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BURNOUT RISK AMONG GERMAN AND UKRAINIAN KINDERGARTEN TEACHERS DEPENDING ON INDIVIDUAL STRESS COPING STRATEGIES

BURNOUT RISK AMONG GERMAN AND UKRAINIAN KINDERGARTEN TEACHERS DEPENDING ON INDIVIDUAL STRESS COPING STRATEGIES

ISSN 2223-6775 Український журнал з проблем медицини праці Том.20, №3, 2024

https://doi.org/10.33573/ujoh2024.03.193

BURNOUT RISK AMONG GERMAN AND UKRAINIAN KINDERGARTEN TEACHERS DEPENDING ON INDIVIDUAL STRESS COPING STRATEGIES

Darius S.1, Kuhrmeier M.1, Lysak M.2, Zavgorodnii I.2, Böckelmann I.1

1 Department of Occupational Medicine, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany

2 Department of Hygiene and Ecology, Kharkiv National Medical University, Kharkiv, Ukraine

Full article (PDF): ENG

Introduction. Educators in early childhood education are exposed to a variety of stresses that can lead to negative stress reactions. In order to keep educators healthy, a balance between stress on the one hand and resources on the other is necessary.

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the risk of burnout depending on individual stress coping strategies as a personal resource and to uncover possible differences between two countries in order to derive country-specific preventive measures.

Materials and methods of research. 185 educators from Magdeburg and the surrounding area and 107 Ukrainian educators from Kharkiv took part voluntarily in the survey. The MBI-GS was used to assess the risk of burnout. Stress coping strategies as a personal resource were recorded using the Stress Coping Questionnaire (SVF).

Results. German educators (D) mainly dealt with stress using negative strategies, whereas Ukrainian kindergarten teachers (U) mainly resorted to positive stress coping strategies. 34.6% (D) and 42.1% (U) of kindergarten teachers showed some burnout symptoms. The risk of burnout was increased for 4.9% of German and 2.8% of Ukrainian teachers. All German educators at risk of burnout used negative stress coping strategies (p = 0.002), whereas only two of the Ukrainian teachers at risk of burnout used these strategies (p = 0.003).

Conclusions. Preventive measures that lead to stress reduction should be established primarily to keep teachers healthy. To complete this, the teachers affected could be given the opportunity to take part in stress coping courses to reduce the risk of burnout. Advice based on the analysis of individual stress coping strategies can be a helpful basis for this.

Keywords: burnout, educators, stress coping, country comparison

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