The Interplay of Matching and Non-Matching Job Demands and Resources on Emotional Exhaustion among Teachers

Zusammenhänge zwischen psychologischer Bedürfnisbefriedigung und emotionaler Erschöpfung sowie Vitalität bei Sportlehrkräften im Vorbereitungsdienst

Zusammenfassung. Sportlehrkräfte sind mit hohen Arbeitsbelastungen konfrontiert, die insbesondere bei einem Mangel an beruflicher Bedürfnisbefriedigung zu Burnoutsymptomen führen können. Basierend auf dem Job-Demands-Ressource-Modell hat die vorliegende Untersuchung daher zum Ziel, Einflüsse von beruflicher Bedürfnisbefriedigung als Arbeitsplatzressource auf Burnout und das berufliche Engagement bei Sportlehrkräften im Vorbereitungsdienst zu untersuchen. Mittels einer Fragebogenuntersuchung werden Zusammenhänge zwischen beruflicher Bedürfnisbefriedigung und -frustration, emotionaler Erschöpfung und Vitalität an einer Stichprobe von N = 263 angehenden Sportlehrkräften untersucht. Strukturgleichungsmodelle ergaben einerseits einen signifikant negativen Effekt der Befriedigung des Autonomie- sowie des Kompetenzbedürfnisses auf Vitalität als auch einen signifikant positiven Effekt beider Bedürfnisse auf die emotionale Erschöpfung. Zudem zeigt die Frustration dieser Bedürfnisse signifikant negative Effekte auf Vitalität. Die Frustration des Bedürfnisses nach Kompetenz hat einen signifikant positiven Effekt auf emotionale Erschöpfung. Die Befunde werden mit Blick auf praktische Implikationen im Sinne einer Burnoutprävention für angehende Sportlehrkräfte diskutiert.

Holistic Assessment of Factors Associated with Exhaustion, the Main Symptom of Burnout: A Meta-Analysis of Longitudinal Studies

BACKGROUND

This meta-analysis summarized longitudinal findings pertaining to exhaustion's predictors. In so doing, our aim was ultimately to identify target factors for the prevention of burnout.

METHODS

We searched for studies that (a) examined predictors of exhaustion longitudinally and (b) reported correlation coefficients as an effect estimate. We conducted our literature search in three databases: MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Embase. We focused on studies published between January 1990 and November 2020. Predictors were grouped into families, subfamilies, and subgroups. A meta-analysis of z-transformed correlation coefficients (rho) was performed. The results were scrutinized in relation to studies' follow-up length.

RESULTS

We included 65 studies assessing 242 predictors of different types captured across different occupations. Our findings highlighted mostly weak associations (rho < 0.30). For six predictors-Job control, Job resources, Interactions at work, Communication and leadership, Job attitudes, and Work-family interface-longer length of follow-up involved weaker associations with exhaustion. The quality of the evidence available was generally low.

CONCLUSIONS

The evidence available does not point to clear target factors for preventing burnout. The decrease in associations as the follow-up length increases may suggest a relatively short latency period, followed by recovery. Higher-quality cohorts should be conducted to better understand the etiology and course of burnout.

"Teachers' Emotional Labor" Publications in Web of Science: A Bibliometric Analysis

One of the indicators that symbolize the success of an academic field is its academic publications in well-established citation indices. This article first explored the bibliometric characteristics of publications on “teachers' emotional labor” (TEL) in the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) and the Arts & Humanities Citation Index (A&HCI), two prestigious citation indices available in the Web of Science (WoS). Search with the term “teacher emotional labor” retrieved 173 publications that included this term in their titles, abstracts, or keywords in the WoS database between 1900 and 2020. The bibliometric characteristics pertaining to numbers of publications, document types, research categories, research areas, authors, journals, universities, and countries were reported. Then, CiteSpace was utilized to visualize TEL research and to obtain insights into its research focuses and its future directions. The findings will contribute to TEL research by informing scholars in the fields of L2 research and psychology and others.

Determinants of Burnout among Teachers: A Systematic Review of Longitudinal Studies

We aimed to review the determinants of burnout onset in teachers. The study was conducted according to the PROSPERO protocol CRD42018105901, with a focus on teachers. We performed a literature search from 1990 to 2021 in three databases: MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Embase. We included longitudinal studies assessing burnout as a dependent variable, with a sample of at least 50 teachers. We summarized studies by the types of determinant and used the MEVORECH tool for a risk of bias assessment (RBA). The quantitative synthesis focused on emotional exhaustion. We standardized the reported regression coefficients and their standard errors and plotted them using R software to distinguish between detrimental and protective determinants. A qualitative analysis of the included studies (n = 33) identified 61 burnout determinants. The RBA showed that most studies had external and internal validity issues. Most studies implemented two waves (W) of data collection with 6–12 months between W1 and W2. Four types of determinants were summarized quantitatively, namely support, conflict, organizational context, and individual characteristics, based on six studies. This systematic review identified detrimental determinants of teacher exhaustion, including job satisfaction, work climate or pressure, teacher self-efficacy, neuroticism, perceived collective exhaustion, and classroom disruption. We recommend that authors consider using harmonized methods and protocols such as those developed in OMEGA-NET and other research consortia.

Student aggression against teachers, stress, and emotional intelligence as predictors of withdrawal intentions among secondary school teachers

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

This exploratory study aimed to test the buffering effect of emotional intelligence in the associations between aggression against teachers, perceived stress, and withdrawal intentions.

DESIGN AND METHODS

A sample of 329 secondary school teachers (51.4% female) completed questionnaires assessing aggression against teachers, perceived stress, withdrawal intentions, and emotional intelligence.

