout. Exhaustion was negatively and significantly correlated with the dimension of Interpersonal Trust concerning the Faith in intentions of Peers, and with three dimensions of School Climate, namely, Student Relations, Instructional Innovation and School Resources. Depersonalization was negatively and significant correlated with three out of the four dimensions of Trust (with the exception of Faith in intentions of Management) and with two dimensions of School Climate, namely, Student Relations and School Resources. Finally, Personal Accomplishment was positively and significantly correlated with Faith in intentions of Peers and with Student Relations. Hence, support programs focusing on these crucial dimensions, might be helpful in increasing teachers’ well-being and reducing the level of burnout.
... Nelle prassi di prevenzione del burnout, come peraltro in altre tipologie di programmi preventivi, si fa spesso riferimento ad una triplice articolazione che distingue l'azione preventiva primaria, quella secondaria e quella terziaria (si vedano a tal proposito Blandino, 2008;Lodolo D'Oria et al., 2002;Messineo & Messineo, 2000;Papart, 2003) in base alla seguente definizione: "la prevenzione primaria [è definita come la] presa di coscienza da parte della comunità e dei politici della necessità di attuare forme di "benessere socio ambientale" in grado di promuovere la tutela della salute nella collettività. La prevenzione secondaria […] si riferisce all'individuazione dei primi sintomi del burnout e alla correzione degli stessi, attraverso l'eliminazione delle conflittualità, estese a tutto il gruppo, per promuovere la crescita psicologica degli individui; la prevenzione terziaria […] avviene in una fase avanzata della sindrome e si collega alla cura del disturbo" (Messineo & Messineo, 2000, p. 64). ...
... L'insegnamento rappresenta ad oggi una categoria professionale che, al pari di altre professioni ad alta intensità relazionale (Loera, Gattino & Converso, 2013;, riporta secondo un crescente rischio per lo sviluppo di stress e burnout (Lodolo D'Oria et al., 2006;Gil-Monte, Carlotto & Gonçalves Câmara, 2011;Restrepo, Rodriguez, Padilla & Avella-Garcia, 2009;Van Droogenbroeck & Spruyt, 2015). ...
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The aim of the study is to identify relationships between levels of burnout in a sample of Italian teachers in middle school and the quality of the classroom relational climate experienced from their students. Method: analysis identified three different teachers' burnout profiles, defined as "Enthusiastic", "Exhausted-Indifferent" and "Exhausted-Guilty". ANOVA showed that were significant differences in the quality of classroom relational climate perceived by students. The Enthusiastic group was associated with better levels regarding the students' perception about teachers support and, concerning student-peers relationship, better support and mutual respect.The results are consistent with literature that underlines how burned-out teachers experience more difficult and conflictive relationship with their students. Moreover, it emerges how deficiencies in relational experience could impact not only on the student-teacher relationship, but also on the quality of student-peer interactions.
... Like other human service professions, teaching represents a highly stressful occupation (Lodolo D'Oria et al. 2006;Stoeber and Rennert 2008) given the presence of societal, organizational, and interpersonal challenges. At the societal level, teachers have to face increased pressure on the job, resulting in less autonomy, increased accountability demands, and non-teaching-related workloads (Van Droogenbroeck and Spruyt 2015). ...
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This study aimed at the assessment of psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Spanish Burnout Inventory (SBI-Ita) in a sample of Italian teachers and the analysis of burnout profiles based on a model that includes four dimensions: Enthusiasm toward job, Psychological exhaustion, Indolence, and Guilt. A self-reported questionnaire was filled out by 689 Italian teachers. Data analyses performed Multi-sample Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis. Results confirmed the hypothesized four-factor structure and the discriminant role of Guilt in differentiating clusters. Results highlights the reliability of the SBI-Ita in the assessment of teachers’ burnout. Furthermore, results evidence for a new typology of burnout that differentiate guilty from non-guilty professionals.
