Validation of a Short Scale in Italian to Measure Teacher Burnout

Abstract

This study creates and validates a short, Italian-language scale to measure teacher burnout. To this end, we used two scales from the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory which had already been translated into Italian in a previous study. We administered this measure to two samples of teachers (n1 = 2688 and n2 = 676) in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. The final scale consisted of 10 items that measure teacher burnout on the dimensions of work- and student-related burnout. We performed exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to assess the psychometric properties of the instrument as well as conducting analyses of invariance between the sexes and across school sectors. Results showed that work- and student-related burnout were significantly correlated with the constructs of perceived workload, optimism, and life satisfaction. Moreover, neither dimension of burnout was associated with sex, age, seniority, or family status, although both dimensions of burnout were significantly correlated with professional status and percentage of working hours per week. Overall, the analyses show that the final short scale is a valid instrument for measuring teacher burnout. Because of its brevity, this scale can easily be integrated into surveys conducted by public health institutions and education departments.