Étude exploratoire de profils d’enseignants à risque de burnout : association avec les processus de coping et le sentiment d’auto-efficacité

Introduction

Burnout and its predictors are an increasingly important health issue in the teaching profession.

Objective

The present study aimed at identifying teacher profiles at risk of burnout, and to explore their associations with coping processes and sense of self-efficacy using a dual variable and person-centered approach.

Method

A sample of 171 teachers (58.50% female) from a French-speaking canton of Switzerland completed the Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure (i.e., physical fatigue, cognitive weariness, emotional exhaustion), the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (i.e., instructional strategies, student engagement, classroom management) and the Coping Scale by Dewe (i.e., need to communicate, traditional style of teaching, problem-focused and avoidant coping).

Results

Problem-focused coping was the only variable that negatively predicted all three dimensions of burnout. Avoidant coping negatively predicted physical fatigue and cognitive weariness while classroom management self-efficacy negatively predicted emotional exhaustion. Additional findings suggested the moderating role of the number of students with special educational needs (SEN) in the relationship between some variables. Three profiles were identified based on a hierarchical cluster analysis. Multinomial logistic regression analysis showed that a higher number of students with SEN, as well as low levels of coping (i.e., problem-focused and avoidant) and sense of self-efficacy in classroom management were associated with a greater likelihood of belonging to the burnout risk profile (representing 21.64% of the total sample).

Conclusion

Findings from this study not only highlight a relatively large proportion of teachers at risk of burnout, but also a possible co-action of some coping processes and sense of self-efficacy.