Work-Related Stress of Polish School Principals during the COVID-19 Pandemic as a Risk Factor for Burnout

Karina Leksy (), Mirosław Wójciak, Grzegorz Gawron, Rafał Muster, Kevin Dadaczynski and Orkan Okan
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Karina Leksy: Institute of Pedagogy, Department of Social Science, University of Silesia, 40-126 Katowice, Poland
Mirosław Wójciak: Department of Digital Economy Research, University of Economics, 40-287 Katowice, Poland
Grzegorz Gawron: Institute of Sociology, Department of Social Science, University of Silesia, 40-007 Katowice, Poland
Rafał Muster: Institute of Sociology, Department of Social Science, University of Silesia, 40-007 Katowice, Poland
Kevin Dadaczynski: Department of Health Science, Fulda University of Applied Sciences, 36039 Fulda, Germany
Orkan Okan: Department of Sport and Health Sciences, Technical University Munich, 80992 Munich, Germany

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 1, 1-17

Abstract: Background: The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has influenced educational systems worldwide. School principals coped with numerous significant challenges regarding school management during the epidemiological crisis that could generate a lot of work-related stress. Thus, the presented study examines Polish school principals’ perceived stress and its association with exhaustion and psychosomatic complaints as burnout risk indicators. Principals’ gender and age as sociodemographic control variables were also considered in this paper. Methods: A cross-sectional online study was conducted in eight provinces of Poland from June to December 2021. The study was part of a global COVID-HL school principal survey under the global COVID-Health Literacy Research Network . Two subscales of the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) (perceived helplessness [PH] and perceived self-efficacy [PSE]) were considered independent variables in relation to school principals’ mental and physical exhaustion and psychosomatic complaints. Regression models consisting of two equations were used to test the relationship between variables. The first equation consists of the control variables (age, gender), and in the second equation, the independent variables (PH and PSE) were included in addition to the control variables. Results: Almost 50% of school principals experienced a lack of control that caused anger and stress. Mental and physical exhaustion during the pandemic was often or always felt by 30% of respondents. Nearly half of Polish school principals experienced psychosomatic complaints in the form of muscle pain and headaches. PH, to a greater extent than PSE, was associated with mental and physical exhaustion and psychosomatic complaints. With age, the level of psychosomatic complaints and mental and physical exhaustion decreases, but it was higher among women. Regression analysis revealed significant associations between exhaustion and mental health outcomes, even after controlling for demographic variables Conclusion: This study showed that almost half of Polish school principals indicated a high frequency of perceived stress during the pandemic. PH was more substantially associated with mental and physical exhaustion in younger female principals than PSE. Younger female school principals reported more exhaustion and psychosomatic complaints. This finding should be the baseline information for policymakers to improve the wellbeing of Polish school principals and prevent the risk of burnout.

Keywords: work-related stress; perceived helplessness; perceived self-efficacy; COVID-19 pandemic; Polish school principals; burnout (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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