Early childhood education and early childhood special education teachers’ perceived stress, burnout, and depressive symptoms

The current study examines the relationships between teachers’ job demands and resources, perceived stress, job burnout, and depressive symptoms through an online survey administered to early childhood education (ECE: n = 143) and early childhood special education (ECSE: n = 121) teachers in a western state of the United States. Results showed no difference between ECE and ECSE teachers in their levels of job demands, resources, perceived stress, job burnout, and depressive symptoms. Both ECE and ECSE teachers’ job-related stressors were positively related to their perceived stress, and their job commitment was negatively associated with job burnout. However, there were some differences in the correlates of job burnout between ECE and ECSE teachers. For ECE teachers, the number of children with disabilities and their teaching efficacy predicted their job burnout, whereas with ECSE teachers, job-related stressors and the supportiveness of school climate (or the lack thereof) were indirectly related to their job burnout through their perceived stress. The current study suggests that providing professional development for these teachers and enhancing a school’s supportive climate will promote the well-being of both ECE and ECSE teachers.