RESULTS

The results showed that emotional intelligence was negatively related to perceived stress and withdrawal intentions. Across moderated-mediation analysis, there were mixed findings regarding the moderating effects of emotional intelligence in the proposed model. Findings indicated that emotional intelligence moderated only the association between perceived stress and withdrawal intentions.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that emotional intelligence is a psychological resource for mitigating the negative effects of perceived stress on negative work attitudes among teaching professionals in the context of harmful student behaviors. Possible avenues for including emotional intelligence in the field of teacher victimization are discussed.

Gender Differences in the Work and Home Spheres for Teachers, and Longitudinal Associations with Depressive Symptoms in a Swedish Cohort

The high level of stress among teachers is a frequently reported problem globally but less is known about how demands and resources among teachers affect depressive symptoms, and to what extent gender differences in these conditions can explain potential differences in depressive symptoms. The present study investigated gender differences in teachers’ self-reported depressive symptoms, and differences in their demands and resources in both work and home spheres. Associations between demands and resources, respectively, and depressive symptoms as well as gender differences in these associations were examined. Results from univariate and parallel growth modelling (N = 1,022), using data from six time points (2008 to 2018), found higher levels of depressive symptoms, higher emotional and quantitative work demands, and more time doing unpaid work among female teachers, whereas male teachers reported more time on leisure activities. Emotional and quantitative work demands were associated with depressive symptoms at baseline, and these associations also developed in parallel over time. Leisure time had a negative association with depressive symptoms at baseline. There were no gender differences in the strength of these associations. Findings suggest that gender differences in teachers’ depressive symptoms could be attributable to women’s greater demands in the work sphere and fewer resources in the home sphere than men as opposed to their being more vulnerable to workplace stressors.

Predictors of Occupational Burnout: A Systematic Review

We aimed to review occupational burnout predictors, considering their type, effect size and role (protective versus harmful), and the overall evidence of their importance. MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Embase were searched from January 1990 to August 2018 for longitudinal studies examining any predictor of occupational burnout among workers. We arranged predictors in four families and 13 subfamilies of homogenous constructs. The plots of z-scores per predictor type enabled graphical discrimination of the effects. The vote-counting and binomial test enabled discrimination of the effect direction. The size of the effect was estimated using Cohen's formula. The risk of bias and the overall evidence were assessed using the MEVORECH and GRADE methods, respectively. Eighty-five studies examining 261 predictors were included. We found a moderate quality of evidence for the harmful effects of the job demands subfamily (six predictors), and negative job attitudes, with effect sizes from small to medium. We also found a moderate quality of evidence for the protective effect of adaptive coping (small effect sizes) and leisure (small to medium effect sizes). Preventive interventions for occupational burnout might benefit from intervening on the established predictors regarding reducing job demands and negative job attitudes and promoting adaptive coping and leisure.

How homeroom teachers cope with high demands: Effect of prolonging working hours on emotional exhaustion

This study applied the job demands-resources (JD-R) model to examine antecedents and processes leading to emotional exhaustion in homeroom teachers. We hypothesized that the demands imposed by student misbehavior, conflicts with parents, and workload would relate positively with emotional exhaustion and that prolonging working hours as a coping behavior would mediate these effects. The cross-sectional study involved self-reported questionnaire-based data of 560 homeroom teachers in Switzerland. The results of structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed that workload (β = 0.43), conflicts with parents (β = 0.25), and student misbehavior (β = 0.23) were positively related to emotional exhaustion and that prolonging working hours partially mediated the effect of workload on emotional exhaustion (β = 0.21). Conflicts with parents and student misbehavior only related to emotional exhaustion directly, and not indirectly. We discuss these findings in light of the JD-R model, teacher education, and teachers' health promotion.

Trabalho de alta exigência entre professores:associações com fatores ocupacionais conforme o apoio social

Resumo Objetivou-se verificar fatores ocupacionais associados ao trabalho de alta exigência entre professores da educação básica e se as associações variavam conforme o apoio social. Estudo transversal com 842 professores da rede estadual de ensino de um município do Sul do Brasil. Informações ocupacionais foram obtidas por meio de entrevistas. Dados sociodemográficos e o Demand Control Support Questionnaire faziam parte de um questionário autorrespondido. Realizou-se análise de regressão logística com cálculo das razões de odds e intervalos de confiança de 95%. Associaram-se ao trabalho de alta exigência a carga horária > 40 horas/semana, ter sofrido violência na escola e percepções negativas quanto ao equilíbrio entre a vida profissional e pessoal, remuneração e quantidade de alunos em sala de aula. Após análise estratificada, carga horária e percepção negativa quanto à quantidade de alunos por sala foram significativas apenas no grupo de menor apoio social. Trabalho de alta exigência está associado a condições específicas de trabalho docente e o apoio social pode atuar como moderador de efeito em algumas dessas associações.

Art-of-Living Training: Developing an Intervention for Students to Increase Art-of-Living

BACKGROUND

Art-of-living describes a mindful and self-determined way of dealing with one's self and way of life. It is related to measures of well-being. Art-of-living is based on strategies and attitudes which can be learned and therefore can be changed. Two types of training for students to increase art-of-living were developed and tested in two studies to determine the effects on art-of-living measures.

METHODS

Study 1 dealt with the initial examination of whether it is possible to enhance the art-of-living by training selected art-of-living strategies. Therefore, training with three conditions was developed and conducted with secondary school students (ages 16-19). In Study 2, a second art-of-living training was developed and conducted with children from primary school (ages 8-11).

RESULTS

In Study 1, the art-of-living measures increased significantly for the training conditions compared to a control group. In addition, Study 2 showed that higher levels of the art-of-living lead to a better quality of life.

CONCLUSIONS

In summary, the training successfully enhanced art-of-living. Limitations on and benefits of utilising the art-of-living training are discussed.