Factor structure and psychometric properties of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Educators Survey among elementary and secondary school teachers in Cyprus

Burnout is described as a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment that can occur among individuals who work with other people in some capacity. The present research examines the psychometric properties and factor structure of Maslach, Jackson and Leiter's (1996) educators' burnout measure, the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Educators Survey (MBI-ES), in a sample of 771 Greek Cypriot teachers. Results, using exploratory and confirmatory factor analytic techniques, support the three factor structure of the construct which was tested against alternative models. Other psychometric qualities are also very satisfactory. Findings are compared to the published normative data for the MBI. Female teachers appear more emotionally exhausted than their male counterparts. Primary school teachers scored higher on emotional exhaustion, but depersonalization was higher among secondary school teachers. Overall, the results suggest that the Greek MBI represents a valid and reliable adaptation of the instrument, which can be confidently used to measure burnout. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.