A total of 750 teachers from 16 government and non-government schools from areas of contrasted socio-economic status (SES) responded to a questionnaire designed to investigate associations between selected aspects of burnout among teachers working in secondary schools in Victoria, Australia. By comparing high and low burnout groups on biographic, psychological and work pattern variables, differences between teachers experiencing high and low levels of burnout were identified. Multiple regression analyses assessed the relative importance of these variables in accounting for the variance in each of the three burnout subscales. School type was related to perceptions of stress and burnout. Higher levels of burnout were associated with poorer physical health, higher rates of absenteeism, lower self-confidence and more frequent use of regressive coping strategies. Teachers classified as experiencing high levels of burnout attributed most of the stress in their lives to teaching and reported low levels of career commitment and satisfaction. Further, teachers who recorded high levels of burnout were characterised by lower levels of the personality disposition of hardiness, lower levels of social support, higher levels of role stress and more custodial pupil control ideologies than their low-burnout counterparts. Psychological variables were found to be more significant predictors of burnout than biographical variables.

The Maslach Burnout Inventory has been used to measure burnout among workers in the helping professions. The construct validity of the inventory was examined using a sample of 750 Australian postprimary (high school) teachers. Analyses of teachers' responses confirmed a three-factor structure and showed the inventory to be a reliable instrument.

Occupational stress research is often focused on the individual without adequate consideration of the organisation or environment in which the person works. Schools exemplify organisations which provide a variety of working conditions and the sample of schools in this survey included government and non-government schools from areas of contrasted socioeconomic status. Analyses of questionnaire responses indicated that teachers working in different types of schools report different levels of occupational stress. More particularly, the salience of perceived stressors, levels of role conflict, role ambiguity and social support were found to differ according to school type.

No abstract