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Introduction Work ability constitutes one of the most studied well-being indicators related to work. Past research highlighted the relationship with work-related resources and demands, and personal resources. However, no studies highlight the role of collective and self-efficacy beliefs in sustaining work ability. Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine whether and by which mechanism work ability is linked with individual and collective efficacies in a sample of primary and middle school teachers. Materials and methods Using a dataset consisting of 415 primary and middle school Italian teachers, the analysis tested for the mediating role of self-efficacy between collective efficacy and work ability. Results Mediational analysis highlights that teachers’ self-efficacy totally mediates the relationship between collective efficacy and perceived work ability. Conclusion Results of this study enhance the theoretical knowledge and empirical evidence regarding the link between teachers’ collective efficacy and self-efficacy, giving further emphasis to the concept of collective efficacy in school contexts. Moreover, the results contribute to the study of well-being in the teaching profession, highlighting a process that sustains and promotes levels of work ability through both collective and personal resources.
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Using teachers as a prototype, this article suggests that there are three types of burnout: “wearout,” wherein an individual gives up, feeling depleted in confronting stress; “classic” burnout, wherein an individual works increasingly hard in the face of stress; and an “underchallenged” type, wherein an individual is faced not with excessive degrees of stress per se (e.g., overload), but rather with monotonous and unstimulating work conditions. The major arguments put forward are that: a) clinicians should avoid treating teacher burnout as if it were a single phenomenon, and instead tailor their treatment to the specific type of burnout manifested by their client; and b) these treatments, while embodying different elements, should be essentially integrative in nature. Psychoanalytic insight, cognitive restructuring, empathic concern, and stress-reduction techniques may all be necessary, albeit in different combinations, to treat successfully burnout of each type. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Clin Psychol/In Session 56: 675–689, 2000.
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The present study reports the results of a questionnaire survey among 212 health care workers at a hospital in Northern Norway. Measures included burnout, trait anxiety, various job demands and supports, and work attitudes (job satisfaction and organizational commitment). Results provided support for Maslach's conceptualization of the burnout syndrome cross-culturally. Correlations among the three burnout subscales, as well as organizational correlates of burnout were generally consistent with earlier findings. The burnout scores of hospital workers were higher than North American norms, and some occupational differencs among subscales were found. A model of individual characteristics, job demands, burnout, and work attitudes was tested through a series of multiple regressions. Trait anxiety as well as job demands contributed to burnout. The influence of trait anxiety on work attitudes was mediated through emotional exhaustion. However, in addition to emotional exhaustion, both job demands and organizational supports had direct effects on work attitudes. Thus, burnout does not fully operate as a mediating variable between demands and attitudes such as commitment. The study also addressed the issue of individual differences in the burnout response and focused on the need to systematically investigate the relaive importance of situational versus personality variables in future burnout research.
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Indicates that the incidence of burnout in psychotherapists is about 2–6%. Institutionally based and inexperienced therapists seem most at risk for burnout. The satisfaction of being in a position of helpful intimacy prevents most therapists from experiencing burnout. Three types of burned-out therapist are delineated: those who in response to frustration work increasingly harder; those who in response to frustration give up entirely; and those who perform their work perfunctorily, having lost interest in work they now find unchallenging. Trends that may increase the risk of burnout (e.g., the increasing number of individuals with character disorders that are presenting for treatment) are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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Job burnout has long been recognized as a problem that leaves once-enthusiastic professionals feeling drained, cynical, and ineffective. This article proposes two new approaches to the prevention of burnout that focus on the interaction between personal and situational factors. The first approach, based on the Maslach multidimensional model, focuses on the exact opposite of burnout: increasing engagement with work by creating a better “fit” between the individual and the job. The second approach draws from the decision-making literature and reframes burnout in terms of how perceptions of the risk of burnout may lead to suboptimal choices that actually increase the likelihood of burning out. These new approaches provide a more direct strategy for preventing burnout than typical unidimensional “stress” models because these new approaches (1) specify criteria for evaluating outcomes and (2) focus attention on the relationship between the person and the situation rather than one or the other in isolation.
