Tanulmányunk célkitűzése, hogy bemutassa a poszt-COVID időszakában az egyetemi hallgatók bizonyos körében a depresszió és kiégés prevalenciáját. A nemzetközi szakirodalomban gyakori téma az egyetemi hallgatók pszichés állapotának és a veszélyeztető tényezők felmérése az életminőségük megtartása vagy javítása érdekében. Keresztmetszeti vizsgálatunk a nappali tagozatos gyógypedagógia szakos hallgatók körében zajlott. Mivel ez a hallgatói csoport segítő hivatásra készül, ezért különösen fontos, hogy milyen megküzdési erőforrásokkal rendelkeznek az előttük tornyosuló nehézségek és szakmai kihívások leküzdésére. Vizsgálatunk célja, a hallgatói kiégés és a depresszió szintjének megismerése, az intézményi rizikó-, valamint védőtényezők feltárása. Módszer: a depressziót a rövidített Beck Depresszió Kérdőívvel (Kopp-Fóris 1993), a kiégést a Maslach Kiégés Teszttel mértük, emellett a Pszichológiai Immunrendszer Felmérést (Oláh 2005), és a Megküzdési Módok Kérdőívet (Lazarus) önkitöltős adatfelvétellel végeztük el. Eredményeink jelzik, hogy határozott pszichoedukációs beavatkozásra van szüksége hallgatóinknak a jóllétük megtartása és a jövőbeli szakmai hatékonyságuk érdekében.

Our research aims at prevention of burnout, which can be a protective factor in preventing career abandonment and can contribute to creating and maintaining a positive workplace climate. It also promotes the mental well-being and resilience of teachers and students. Therefore, burnout of teachers is especially important in Hungary, as the gradually increasing professional and administrative burden, the lack of social esteem, as well as the changed learning-teaching environment and the methodological shortcomings of general teacher training significantly increase the risk of burnout. In our research, the staff of the Somogy County Educational Service Center has been involved, mainly special education teachers. The 116-person sample has been conducted with a version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory developed for educators. In our presentation, the test results are presented. According to our findings, out of the three subscales of the subjects' questionnaire, the highest scores were achieved in the Emotional Exhaustion subscale and the lowest in the Depersonalization subscale. However, the emotional exhaustion subscale did not indicate a high burnout value in the study population. The correlations of burnout risk with age and time spent as a teacher has been also analyzed. Problem-focused and change-oriented psychological counseling models are attracting interest in the international literature today (Egan, 2010). By strengthening resilience and supporting a sense of growth, consultation techniques work to strengthen effective interpersonal communication and help the individual plan constructively for the future (Bonanno, 2004, 2005; Kelley, 2005; Linley & Joseph, 2005; Litz, 2005; Maddi, 2005). All of this are relevant to our research because we plan to provide burnout prevention psychoeducation counseling programs to educators. The literature also mentions the phenomenon of learned helplessness, which has its roots in childhood and is a breeding ground for both depression and burnout (Seligman,1991). Learned inertia can influence members of the helping professions toward passivity (paralysis, loss of control, hopelessness, unresponsiveness) and is therefore particularly burdensome for the individual, along with the challenges of helping professions. Results of our research shed light on the burnout level of special educators, personality traits important for coping and related burnout prevention (e.g., empathy, psychological immune competence) and the applied coping mechanisms that guide burnout prevention psychoeducation as a comprehensive concept.

Evidence suggests that the mental health and psycho-psychopathological consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in the general population include an increase in symptoms of anxiety and depression, addictive behaviors, and psychological distress (Osváth, 2021; Galea, Marchant & Lurie, 2020). The prevention and mitigation of negative effects require the development and application of general and specific methods that support mental hygiene. Psychological distress due to the epidemic affects the risk of burnout in helping professionals, as it significantly increases the level of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization and reduces the feeling of personal effectiveness (Mion et al, 2021). At the 2021 International Conference on Education and New Developments, we presented our research, in which we involved the staff of the Somogy County Pedagogical Service, mainly special education teachers. The 116-person sample was conducted with a version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory developed for educators (Maslach Burnout Inventory-Educator's Survey) in the pre-COVID-19 pandemic period. In our presentation, we present the results of a survey conducted in December 2021 with a large proportion of the study population. Based on our knowledge from the literature, we expected that the level of burnout would increase in the study population, despite the institution's mental hygiene and burnout prevention strategy, but our hypothesis was not confirmed. Subjects achieved the highest scores on the three subscales of the questionnaire in the emotional exhaustion subscale and the lowest scores on the depersonalization subscale in the present study. However, based on their answers to our question, 81% of respondents felt that the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on their mental health.