Engaged teachers and well-being: the mediating role of burnout dimensions

Abstract

Background: Engaged teachers experience a positive, fulfilling, and work-related state of mind related to their work tasks able to affect their well-being positively. Nevertheless, teachers are particularly exposed to burnout risk, which is highly probable to occur during teachers’ professional careers. The current study investigates the mediating effect of burnout, through which work engagement influences subjective well-being. Methods: Participants were 807 Italian teachers (Female, 91.7%; Mage= 47.54; SD = 9.91). Self-report instruments were administered to evaluate teachers’ burnout (BAT, Burnout Assessment Tool), well-being (WHO-5 Well-being Index), and work engagement (UWES-3, Utrecht Work Engagement Scale). Results: Findings show that exhaustion (β = −0.2162, p < 0.001) and psychological distress (β =−0.2811, p < 0.001) mediate the relationship between work engagement and well-being (total effect, β = 0.6409, p < 0.001). Conclusions: These results enable us to gain a deeper understanding of how the phenomenon of burnout impacts teachers’ well-being, allowing us to design training, prevention, and evaluation programs that consider the complex nature of burnout.