Mediation role of teacher burnout for depression. Relationships with efficacy beliefs, job satisfaction, school climate

Abstract

Background: Teacher burnout is a chronic issue that afflicts the teaching profession. It is often caused by an excessive workload, poor relationships with colleagues, lack of suitable resources, constant changes within the profession. In the context of spillover model, several researchers have argued that burnout and depression may be seen as influencing each other. The aim of this study was to explore the associations between teachers’ burnout, depression and job satisfaction, teacher self and collective efficacy, school climate and organizational justice, also taking into account the age and gender of participants. A further aim was to examine whether burnout moderated the relationship between work variables included in the study and depression. Methods: A non-random sample of 609 Italian school teachers participated. We administrated a self-report questionnaire, including: Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Scale, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, Job Satisfaction Index, School Collective Efficacy Scale, Teacher Self-efficacy Scale, Organizational Justice Index, School Situation Index. A structural equation model was calculated. Findings: Results showed that job satisfaction, efficacy beliefs, and school climate were associated with burnout. We highlighted that the relationship between these psychosocial variables and depression were moderated by burnout. Gender was a significant predictor of depression (model fit index: ) Discussion: Planning development programs to reduce teachers malaise and improve their evaluation methods in a more targeted and effective way means to take into account the buffering effect of these variables for both job burnout and depression.