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The paper attempts to bring concepts developed in cognitive approaches to stress and coping to a model which predicts burnout as a function of organizational demands and resources. Workers in a mental hospital (N = 177) provided information regarding coping patterns, burnout, and organizational commitment as well as various demands and resources in the work environment. A LISREL analysis confirmed that burnout is best considered a function of coping patterns as well as a function of organizational demands and resources. Control coping cognitions and actions were associated with decreased burnout, while escapist coping strategies were associated with increased burnout. The analysis indicated relationships of coping patterns with organizational commitment could be operating indirectly through the relationships of both coping patterns and commitment with the burnout. The paper discusses implications of these findings for interventions designed to alleviate or prevent burnout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Organizational Behavior is the property of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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This article describes a cross-sectional study of the links between job-related stressors and depressive and psychophysiologic symptoms and morale in 67 New York City teachers. The teachers' mean score on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; M = 13.03) was higher than might be expected from average community residents. The teachers also tended to express dissatisfaction with their jobs. The CES-D and the Psychophysiologic Symptom Scale were correlated as highly as their reliabilities would permit, a finding consistent with the view that the CES-D and the Psychophysiologic Symptom Scale measure the same construct, nonspecific psychological distress. The correlational findings suggest that distress is distinct from job-related morale, which was indexed by measures of motivation to continue teaching and job satisfaction. The results of regression analyses, which controlled for sociodemographic factors, indicated that the level of job strain (frequency of ongoing stressors) is more closely related to psychological distress and low morale than episodic stressors, including crimes in which the teacher was victim. The regression analyses also indicated that colleague support was related to lower symptom levels and higher morale.
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In this study we examined the effects of job-related stressful events and social support on burnout among teachers. We conducted a mail survey of a random sample of public school teachers in Iowa. Consistent with findings in previous research, teacher characteristics such as age, sex, and grade level taught were predictive of burnout. We also found that the number of stressful events experienced and social support were predictive of teacher burnout. Some evidence of the stress-moderating role of social support was also found. Teachers who reported that they had supportive supervisors and indicated that they received positive feedback concerning their skills and abilities from others were less vulnerable to burnout. We discuss the implications of these findings for programs aimed at preventing teacher burnout. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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The aim of the present study was to show differences between culture-bound stress levels in two samples of elementary and junior high school teachers in Italy (N = 299) and in France (N = 217), using the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI; Maslach & Jackson, 1981) as a questionnaire. The results confirmed the influence of sociocultural background on stress levels in both samples in relation to age. Personal accomplishment was the most discriminating indicator in the two groups.
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The association between opportunities for continuing medical education (CME) and primary physicians' job stress, burnout and job dissatisfaction has not been investigated. It was hypothesized that participation in CME activities and perceived opportunities at work for keeping up-to-date with medical and professional developments would be correlated negatively with job stress and burnout, and positively with job satisfaction. 309 primary care physicians (183 family physicians and 126 paediatricians) employed in health maintenance organizations in Israel responded to a mailed questionnaire. The independent variables were the extent of engagement in CME activities and perceived opportunities at work for professional updating. The dependent variables were job stress, burnout and job satisfaction. Multiple regression analyses were employed. After controlling for age, sex and professional status, participation in CME activities was associated negatively with job stress and positively with job satisfaction, among family physicians. Among paediatricians, CME was associated negatively with burnout. Perceived opportunities for professional updating were associated negatively with burnout and (marginally) with stress among family physicians, and negatively with stress and positively with satisfaction among paediatricians. A third of the paediatricians and a quarter of the family physicians wanted to increase their involvement in CME. In this cross-sectional study, causality cannot be established and the CME measures should be refined. However, the results are consistent with the study's hypotheses and suggest that opportunities for CME and professional updating may reduce physicians' job distress and dissatisfaction.
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A three-part self-report questionnaire, which incorporated portions of the Maslach Burnout Inventory, was used to assess the degree of burnout among 111 instructors of moderately retarded children, 133 teachers of mildly retarded students and 218 regular educators. Contrary to expectations, teachers of nonretarded students reported significantly fewer and weaker feelings of success and competence accompanied by more frequent and stronger impersonal attitudes toward their students. Demographic variables were found to be significant but weak predictors of teacher burnout. The teachers also reported a low incidence of chronic or serious health problems. Comparisons were presented between regular and special educators in addition to suggestions for stress reduction.
