A longitudinal study of teacher burnout and percei

*Correspondingauthor.Tel.:#[phone];fax:#[phone].E-mailaddress:[e-mail](A.Brouwers)TeachingandTeacherEducation16(2000)239}253Alongitudinalstudyofteacherburnoutandperceivedself-e$cacyinclassroommanagementAndreHBrouwers*,WelkoTomicFacultyofSocialSciences,TheOpenUniversity,P.O.Box2960NL-6401DLHeerlen,NetherlandsReceived23October1998;receivedinrevisedform17June1999;accepted8July1999AbstractThisstudyexaminedthedirectionandtime-frameofrelationshipsbetweenperceivedself-e$cacyinclassroommanagementandthethreedimensionsofburnoutamong243secondaryschoolteachers.Structuralequationmodeling(SEM)analysesindicatedthatperceivedself-e$cacyhadalongitudinale!ectondepersonalizationandasynchronouse!ectonpersonalaccomplishment.However,thedirectionwasreversedfortherelationshipbetweenperceivedself-e$cacyandemotionalexhaustion;thetimeframewassynchronous.Itwasconcludedthatperceivedself-e$cacyinclassroommanagementmustbetakenintoconsiderationwhendevisinginterventionsbothtopreventandtotreatburnoutamongsecondaryschoolteachers.(2000ElsevierScienceLtd.Allrightsreserved.Keywords:Burnout;Self-e$cacy;Longitudinalstudies;Secondaryschoolteachers1.IntroductionBurnoutisdescribedas`apsychologicalsyn-dromeofemotionalexhaustion,depersonalization,andreducedpersonalaccomplishmentthatcanoc-curamongindividualswhoworkwithotherpeopleinsomecapacity.Emotionalexhaustionreferstofeelingsofbeingemotionallyoverextendedandde-pletedofone'semotionalresources.Depersonaliz-ationreferstoanegative,callous,orexcessivelydetachedresponsetootherpeople,whoareusuallytherecipientsofone'sservicesorcarea(Maslach,1993,pp.20,21).Reducedpersonalaccomplish-mentisdescribedas`aperson'snegativeself-evalu-ationinrelationtohisorherjobperformancea(Schaufeli,Maslach&Marek,1993,p.17).Thesocialrelationshipswiththepeopleinprofes-sionals'carearethemostobviouscharacteristicofoccupationswhereinburnoutisanissue.Asocialpsychologicalperspectivewhichfocusesontheserelationshipscanbeveryusefulinacquiringacloserunderstandingofburnout(VanDieren-donck,Schaufeli&Sixma,1994).Burnoutisaphenomenonofdramaticimport-anceineducation.Thedemandsmadeonsecond-aryschoolteachersconsisttoasubstantialextentofemotionallychargedrelationshipswithstudents.Inastudyofover5,000AmericanandCanadianteachers,63%reportedstudentdisci-plineproblemsasthemoststressfulfactorsintheir0742-051X/00/$-seefrontmatter(2000ElsevierScienceLtd.Allrightsreserved.PII:S0742-051X(99)00057-8workenvironment(Kuzsman&Schnall,1987).Relatedly,interactionresearchduringclassroominstructionrevealsthatstudentdisruptivebehaviorhasapositivee!ectonteacherburnout(Burke,Greenglass&Schwarzer,1996;Friedman,1995;Lamude,Scudder&Furno-Lamude,1992;Byrne,1991;Hock,1988).Forthisreasonitisadvisabletopayattentiontoteacher}studentrelationshipsinstudyingteacherburnout.Bandura'stheoryofperceivedself-e$cacy(Bandura,1977,1986,1997)isausableconceptualframeworkforstudyingtheimpactofemotionallychargedrelationshipsonburnout(Leiter,1992;Cherniss,1993;Brouwers&Tomic,1998).Per-ceivedself-e$cacyrefersto`beliefsinone'scapabil-itiestoorganizeandexecutethecoursesofactionrequiredtoproducegivenattainmentsa(Bandura,1997,p.3).Thepowerofthistheoryisthatitintegratesinoneconceptualframeworktheoriginsorsourcesofe$cacybeliefs,theirstructureandfunction,theprocessesthroughwhichtheyproducediversee!ects,andthepossibilitiesforchange(Bandura,1997).Self-e$cacybeliefsaretheresultoflearningpro-cesses.Socialrelationshipsplayanimportantroleintheselearningprocesses,whicharebasedonfourdi!erentsourcesofinformation(Bandura,1997):(1)enactivemasteryexperiencesthatserveasdirectindicatorsofcapabilities,(2)vicariousexperiencesthataltere$cacybeliefsbyobservingotherpeopleperformingsimilartasks,(3)verbalpersuasioninwhichotherscanguideindividualstobelieveintheirowncapabilities,and(4)physiologicalarousalthatindicate'sone'svulnerabilitytodysfunction.Self-e$cacybeliefsvaryalongthreedimensions(Bandura,1997;Maddux,1995):(1)magnitude,whichreferstothelevelapersonbelieveshim/herselfcapableofperforming,(2)generality,whichreferstotheextenttowhichchangesinself-e$cacybeliefsextendtootherbehaviorsandsituations,and(3)strength,whichreferstotheresolutenessofpeople'sconvictionsthathe/shecanperformabehaviorinquestion.Self-e$cacybeliefsin#uencehumanfunctioningthroughfourmediatingprocesses(Bandura,1997;Maddux,1995):(1)theyin#uencethegoalspeoplesetforthemselvesandthestrategiespeopleenvi-sionforattainingthesegoals,(2)theyin#uencethemotivationofpeopletopersistinthefaceofobstacles,(3)theyin#uencehowpeoplefeelthem-selveswhentheyattempttoreachtheirgoals,and(4)theyin#uencethesituationspeopleselectintermsoftheirchallenge.Self-e$cacytheoryhasinspiredatremendousbodyofresearchonthetreatmentofemotionalandbehavioralproblems,suchasanxietyandphobicdysfunctions,depression,eatingdisorders,andalcoholanddrugabuse(Bandura,1997).Thetheoryhasalsoapplicationsinorganizational,ath-letic,health-promoting,andeducationalsettings.Anexampleofanapplicationinoccupationalpsy-chologyisaprogramwhichreducesabsenteeismthroughdevelopmentofself-regulatorye