Recovery experiences and burnout among female compulsory school teachers in Sweden

Teachers are particularly affected by stress and burnout. Recovery experiences are crucial to counteract the harmful continuation of everyday life stress reactions. There is a lack of knowledge regarding recovery experiences and its importance for burnout among compulsory school teachers. The aim of...

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Main Authors: Niclas Almén, Sofie Svensson, Mikaela Ekroth, Billy Jansson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2024-12-01
Series:Cogent Psychology
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Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311908.2024.2436225
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author Niclas Almén
Sofie Svensson
Mikaela Ekroth
Billy Jansson
author_facet Niclas Almén
Sofie Svensson
Mikaela Ekroth
Billy Jansson
author_sort Niclas Almén
collection DOAJ
description Teachers are particularly affected by stress and burnout. Recovery experiences are crucial to counteract the harmful continuation of everyday life stress reactions. There is a lack of knowledge regarding recovery experiences and its importance for burnout among compulsory school teachers. The aim of the present study was to investigate (1) the levels of burnout and different recovery experiences during leisure time among female compulsory school teachers in Sweden, and (2) to which extent different recovery experiences explain burnout. In a non-random sample of female compulsory school teachers (n = 570) and a random sample from a general female working population (n = 457/393), the participants self-rated their levels of burnout and their recovery experiences during leisure time via the brief version of the Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure and the Recovery Experience Questionnaire, respectively. Independent t-tests showed that, compared to the general female working population, the female compulsory school teachers scored (1) significantly higher on burnout (with a high magnitude of effect, d = 0.87), and (2) significantly lower on recovery experiences (d = 0.38–1.23). In total, recovery experiences explained 37% of the variance in burnout. Among the four recovery experiences being investigated, Psychological detachment explained the highest variance in burnout (27%), with Mastery and Control also being significant predictors in the model. Surprisingly, the variance of Relaxation in explaining burnout was close to zero. The study suggests enhancing the circumstances that foster psychological detachment among female compulsory school teachers in Sweden and further investigation of recovery experiences among teachers.
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spelling doaj-art-bb19f2e2aa5542dcbefa344f0b868f6a2025-08-20T02:38:23ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCogent Psychology2331-19082024-12-0111110.1080/23311908.2024.2436225Recovery experiences and burnout among female compulsory school teachers in SwedenNiclas Almén0Sofie Svensson1Mikaela Ekroth2Billy Jansson3Department of Psychology and Social Work, Mid Sweden University, Östersund, SwedenDepartment of Psychology and Social Work, Mid Sweden University, Östersund, SwedenDepartment of Psychology and Social Work, Mid Sweden University, Östersund, SwedenDepartment of Psychology and Social Work, Mid Sweden University, Östersund, SwedenTeachers are particularly affected by stress and burnout. Recovery experiences are crucial to counteract the harmful continuation of everyday life stress reactions. There is a lack of knowledge regarding recovery experiences and its importance for burnout among compulsory school teachers. The aim of the present study was to investigate (1) the levels of burnout and different recovery experiences during leisure time among female compulsory school teachers in Sweden, and (2) to which extent different recovery experiences explain burnout. In a non-random sample of female compulsory school teachers (n = 570) and a random sample from a general female working population (n = 457/393), the participants self-rated their levels of burnout and their recovery experiences during leisure time via the brief version of the Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure and the Recovery Experience Questionnaire, respectively. Independent t-tests showed that, compared to the general female working population, the female compulsory school teachers scored (1) significantly higher on burnout (with a high magnitude of effect, d = 0.87), and (2) significantly lower on recovery experiences (d = 0.38–1.23). In total, recovery experiences explained 37% of the variance in burnout. Among the four recovery experiences being investigated, Psychological detachment explained the highest variance in burnout (27%), with Mastery and Control also being significant predictors in the model. Surprisingly, the variance of Relaxation in explaining burnout was close to zero. The study suggests enhancing the circumstances that foster psychological detachment among female compulsory school teachers in Sweden and further investigation of recovery experiences among teachers.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311908.2024.2436225Compulsory school teachersteachersburnoutexhaustionstressrecovery experiences
spellingShingle Niclas Almén
Sofie Svensson
Mikaela Ekroth
Billy Jansson
Recovery experiences and burnout among female compulsory school teachers in Sweden
Cogent Psychology
Compulsory school teachers
teachers
burnout
exhaustion
stress
recovery experiences
title Recovery experiences and burnout among female compulsory school teachers in Sweden
title_full Recovery experiences and burnout among female compulsory school teachers in Sweden
title_fullStr Recovery experiences and burnout among female compulsory school teachers in Sweden
title_full_unstemmed Recovery experiences and burnout among female compulsory school teachers in Sweden
title_short Recovery experiences and burnout among female compulsory school teachers in Sweden
title_sort recovery experiences and burnout among female compulsory school teachers in sweden
topic Compulsory school teachers
teachers
burnout
exhaustion
stress
recovery experiences
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311908.2024.2436225
work_keys_str_mv AT niclasalmen recoveryexperiencesandburnoutamongfemalecompulsoryschoolteachersinsweden
AT sofiesvensson recoveryexperiencesandburnoutamongfemalecompulsoryschoolteachersinsweden
AT mikaelaekroth recoveryexperiencesandburnoutamongfemalecompulsoryschoolteachersinsweden
AT billyjansson recoveryexperiencesandburnoutamongfemalecompulsoryschoolteachersinsweden