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Examined the relationship between select teacher background variables and aspects of teacher burnout (TBO). TBO is viewed as a perceived state of physical and emotional exhaustion, negative attitudes toward students, and lack of personal accomplishment. Three aspects of burnout—emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment—that were measured by 3 subscales of a burnout inventory (BI) served as the dependent variables. The background variables of sex, age, grade level taught, years of teaching, type of community in which teaching occurred, level of education, and marital status served as the independent variables. 469 randomly selected Massachusetts classroom teachers served as Ss. When multiple-regression analysis was employed, sex, age, and grade level taught were identified as significantly related to 1 or more of the BI subscales. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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The prevalence of people with disability pensions in Norway has increased sharply from 1980, without evidence of a concomitant change in morbidity or in occupational panorama. The incidence of granted disability pensions in 2 small rural municipalities from 1988 to 1990 (n=507) were compared with professional or occupational background and the diagnostic basis of granting the disability pension. Information on occupation and diagnosis was collected manually. Efforts were made to ascertain whether the applicants' work had been strenuous or not. Data giving such information was not available for the total population at risk. Manual workers made up three fourths (n=395) of the incidence. Disability pension was granted with musculoskeletal disorders as the diagnosis in half of all cases. There was also a tendency towards cardiovascular and mental disorders being more frequent in the group of non-manual workers. Incidence rates were higher than the mean rates for the whole country for the diagnostic groups musculoskeletal disorders, cancer, cardiovascular disorders and mental disorders, and the rates did not change over the 3 years. The study indicates that disability pensioners still are more prevalent among manual workers. Increased availability of vocational rehabilitation for this group may be needed, certainly if a reduction in the incidence of disability pensions is aimed at.
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School teaching is regarded as a stressful occupation, but the perception of the job as stressful may be influenced by coping responses and social support. To assess the associations between teacher stress, psychological coping responses and social support, taking into account the plaintive set engendered by negative affectivity. Questionnaire survey of 780 primary and secondary school teachers (53.5% response rate). In stepwise multiple regression, social support at work and the coping responses behavioural disengagement and suppression of competing activities predicted job stress independently of age, gender, class size, occupational grade and negative affectivity. High job stress was associated with low social support at work and greater use of coping by disengagement and suppression of competing activities. It is suggested that behavioural disengagement and suppression of competing activities are maladaptive responses in a teaching environment and may actually contribute to job stress. Coping and social support not only moderate the impact of stressors on well-being but influence the appraisal of environmental demands as stressful.
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Teachers in a rural school district were administered the Maslach Burnout Inventory three times over a five-year period. Teachers scoring high on emotional exhaustion and low on personal accomplishment were classified as "experiencing burnout." Across the three waves, the proportion of teachers meeting these criteria for burnout were 7%, 11%, and 11%, respectively. By grade, burnout was noted among 3%, 8%, and 9%, respectively, over time for senior high-school teachers; 7%, 7%, and 11% for junior high-school teachers; and 9%, 17%, and 12% for elementary school teachers. Interventions must consider grade-taught and are probably most cost-effective for elementary school. It is important to establish norms across time and across school settings to determine high-risk groups deserving interventions.
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33 teachers from one institutional school setting and 59 teachers from three north central school districts volunteered to complete and return Beck's Depression Scale, the Coopersmith Self-esteem Inventory--Adult Form, Stress Profile for Teachers, and the Staff Burnout Scale for Mental Health Professionals. Analysis of variance (2 x 2) for teaching level (grade and high school) by sex showed those teaching regular classrooms is grade school experienced less burnout and stress than did high school teachers. There was no sex difference. In the institutional setting there was a significant difference on burnout scores between men and women who taught high school; their scores were higher than those of the male grade school teachers. Burnout lie scores were also significantly higher for female high school teachers than for both male and female grade school teachers. Scores on stress were significantly higher for male high school teachers than for both female high school teachers and male grade school teachers.
