Exploring Risk and Protective Factors for Burnout Among Special Needs Assistants

In many countries, the number of teaching assistants supporting students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) is steadily increasing, reflecting their crucial role in fostering inclusive education. These positions are not only emotionally demanding, they are often beset by unclear role definitions and further complicated by a range of organisational challenges. Despite these issues, burnout remains underexplored within this professional category. This study aims to identify both risk and protective factors that influence burnout among SNAs, by examining a broad set of variables (e.g. socio-biographical, organisational, motivational, and role-related variables). A survey of 869 Italian assistants working in preschool, primary, middle, and high school settings was conducted, utilising a custom-designed questionnaire in tandem with the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) which measures personal burnout, work-related burnout, and student-related burnout. CBI scores reveal significant correlations with some organisational, motivational and role-related variables, highlighting the need for targeted interventions to address the challenges faced by this vital workforce. These findings offer practical directions for training and organisational policies to enhance protective factors and mitigate burnout among SNAs.