A Longitudinal Study of Relationships Between Three Burnout Dimensions Among Secondary School Teachers

Normal 0 false false false NL X-NONE X-NONE This study examined the direction and time-frame of the relationships between three burnout dimensions among 243 secondary school teachers. A review of the literature on this topic revealed six longitudinal studies (Van Dierendonck et al., 1997; Leiter, 1990; Lee & Ashforth, 1993; Taris et al., 2005; Te Brake et al., 2008; Parker & Salmela-Aro, 2011). Structural equation modeling analyses indicated that emotional exhaustion had a synchronous effect on depersonalization as well as on personal accomplishment, while personal accomplishment had a synchronous effect on depersonalization. These findings offer partial confirmation of the sequence of burnout dimensions proposed by Leiter and Maslach (1988 ), Taris et al. (2005), and Parker and  Salmela-Aro (2011) , but no evidence was found in favor of the Golembiewski et al. (1986) model. It was concluded that school principals and psychologists who want to prevent and treat teacher burnout at an early stage, before it becomes chronic, must be sensitive to the warning signs of emotional exhaustion.