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A total of 750 teachers from 16 government and non-government schools from areas of contrasted socio-economic status (SES) responded to a questionnaire designed to investigate associations between selected aspects of burnout among teachers working in secondary schools in Victoria, Australia. By comparing high and low burnout groups on biographic, psychological and work pattern variables, differences between teachers experiencing high and low levels of burnout were identified. Multiple regression analyses assessed the relative importance of these variables in accounting for the variance in each of the three burnout subscales. School type was related to perceptions of stress and burnout. Higher levels of burnout were associated with poorer physical health, higher rates of absenteeism, lower self-confidence and more frequent use of regressive coping strategies. Teachers classified as experiencing high levels of burnout attributed most of the stress in their lives to teaching and reported low levels of career commitment and satisfaction. Further, teachers who recorded high levels of burnout were characterised by lower levels of the personality disposition of hardiness, lower levels of social support, higher levels of role stress and more custodial pupil control ideologies than their low-burnout counterparts. Psychological variables were found to be more significant predictors of burnout than biographical variables.
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This investigation compared levels of psychological burnout and its antecedents and consequences among teachers, department heads, and principals from a single school board. The data showed that increased stress and burnout were associated with decreased administrative responsibilities. Possible explanations for these findings are provided.
Article
Sex differences in levels of experienced psychological burnout, and in antecedents and consequences, were examined among teachers and department heads. Male teachers reported greater burnout and less job satisfaction than did female teachers. Although male department heads scored significantly higher on psychological burnout, there were no sex differences on measures of satisfaction and emotional well-being. The findings are explained in terms of sex differences in levels of social support.
Article
. This study investigated the relationship with stress and burnout of eight selected psychological, organisational and demographic variables in secondary school teachers. Teachers (N = 78) from four secondary schools completed self report measures of stress, burnout, role conflict, role ambiguity, locus of control, and organisational and demographic variables. Regression and follow-up canonical correlation analyses indicated that six of the eight selected variables were significantly related to stress, total burnout, frequency and intensity of burnout, emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and personal accomplishment subscales. Role ambiguity and locus of control explained most variance on stress and all burnout scales except burnout intensity and emotional exhaustion, which were best explained by number of years teaching experience. Overall, however, stress and burnout levels were found to be low. Theoretical implications of the study include identifying whether levels of stress and burnout increase during the course of the school year, and identifying variables which can be included in other studies. Practical implications of how to overcome factors leading to stress and burnout as identified in this study are also discussed.
Article
S ummary Despite a growing body of research on teacher stress and development of stress‐management programmes, studies come almost exclusively from just a few industrialised nations and the applicability of their recommendations for teacher training in developing regions is difficult to ascertain. The present study helps to redress this imbalance, and reports on data from 444 secondary school teachers in Barbados using a 36‐item self‐report instrument. Individual item means indicated that difficulties associated with classroom instructional and management demands were perceived by the majority of teachers to be the most stressful aspects of their work. On the other hand, factor analysis and ANOVA computations revealed that problems associated with time management most clearly differentiated between teachers when compared on the basis of sex, qualifications, and years of experience. Findings are discussed generally with reference to the existing international literature, and more specifically in terms of living and working conditions in the West Indies.
Article
There is evidence that the original Maslach Burnout Inventory subscales may be improved by tailoring the factor structure and norms for individual professions within the original group. To determine the factor structures of the original 25-item inventory for a homogeneous population of 710 public school teachers from two states data were factor analyzed using principal factoring with iteration. The resulting factor structure was consistent with the original factor structure scaling; and norms specific for analyzing teachers' scores are reported.
Article
This study was designed to estimate the relationship between teachers' somatic complaints and illnesses and their self-reported job-related stresses. 79% of the secondary Catholic school teachers in Central Ohio were classified into one of two groups based upon their scores on the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Teachers could be correctly classified as burned out or not 91% of the time when utilizing 24 somatic complaints as discriminating variables. Burnout seemed to represent a potential health risk to these teachers.
