Teacher Burnout in Pre-Schools: The Role of Alexithymia and Job Satisfaction

Teaching is one of the most stressful professions and teachers working with children aged 0-6 years are particularly at risk of burnout. The study aims to investigate the extent of burnout in a sample of Italian teachers working in educational settings for children aged 0–6 years and to examine the role of alexithymia—hypothesized as a risk factor—and the role of job satisfaction—hypothesized as a protective factor—in the development of burnout. The study involved 130 teachers (mean = 39.21; s.d. = 11.52; female: 98.5%), who filled out the following instruments: Maslach Burnout Inventory-Educators Survey; Toronto Alexithymia Scale; Job Satisfaction Scale. Results indicate that alexithymia is positively associated with emotional exhaustion and depersonalization and negatively associated with personal accomplishment. The alexithymia dimension Difficulty Identifying Feelings is the most significant predictor of all three aspects of burnout. Job satisfaction is negatively associated with emotional exhaustion and depersonalization and positively associated with personal accomplishment. Regression analyzes show that in the presence of alexithymia, job satisfaction reduces the risk of burnout in relation to the dimensions of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. The results underline the need to simultaneously consider personal factors, such as alexithymia, and contextual factors, such as job satisfaction, to prevent the risk of burnout.