Perceived Stress and Indicators of Burnout in Teachers at Portuguese Higher Education Institutions (HEI)

Renata Teles, Antonio Valle, Susana Rodríguez, Isabel Piñeiro and Bibiana Regueiro
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Renata Teles: Clinical Psychologist, 3700-025 São João da Madeira, Portugal
Antonio Valle: Psychology Departament, University of A Coruña, 15001 A Coruña, Spain
Susana Rodríguez: Psychology Departament, University of A Coruña, 15001 A Coruña, Spain
Isabel Piñeiro: Psychology Departament, University of A Coruña, 15001 A Coruña, Spain
Bibiana Regueiro: Pedagogy and Didactics Departament, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15705 Santiago de Compostela, Spain

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 9, 1-11

Abstract: The aim of this study was to examine the phenomena of burnout and perceived stress in teachers at Higher Education Institutions, as this professional class is one of the most affected by high levels of stress. A sample of 520 university teachers was used, of which 339 (65.2%) were women. The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) was used to measure burnout, and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) was used to measure perceived stress. A sociodemographic data questionnaire produced by the authors was also applied, which consisted of questions about age, sex, experience in the teaching profession and the participants’ teaching areas. The results indicated that university teachers over 60 years old exhibited lower levels of perceived stress, as did teachers with more teaching experience (30 years or more), and those with less experience (less than 10 years). Women exhibited higher levels of perceived stress than men. Women also scored higher levels of Emotional Exhaustion in the burnout dimensions, whereas teachers will less experience (under 10 years) and teachers with more experience (more than 30 years) had the lowest scores in this dimension. Through an examination of the relation between perceived stress and the burnout dimensions, we concluded that perceived stress was directly proportional to emotional exhaustion and depersonalization; and was inversely proportional to personal accomplishment. A total of 31.3% of the variance in burnout was explained by perceived stress.

Keywords: perceived stress; burnout syndrome; emotional exhaustion; depersonalization; personal accomplishment; higher education professor (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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