Article
Will an effective discipline policy improve student misbehaviour and result in a reduction of teacher stress? It is commonly believed that student misbehaviour is a major cause of teacher stress, and that the degree of student misbehaviour is reflected in student suspension rates. Moreover, it is believed that student misbehaviour can be reduced by improving a school's discipline policy through the collaborative efforts of whole school communities. As a result of growing concern about student misbehaviour and teacher stress, a Whole School Approach to Discipline and Student Welfare programme was implemented throughout the Australian state of Victoria. This paper reports on the evaluation studies that were conducted to assess the effectiveness of the programme and examine the assumptions which underpinned its implementation. Data were obtained from 4,072 primary and secondary school teachers. Although longitudinal analyses suggested that the programme was effective in reducing teacher stress, there was no mean change in student misbehaviour. Structural equation analyses showed that there was little relationship between a school's discipline policy and the perceived level of student misbehaviour. It was also found that student suspension rates were not related to student misbehaviour, but could be predicted on the basis of a school's discipline policy and the self-esteem of teachers. Two and three wave causal analyses also demonstrated the problems associated with using cross-sectional research to support major policy decisions. Overall, these studies showed that there is little point in trying to reduce teacher stress by reducing student misbehaviour. Rather, it is more appropriate to develop a supportive organisational climate that enables teachers to cope with the student misbehaviour that confronts them.
Article
The tripartite components of burnout and eight coping strategies were assessed in a sample of 415 Chinese secondary school teachers in Hong Kong. While emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation were relatively undifferentiated among these teachers, a reduced sense of accomplishment as a distinct component of burnout was generally reported. The findings that avoidant coping strategies were consistently related to all three aspects of burnout suggested that teachers employing escape-avoidance to cope with stressors might be more prone to burnout. Implications for promoting certain patterns of coping to combat burnout were discussed.
Article
This study examined a research model developed to understand psychological burnout among school-based educators. Data were collected from 833 school-based educators using questionnaires completed anonymously. Four groups of predictor variables identified in previous research were considered: individual demographic and situational variables, work stressors, role conflict, and social support. Some support for the model was found. Work stressors were strong predictors of psychological burnout. Individual demographic characteristics, role conflict, and social support had little effect on psychological burnout.
Article
The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between the teacher's cognitive style and occupational stress. A sample of 212 teachers in Maltese secondary schools completed a questionnaire surveying both the level of overall stress and the severity of four major areas of job stress. They were also given the Cognitive Styles Analysis which assesses two fundamental dimensions of cognitive style, wholist-analytic and verbal-imagery. For the top and bottom 25 per cent of the sample with extreme style characteristics, self-reported teacher stress was not related to style in a simple manner. However, style interacted significantly with teacher age. With regard to the four major areas of occupational stress, significant variations in the levels of stress were observed with style: whereas Analytics reported greater stress than Wholists for 'pupil misbehaviour' and 'poor working conditions', the converse was true for 'poor staff relations' and 'time pressures'.
Article
The study reports an investigation of stress levels, gender and personality dimensions in a sample of school teachers. The Professional Life Stress Scale (PLSS) was used to assess teachers' stress levels and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) was used to define their personality dimensions (Extroversion-Introversion, Neuroticism-High Psychoticism-Low Psychoticism). The study sample consisted of 95 teachers, 51 females and 44 males. Results revealed that the majority of teachers sampled, 72.6 per cent, were experiencing moderate levels of stress, and 23.2 per cent serious levels. T-test results showed no significant difference between male and female teachers in stress levels. Correlation analysis between stress level and personality dimensions revealed significant positive correlation between stress and psychoticism. A significant negative correlation emerged between stress and extroversion, and a significant positive correlation between stress and neuroticism. A multiple regression analysis revealed that extroversion and neuroticism were the best predictors of stress levels. Overall, the results therefore indicated that personality dimensions appear to contribute more to stress levels than do the variables of either age or gender.
