Job demands, job control, social support and self-efficacy beliefs as determinants of burnout among physical education teachers

The aim of the present study, which involved 311 Physical Education (PE) teachers in Dutch schools, was to examine the relationships between job demands, job control, social support and perceived self-efficacy on the one hand and teacher burnout on the other. Based on Karasek’s Demands-Control-Support model (1990), it was expected that perceived stringent job demands in combination with perceived lack of control on the job and perceived lack of social support from colleagues, principals and managers could so affect teachers’ health that they were likely to suffer from enhanced levels of burnout. Our study partly confirmed results based on the Karasek model. It was also expected that the number of domain-determined self-efficacy beliefs concerning the influence teachers had on job demands would affect their level of burnout. However, this supposition was not supported. Perceived job control was found to have a moderating effect on the relationship between perceived job demands on the one hand and the emotional exhaustion and depersonalization dimensions of burnout on the other. Colleague support had a moderating effect on the relationship between job demands and the personal accomplishment dimension of burnout, whereas managerial support had a moderating effect on self-efficacy beliefs concerning teachers’ influence on job demands and personal accomplishment. The study further revealed that PE teachers run a greater risk of falling victim to burnout as they grow older. Implications for future studies are discussed.