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Prevalence of Burnout and Its Correlates among Female Primary School Teachers in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka

Received: 30 December 2014     Accepted: 4 January 2015     Published: 22 January 2015
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Abstract

Introduction: Teaching is considered as one of the most important profession in the world today. In the past it was considered as a rather routine job without hard or hazardous work. However the present day school teachers have to play multiple roles in their day-to-day work with children, colleagues and administrators. Therefore teaching is now considered as a high stress profession. As a result there was a growing concern among researchers about teachers' mental health during last few decades. Several researchers have identified number of mental health problems of teachers including burnout. Burnout has not studied among teachers in Sri Lanka. Objective: The present study was planned to determine the prevalence and risk factors of burnout among female primary school teachers in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka. Methodology: Out of the female primary school teachers employed in the southern province of Sri Lanka, 660 teachers were selected using multi stage cluster sampling method. A self-administered questionnaire was used for the data collection. It consists with three broad sections: Socio-demographic characteristics, Occupational and life style factors and validated Sinhala version of Maslach Burnout Inventory- Educators Survey (MBI-ES-Sin). For identification of correlates of burnout, all the teachers identified as having burnout were selected as cases and double the number of cases was randomly selected from the teachers who were identified as not having burnout as controls. Results: Overall prevalence of burnout among female primary school teachers in the Southern Province was 115.6 per 1000 population. The prevalence rate for burnout was highest (157.8/1000 population) in the Hambanthota district. A stepwise increase in prevalence of burnout was observed from Galle (96/1000 population), Matara (105/1000 population) to Hambanthota district. Following the logistic regression analysis female primary school teachers more than 20 years in teaching profession, female primary school teachers who travel more than 10 kilometers daily to school, teachers doing home work more than 5 hours per week, teachers who participating in school activities during weekend, teachers who sleep less than 7 hours per day and teachers who are having one hour or less leisure time per day were identified as having significantly higher level of burnout. Conclusions: Burnout is a problem among female primary school teachers in Sri Lanka. Therefore, it is recommended that relevant authorities take necessary steps to address the factors contributing to the teacher burnout.

Published in European Journal of Preventive Medicine (Volume 3, Issue 2-1)

This article belongs to the Special Issue New Frontiers of Public Health from the Pearl of Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka

DOI 10.11648/j.ejpm.s.2015030201.13
Page(s) 9-14
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2015. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Teachers’ Health, Mental Health, Burnout

References
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[7] Smith A. The scale of occupational stress. Cardiff University 2000, Available from www.untrammelled.co.uk.
[8] Byrne JJ. Teacher as hunger artist, burnout: It’s causes effects and remedies. Contemporary Education,2003:69(2),86-91.
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[13] Anna W, Ken R, Michael O. Burnout among New Zealand primary school teachers. New Zealand journal of Psychology,2000:8,6-11.
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[18] Gold Y. The relationship of six personal and life history variables to standing on three dimensions of the Maslach burnout Inventory in a sample of elementary and junior high school teachers. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 1985:45,377-387.
[19] De Silva PV, Hewage CG, Fonseka P. Measurement of burnout: Validation of the Sinhala translation of Maslach Burnout Inventory- Educators Survey among female primary school teachers in Sri Lanka. Galle Medical Journal 2013: 18(1):8-11.
[20] Chenevey JL, Ewing JC, Whittington MS. Teacher burnout in agriculture education. Journal of Agriculture Education, 2008:49(3): 12-22.
[21] Vance B, Miller S, Humphreys S, Reynolds F. Source and manifestation of occupational stress as reported by full time teachers working in a BIA school. Journal of American Indian Education, 1989:28(1-12).
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  • APA Style

    PV De Silva, CG Hewage, P. Fonseka. (2015). Prevalence of Burnout and Its Correlates among Female Primary School Teachers in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka. European Journal of Preventive Medicine, 3(2-1), 9-14. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ejpm.s.2015030201.13

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    ACS Style

    PV De Silva; CG Hewage; P. Fonseka. Prevalence of Burnout and Its Correlates among Female Primary School Teachers in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka. Eur. J. Prev. Med. 2015, 3(2-1), 9-14. doi: 10.11648/j.ejpm.s.2015030201.13

