Burnout in Teachers of Retarded and Nonretarded Children

A three-part self-report questionnaire, which incorporated portions of the Maslach Burnout Inventory, was used to assess the degree of burnout among 111 instructors of moderately retarded children, 133 teachers of mildly retarded students and 218 regular educators. Contrary to expectations, teachers of nonretarded students reported significantly fewer and weaker feelings of success and competence accompanied by more frequent and stronger impersonal attitudes toward their students. Demographic variables were found to be significant but weak predictors of teacher burnout. The teachers also reported a low incidence of chronic or serious health problems. Comparisons were presented between regular and special educators in addition to suggestions for stress reduction.