Work

Early Childhood Special Education Teachers’ Job Burnout and Psychological Stress

Year: 2021

Type: article

Abstract: Research findings: All teachers have demanding jobs and work with limited resources. However, working with young children with disabilities may place additional demands on early childhood special education (ECSE) teachers which may impact their well-being. Using the Job Demands and Resources model, the present study aimed to predict ECSE teachers' job burnout and psychological stress by using their job demands, job resources, and professional internal resources. An online survey was collected from 121 ECSE teachers from a large urban school district in a Western state of the United States. The results showed that job demands (work-related stressors) were positively associated with teachers' job burnout and psychological stress. Job resources (sense of school community) were negatively associated with their job burnout and psychological stress. Teachers' job commitment was negatively associated with job burnout. Though their other internal resources (beliefs about developmentally appropriate practices and teaching-efficacy) were not related to their job burnout and psychological stress, their beliefs about social emotional learning were positively related to job burnout. Practice or Policy: These findings offer implications for research and practice regarding the importance of improving ECSE teachers' well-being and working conditions.

Source: Early Education and Development

DOI: 10.1080/10409289.2021.1965395

Authors: Hyun-Joo Jeon, Lindsay Diamond, Christina McCartney, Kyong-Ah Kwon

Institutions: University of Nevada, Reno, University of Oklahoma

Language: English

Topic: Occupational Health and Burnout

Subfield: Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDGs: Quality education, Good health and well-being, Decent work and economic growth

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Institute of General Medical Sciences