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    AMA Style

    PV De Silva, CG Hewage, P. Fonseka. Prevalence of Burnout and Its Correlates among Female Primary School Teachers in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka. Eur J Prev Med. 2015;3(2-1):9-14. doi: 10.11648/j.ejpm.s.2015030201.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ejpm.s.2015030201.13,
      author = {PV De Silva and CG Hewage and P. Fonseka},
      title = {Prevalence of Burnout and Its Correlates among Female Primary School Teachers in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka},
      journal = {European Journal of Preventive Medicine},
      volume = {3},
      number = {2-1},
      pages = {9-14},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ejpm.s.2015030201.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ejpm.s.2015030201.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ejpm.s.2015030201.13},
      abstract = {Introduction: Teaching is considered as one of the most important profession in the world today. In the past it was considered as a rather routine job without hard or hazardous work. However the present day school teachers have to play multiple roles in their day-to-day work with children, colleagues and administrators. Therefore teaching is now considered as a high stress profession. As a result there was a growing concern among researchers about teachers' mental health during last few decades. Several researchers have identified number of mental health problems of teachers including burnout. Burnout has not studied among teachers in Sri Lanka. Objective: The present study was planned to determine the prevalence and risk factors of burnout among female primary school teachers in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka. Methodology: Out of the female primary school teachers employed in the southern province of Sri Lanka, 660 teachers were selected using multi stage cluster sampling method. A self-administered questionnaire was used for the data collection. It consists with three broad sections: Socio-demographic characteristics, Occupational and life style factors and validated Sinhala version of Maslach Burnout Inventory- Educators Survey (MBI-ES-Sin). For identification of correlates of burnout, all the teachers identified as having burnout were selected as cases and double the number of cases was randomly selected from the teachers who were identified as not having burnout as controls. Results: Overall prevalence of burnout among female primary school teachers in the Southern Province was 115.6 per 1000 population. The prevalence rate for burnout was highest (157.8/1000 population) in the Hambanthota district. A stepwise increase in prevalence of burnout was observed from Galle (96/1000 population), Matara (105/1000 population) to Hambanthota district. Following the logistic regression analysis female primary school teachers more than 20 years in teaching profession, female primary school teachers who travel more than 10 kilometers daily to school, teachers doing home work more than 5 hours per week, teachers who participating in school activities during weekend, teachers who sleep less than 7 hours per day and teachers who are having one hour or less leisure time per day were identified as having significantly higher level of burnout. Conclusions: Burnout is a problem among female primary school teachers in Sri Lanka. Therefore, it is recommended that relevant authorities take necessary steps to address the factors contributing to the teacher burnout.},
     year = {2015}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Prevalence of Burnout and Its Correlates among Female Primary School Teachers in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka
    AU  - PV De Silva
    AU  - CG Hewage
    AU  - P. Fonseka
    Y1  - 2015/01/22
    PY  - 2015
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ejpm.s.2015030201.13
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ejpm.s.2015030201.13
    T2  - European Journal of Preventive Medicine
    JF  - European Journal of Preventive Medicine
    JO  - European Journal of Preventive Medicine
    SP  - 9
    EP  - 14
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2330-8230
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ejpm.s.2015030201.13
    AB  - Introduction: Teaching is considered as one of the most important profession in the world today. In the past it was considered as a rather routine job without hard or hazardous work. However the present day school teachers have to play multiple roles in their day-to-day work with children, colleagues and administrators. Therefore teaching is now considered as a high stress profession. As a result there was a growing concern among researchers about teachers' mental health during last few decades. Several researchers have identified number of mental health problems of teachers including burnout. Burnout has not studied among teachers in Sri Lanka. Objective: The present study was planned to determine the prevalence and risk factors of burnout among female primary school teachers in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka. Methodology: Out of the female primary school teachers employed in the southern province of Sri Lanka, 660 teachers were selected using multi stage cluster sampling method. A self-administered questionnaire was used for the data collection. It consists with three broad sections: Socio-demographic characteristics, Occupational and life style factors and validated Sinhala version of Maslach Burnout Inventory- Educators Survey (MBI-ES-Sin). For identification of correlates of burnout, all the teachers identified as having burnout were selected as cases and double the number of cases was randomly selected from the teachers who were identified as not having burnout as controls. Results: Overall prevalence of burnout among female primary school teachers in the Southern Province was 115.6 per 1000 population. The prevalence rate for burnout was highest (157.8/1000 population) in the Hambanthota district. A stepwise increase in prevalence of burnout was observed from Galle (96/1000 population), Matara (105/1000 population) to Hambanthota district. Following the logistic regression analysis female primary school teachers more than 20 years in teaching profession, female primary school teachers who travel more than 10 kilometers daily to school, teachers doing home work more than 5 hours per week, teachers who participating in school activities during weekend, teachers who sleep less than 7 hours per day and teachers who are having one hour or less leisure time per day were identified as having significantly higher level of burnout. Conclusions: Burnout is a problem among female primary school teachers in Sri Lanka. Therefore, it is recommended that relevant authorities take necessary steps to address the factors contributing to the teacher burnout.
    VL  - 3
    IS  - 2-1
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Faculty of Medicine, University of Ruhuna, Galle, Sri Lanka

  • Faculty of Medicine, University of Ruhuna, Galle, Sri Lanka

  • Faculty of Medicine, University of Ruhuna, Galle, Sri Lanka

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