Article
This study assessed occupational stress amongst 2,638 head teachers of primary and secondary schools, together with principals/directors of further and higher education establishments, throughout the United Kingdom. Data were collected on personal/job demographics, sources of job stress, mental health, job satisfaction and coping strategies. These data were analysed by SPSS-X, producing univariate, bivariate and multivariate techniques. It was found that as we moved from the further/higher education level to secondary to primary sectors, the levels of job dissatisfaction and mental ill health rose. In addition, it was found that, with the exception of primary schools, female head teachers in secondary and FHE seem to be suffering significantly greater job dissatisfaction than their male counterparts, although this does not translate itself into mental ill health. Male head teachers, on the other hand, seem to suffer more mental ill health than their female counterparts. And finally, the two main sources of occupational stress that appear in many of the multivariate analyses as predictors of job dissatisfaction and mental ill health are ‘work overload’ and ‘handling relationships with staff’. The implications of all these findings are discussed in detail.
Article
This study was designed to assess the structure of the Maslach Burnout Inventory for 218 Jordanian and 162 Emirati teachers. LISREL was used to test the invariance of factor structure across the two Middle Eastern samples. Coefficients alpha were computed for the three subscales of the inventory for the samples. The results indicated that the parameter estimates were invariant across the two samples; however, not all factor correlations were invariant. Factor correlations of Jordanian teachers were larger than those of the Emirati teachers. Coefficients alpha ranged between .71 and .84 for the Jordanians and between .68 and .83 for the Emiratis. The inventory appears to be valid and reliable for nonWestern teachers as well as Western teachers.
Article
There is a widespread belief that teacher stress is a serious problem with obvious implications for teachers' physical and psychological health status as well as performance. There is much published research about teacher stress, although not about cultural or national group comparisons. This study examines the occupational stress, strain and personal coping resources of a comparative group of Scottish and Australian vocational teachers. Three hundred and thirty two Scottish and Australian vocational and further education teachers. A standardised test, the Occupational Stress Inventory, was used to gather the data. Overall it was found that stress and strain similarities between the two national groups far outweighed the differences. For instance, there were no between-group differences in strain levels, which were found to be at 'average' levels for both groups. Nevertheless, for both groups of teachers, role overload appeared to be a strong source of occupational stress.
Article
Work-related stress and burnout has been observed in primary school teachers in many countries. Functional deficits have been related to certain psychosomatic diagnoses and the work environment. We have compared 100 teachers with a matched group of non-teachers according to diagnostic differences, all attending a 4 week resident stay at a vocational rehabilitation centre in 1993-5. Seventy-five percent were women. The use of ICD-9 diagnoses and a five-dimensional functional diagnostic tool were compared. The five dimensions were defined along the following axes: work environment, family relations, health, personal economy and leisure time activity. There were no significant differences between ICD-9 diagnostic groups between teachers and non-teachers. Indefinite diagnostic entities (fatigue, chronic myalgia, fibromyalgia, etc.) were used in more than half of residents in both groups. Definite musculo-skeletal disorders were the second most prominent diagnosis. On the five-dimensional functional diagnostic tool teachers scored significantly worse than non-teachers on the family relations axis, and on a sum score of all axes. The difference was mainly present in women. The study suggests that work-related stress and signs of burnout in teachers may be higher than in other employees, but the factors contributing to this may be found outside the work environment.
Article
Six dimensions of the quality of working life were measured to find out the relation ship of burnout and the quality of working life in retail trade and metal industry (N = 2599). Burnout was measured by emotional exhaustion from the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). Some demographic variables were included in the analyses. The result show the great impact of psychological job demands on burnout in both business lines. The impact of the other five indexes (conflicts, job control, work of superior, organization of work, and monotonous job) on burnout were different in these two business lines. Still variables had some impact on burnout in both the retail trade and in the metal industry. Age turned out to be a complicated factor in relation to burnout.
Article
Risk of early exit from work for teachers was operationalized as high burnout scores, working part-time due to heavy burden and illness or working part-time while also receiving partial disability pension. Data were collected by mailed questionnaires in a cross-sectional study to a random sample of Norwegian comprehensive schoolteachers, response rate = 86% (N = 1860 valid cases). High age increased the risk of early exit from work, but for cynicism the age effect disappeared when sense of competence and stress were introduced in the regression model. Age had no effect for low professional efficacy. Sense of competence effected burnout, but actual competence level and the gap between actual competence and teaching obligations did not. Stress effected all measures of risk of early exit, especially exhaustion. Change as stress factor increased the exhaustion scores, and were also relevant to risk of having a part-time position, and/or partial disability pension.
