Effects of an 8-Week Yoga-Based Physical Exercise Intervention on Teachers’ Burnout

Francesca Latino, Stefania Cataldi and Francesco Fischetti
Additional contact information
Francesca Latino: Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience, and Sense Organs, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, 70123 Bari, Italy
Stefania Cataldi: Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience, and Sense Organs, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, 70123 Bari, Italy
Francesco Fischetti: Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience, and Sense Organs, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, 70123 Bari, Italy

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 4, 1-15

Abstract: The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to investigate the efficacy of an 8-week yoga-based physical exercise program to improve mental and emotional well-being and consequently reduce burnout among teachers. We considered yoga because it is a discipline that enhances body awareness and encourages the contact with nature and the respect for every form of life, with a view to a more sustainable and greener global system. We recruited 40 professional educators (40–47 years), teachers in a public high school who reported perceiving signs of stress and emotional discomfort. We randomly assigned the 40 professional educators to either an experimental yoga practice (~60 min, twice a week) group ( n = 20) or a control group ( n = 20) that received a nonspecific training program (~60 min, twice a week). At baseline and after training we administered the Maslach Burnout Inventory: Educators Survey (MBI-ES) and the State Mindfulness Scale (SMS) to assess teachers’ perceived level of awareness and professional burnout. We found a significant Time × Group interaction for the MBI-ES and SMS, reflecting a meaningful experimental group improvement ( p < 0.001). No significant pre–post changes were found in the control group. The results suggest that an 8-week yoga practice could aid teachers to achieve a greater body and emotional awareness and prevent professional burnout.

Keywords: mindfulness; sustainable physical activity; workplace stress; physical education; exercise; sustainable lifestyle (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/4/2104/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/4/2104/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:4:p:2104-:d:500221

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().