Work-family interface, work relations and burnout in school teachers: a study on a group of subjects from Italian primary schools

Background. Several studies suggest that teachers are affected by burnout. Recent studies show that the teacher's personal image, with respect to the work-family interface, can be a source of psycho-social stress and contribute to burnout. Other studies emphasize that satisfaction in the relationship with both students and parents is a protective factor. Objectives. This study aims at exploring the incidence of burnout among teachers in primary schools and at describing the characteristics of the syndrome, taking into account their age, their marital status and whether they have children or not. A further objective of this study is to identify, among the principal sources of teachers' occupational stress, those that better predict the occurrence of burnout. Among these stress predictors, we considered the work-family interface, the relationship with colleagues and the level of satisfaction in the teacher's relationship with both students and parents. Method. 500 teachers from the cities of Turin, Rome, Bari and Cagliari completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory and an adaptation of the Organizational Stress Indicator (Cooper, Sloan & Williams, 1988). All of these teachers were employed in primary schools. The data were analysed using multiple linear regression and variance analysis. Results. 26.8% of the teachers surveyed presented high levels of emotional exhaustion, 29.8% had the highest scores of depersonalization; 28% had a low level of personal accomplishment. 7.6% of the teachers were in burnout. This study shows that teachers' age affects emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment. The workfamily interface, the level of dissatisfaction in the relations with students and their parents, and the relationship with colleagues are all predictors of emotional exhaustion. Conclusion. The results of this study highlight the need for burnout prevention, aimed at improving teachers' relations with colleagues, students and their parents.