Article
Numerous studies examined teachers' self-reports concerning their occupational burnout. Given that pupils are in a prime position to assess teachers' burnout, due to their intensive daily contact with their teachers and because some of pupils' behaviours can induce stress, the present study focuses on a relatively unexplored topic, namely the meanings that adolescents attach to burnout among their teachers. This study was aimed at examining pupils' perceptions regarding burnout among their teachers, and to investigate the possible recommendations that the pupils would suggest to different constituents of the educational system for coping with burnout among teachers. A total of 297 Israeli secondary school pupils (approximately 57% girls and 43% boys) studying in 12 tenth grade classes (mean age 15 years 8 months, SD = 0.42 years) participated in this study. A questionnaire dealing with pupils' perceptions of burnout among teachers was administered. It included four sections. The first part asked for background of the pupils (sex and age). Next, pupils were asked an open-ended question in which they need to describe the most salient behaviour of a burned-out teacher in the classroom and to indicate the proportion of burned-out teachers among those teaching them. The third section consisted of a list of 14 items describing potential characteristics of burned-out teachers. The respondents were asked to indicate the extent to which, in their opinion, each of the descriptors characterized burned-out teachers. In addition, pupils were asked three open-ended questions in which they were required to describe the most salient way for (a) the students, (b) the teachers themselves and (c) the school principal to cope with teachers' burnout. Findings showed that the most frequently mentioned characteristics of burned-out teachers were: teachers who 'feel that working with pupils for a full day is an oppressive effort', 'feel wiped out at the end of a teaching day', 'feel that teaching is turning them into impatient persons' and 'feel that teaching frustrates them'. No differences were found between girls' and boys' perceptions of burned-out teachers: both emphasize the psychological exhaustion of teachers as the most salient characteristic of burnout among teachers. Pupils suggest that the better ways for coping with this phenomenon include a more positive behaviour of the pupils themselves towards teachers, that burned-out teachers quit their jobs and that better work conditions be offered to them by the educational authorities. Our findings allude to the importance of analyzing interactional phenomena like burnout among teachers from the perspectives of different actors in the school arena and allow us to broaden our understanding of pupils' perceptions of teachers. Suggestions for further research and for the development of methodological refinements are discussed.
Article
There is evidence that burnout may be a clinical entity with pathological stress reaction features related to the inability in finding pleasure from work. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between burnout and depression. The study took place in the general hospital AHEPA of Thessaloniki. All members of the nursing staff (in total 368 subjects) took part. The protocol was self-reported and anonymous, in order to obtain as valid data as possible and included the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) to assess the level of burnout, the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) to assess personality traits, and the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale to assess depressive symptomatology. The analysis revealed a weak but significant relationship between burnout and depression. Depression is a pervasive disorder that affects almost every aspect of the patient's life. On the contrary, burnout is, by definition, a syndrome restricted to the patient's professional environment. However, it seems that there may be two distinct types of burnout syndromes, of which the one comprising the majority of nurses has little or no common features with depression. The second type consists of individuals with a predisposition to develop burnout. The latter is characterized by more severe symptomatology, phenotypic similarity to depression and presumably common etiological mechanisms.
Article
Using teachers as a prototype, this article suggests that there are three types of burnout: "wearout," wherein an individual gives up, feeling depleted in confronting stress; "classic" burnout, wherein an individual works increasingly hard in the face of stress; and an "underchallenged" type, wherein an individual is faced not with excessive degrees of stress per se (e.g., overload), but rather with monotonous and unstimulating work conditions. The major arguments put forward are that: a) clinicians should avoid treating teacher burnout as if it were a single phenomenon, and instead tailor their treatment to the specific type of burnout manifested by their client; and b) these treatments, while embodying different elements, should be essentially integrative in nature. Psychoanalytic insight, cognitive restructuring, empathic concern, and stress-reduction techniques may all be necessary, albeit in different combinations, to treat successfully burnout of each type.