When pre-service teachers’ lack of occupational commitment is not enough to explain intention to quit: Emotional intelligence matters!

Teachers at risk: Depressive symptoms, emotional intelligence, and burnout during COVID-19

Background

Previous studies indicated that depressive symptoms are common among teachers due to job stress and difficulty in managing emotions. The aim of this research was to determine the levels of depressive symptomatology in a sample of secondary school teachers who worked during the COVID-19 pandemic and to analyze the relationships with their levels of burnout and emotional intelligence.

Methods

The study involved 430 secondary school teachers residing in Madrid (Spain) who worked during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants' age was between 25 and 60 (M = 41.40; SD = 11.07) and the gender distribution was 53.72% men and 46.28% women. We used the Spanish version of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), the Maslach Burnout Inventory Educators Survey (MBI-ES) and the Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS-24).

Results

The main results indicated that teachers presented high means of depressive symptomatology, with women obtaining higher scores than men. Significant relationships were also observed between the levels of depressive symptomatology and the dimensions of burnout and emotional intelligence. Finally, the three dimensions of emotional intelligence would contribute to the depressive symptomatology of teachers, while of the burnout dimensions only Emotional Exhaustion would make a contribution.

Conclusion

The possible consequences of depressive symptomatology in teachers during the pandemic are discussed, as well as the need to enhance protective factors such as emotional intelligence and to study burnout levels.

Analysis of the correlation between occupational stress and mental health of primary and secondary school teachers

BACKGROUND

With the rapid advancement of the educational reform, the requirements for primary and secondary school teachers are increasing, which makes the work pressure of teachers become greater, which can lead to a variety of mental health problems. It is the primary task to promote the psychological health of primary and secondary school teachers by analyzing the stress of teachers and putting forward reasonable countermeasures.

OBJECTIVE

The study aimed to analyze the direct and indirect effects of occupational stress on the mental health level of primary and secondary school teachers.

METHODS

317 teachers from 6 rural primary and secondary schools in Zhejiang province were selected as research subjects. A questionnaire was designed to collect information of occupational stress, mental health, and social support scores. The teachers were compared for differences in gender, marriage status, class teacher, occupational stress, and mental health. The correlation among occupational stress, mental health, and social support was analyzed by structural equation model.

RESULTS

The occupational stress of male teachers was higher than that of female teachers in self-development, work load, and career expectation, and the mental health was lower than that of female teachers in work (P < 0.05). The occupational stress of married teachers was significantly higher than that of unmarried teachers, and their mental health was significantly higher than that of unmarried teachers (P < 0.05). The occupational stress of teachers with senior professional titles was lower than that of teachers with primary and intermediate titles in the dimensions of self-development, work load, and career expectation (P < 0.05). The occupational stress of class teachers was higher than that of non-class teachers in terms of student factors, work load, and career expectation (P < 0.05). The direct path coefficient between occupational stress and mental health was -0.421, and the indirect path coefficient between occupational stress and mental health was -0.172.

CONCLUSIONS

The occupational stress of male, married, class teacher, and teacher with the primary and intermediate titles was significantly greater than that of female, unmarried, non-class teacher, and senior title teacher. In conclusion, the occupational stress of primary and secondary school teachers can not only directly predict the mental health level, but also indirectly affect the mental health level through social support.

Teachers’ Burnout during COVID-19 Pandemic in Spain: Trait Emotional Intelligence and Socioemotional Competencies

The aim of this research is to recognize the burnout levels in a group of high school teachers that exercised their profession during the COVID-19 pandemic, looking forward to examining the correlation between burnout levels, trait emotional intelligence and socioemotional competencies (Autonomy, Regulation, Prosocial Behaviour and Empathy). The study counted with a sample of 430 high school teachers from multiple regions of Spain. The participants’ age was between 25 and 60, and the gender distribution was 53.72% for men and 46.28% for women. We used the Spanish version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), the Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS-24) and the Socioemotional Competences Scale (SCS). The main results indicated that teachers showed high levels of burnout dimensions, with women being the most affected, reaching higher levels in comparison to men. It was also observed that the older and more experienced professionals showed lower levels of burnout. Finally, statistically significant negative relations were found between emotional intelligence and burnout levels, as well as their association with the teacher’s socioemotional competencies. The analysis argues the possible consequences of stress during the pandemic and, correspondingly, the need for promoting protective approaches that embrace emotional intelligence and socioemotional competencies.

The Interactive Effects of Personal Resources on Teachers' Work Engagement and Withdrawal Intentions: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

This research contributes to the current knowledge on teacher well-being by examining an integrated model with a personal resource (i.e., emotional intelligence) explaining teacher withdrawal intention through a mediator (i.e., work engagement) and considering the moderator effect of a second personal resource (i.e., teacher self-efficacy) in this relationship. Adopting a cross-sectional design, a total of 702 teachers (63.2% female) working at different educational levels took part in this study. The results showed that emotional intelligence and teacher self-efficacy were positively related to work engagement and negatively related to withdrawal intentions. Most importantly, the results demonstrated support for the hypothesized model-that is, teacher self-efficacy moderated the relationship between emotional intelligence and work engagement. Taken together, our findings highlight both emotional intelligence and teacher self-efficacy as positive individual resources for increased work engagement and reduced withdrawal intentions. This study has implications for the development of intervention programs aiming at increasing occupational well-being in educational settings.