Psychometric Properties of Maslach Burnout Inventory – Educators Survey (MBI-ES)

Abstract: Teachers’ burnout, a psychological syndrome that emerges in response to chronic interpersonal stressors on the job, can have serious consequences on children and staff in schools. The Maslach Burnout Inventory – Educators Survey (MBI-ES) is the most widely used scale to measure burnout among educational staff. However, this scale has revealed divergent results in factorial validity analysis across countries, calling for further cross-cultural research. This study examines the cross-cultural factorial validity of MBI-ES among a sample of 391 early childhood education professionals from four countries – Greece, Cyprus, Portugal, and Romania. Results of multi-group confirmatory factor analysis suggest that a 1-factor solution, exclusively focused on measuring emotional exhaustion, holds partial scalar invariance across countries. In light of previous research on this scale, the conceptualization of burnout, and the specificities of working in early childhood education and care contexts, these findings are discussed.