Determinants of Burnout among Teachers: A Systematic Review of Longitudinal Studies

Abstract

We aimed to review the determinants of burnout onset in teachers. The study was conducted according to the PROSPERO protocol CRD42018105901, with a focus on teachers. We performed a literature search from 1990 to 2021 in three databases: MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Embase. We included longitudinal studies assessing burnout as a dependent variable, with a sample of at least 50 teachers. We summarized studies by the types of determinant and used the MEVORECH tool for a risk of bias assessment (RBA). The quantitative synthesis focused on emotional exhaustion. We standardized the reported regression coefficients and their standard errors and plotted them using R software to distinguish between detrimental and protective determinants. A qualitative analysis of the included studies (n = 33) identified 61 burnout determinants. The RBA showed that most studies had external and internal validity issues. Most studies implemented two waves (W) of data collection with 6-12 months between W1 and W2. Four types of determinants were summarized quantitatively, namely support, conflict, organizational context, and individual characteristics, based on six studies. This systematic review identified detrimental determinants of teacher exhaustion, including job satisfaction, work climate or pressure, teacher self-efficacy, neuroticism, perceived collective exhaustion, and classroom disruption. We recommend that authors consider using harmonized methods and protocols such as those developed in OMEGA-NET and other research consortia.

Keywords: burnout; exhaustion; occupational health; predictors; prevention; teachers.

Figure 1

Flow chart of study identification and selection process.

Figure 2

Three studies representing support category of determinants (Beausaert et al., 2016; Feuerhahn et al., 2013; Salanova et al. 2005) [47,48,49].

Figure 3

Studies showing conflict category of burnout determinants (Feuerhahn et al., 2013; Salanova et al., 2005) [48,49].

Figure 4

Four studies representing individual characteristics as burnout determinants (Feuerhahn et al., 2013; Malinen et al., 2016; Salanova et al., 2005; Goddard et al., 2006) [48,49,51,52].

Figure 5

Studies showing burnout determinants belonging to the organizational context category (Feuerhahn et al., 2013; Gonzalez-Morales et al., 2012; Salanova et al., 2005; Goddard et al., 2006) [48,49,52,53].