Early Education and Development

ISSN: 1040-9289 (Print) 1556-6935 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/heed20

Early Childhood Teachers’ Psychological

Well-Being: Exploring Potential Predictors of
Depression, Stress, and Emotional Exhaustion

Lieny Jeon, Cynthia K. Buettner & Ashley A. Grant

To cite this article: Lieny Jeon, Cynthia K. Buettner & Ashley A. Grant (2018) Early
Childhood Teachers’ Psychological Well-Being: Exploring Potential Predictors of Depression,
Stress, and Emotional Exhaustion, Early Education and Development, 29:1, 53-69, DOI:
10.1080/10409289.2017.1341806

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2017.1341806

Published online: 06 Jul 2017.

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EARLY EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT
2018, VOL. 29, NO. 1, 53–69
https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2017.1341806

Early Childhood Teachers’ Psychological Well-Being: Exploring

Potential Predictors of Depression, Stress, and Emotional
Exhaustion
Lieny Jeona, Cynthia K. Buettnerb, and Ashley A. Granta
a
School of Education, Johns Hopkins University; bDepartment of Human Sciences, The Ohio State University

ABSTRACT
Research Findings: Early childhood teachers’ psychological well-being influences
the nurturing and learning classroom climate in early care and education as well
as children’s development. However, less is known about predictors of teachers’
psychological well-being in preschool. The purpose of this study was to explore
associations between potential predictors of teachers’ psychological well-being
—such as professional background, teaching efficacy, and work environment—
and teachers’ self-perceived depression, stress, and emotional exhaustion after
controlling for individual demographics. A total of 1,129 teachers serving pre-
school-age children (3- and 4-year-olds) in the United States participated in the
study. Teachers responded to a questionnaire asking about their background,
work environment, and social-emotional attributes. Multiple regression analysis
revealed that levels of teachers’ self-efficacy and work environments are gener-
ally associated with their psychological well-being above and beyond their
personal and professional backgrounds. Practice or Policy: The results of this
study suggest that it is important to help teachers build teaching competence
and efficacy and to prepare them to handle stressors from work environments in
order to reduce their psychological burden. In addition, we suggest that positive
work climates need to be created for teachers and children at the program level.

In early care and education settings, young children who receive more sensitive and responsive caregiv-
ing are more likely to demonstrate better developmental outcomes (Hamre & Pianta, 2005). Teachers’
social-emotional capacity and their psychological well-being are fundamental characteristics that support
improved social and emotional learning practices (e.g., sensitivity, responsiveness, emotional support) in
the classroom (Buettner, Jeon, Hur, & Garcia, 2016; Jennings & Greenberg, 2009). Buettner et al. (2016)
found that preschool teachers’ psychological load (e.g., depressive symptoms, general stress, and job-
related emotional exhaustion) was one of the social and emotional capacity factors associated with
teachers’ responsiveness toward children’s negative emotions and teachers’ professional engagement,
such as job satisfaction and work commitment.
In addition, early childhood teachers’ self-reported depressive symptoms have been found to be
negatively associated with their relationships with children (Koles, O’Connor, & Collins, 2013; Whitaker,
Dearth-Wesley, & Gooze, 2015); the observed quality of instructional support and classroom organization,
such as routines and behavioral management (Hamre & Pianta, 2004; Sandilos et al., 2015); and children’s
behavioral problems (Jeon, Buettner, & Snyder, 2014). Teacher-perceived general stress has also been
negatively associated with observed home-based and center-based caregiver behaviors (Groeneveld,
Vermeer, van Ijzendoorn, & Linting, 2012), child engagement (Ota, Baumgartner, & Berghout Austin,
2012), and children’s social-emotional functioning (Zinsser, Bailey, Curby, Denham, & Bassett, 2013).
Teachers’ workplace stress was associated with their greater conflicts with children in the classroom

CONTACT Lieny Jeon [email protected] School of Education, Johns Hopkins University, 2800 North Charles Street,
Baltimore, MD 21218.
© 2018 Taylor & Francis
54 L. JEON ET AL.

(Whitaker et al., 2015) and more negative communication with parents and social instruction (Fantuzzo
et al., 2012). In addition, studies have found that when early childhood teachers were emotionally exhausted
in their job and burnt out, they were less likely to exhibit positive practices for children in the classroom
(Hildebrand & Seefeldt, 1986; Jennings, 2015; Rentzou, 2012).
Despite the importance of teachers’ psychological well-being to overall classroom quality and
children’s development, early childhood teachers report that they feel stressed, exhausted, isolated, and
burnt out (McGinty, Justice, & Rimm-Kaufman, 2008), and teaching is often recognized as one of the
most stressful occupations (Kyriacou, 2001). Although interest in early childhood teachers’ own psy-
chological well-being and self-care is growing, more research is needed to understand the state of
teachers’ well-being and the ways to best support teachers’ mental health(Hall-Kenyon, Bullough,
MacKay, & Marshall, 2014). Therefore, in the current study we explore potential predictors of teachers’
psychological well-being to find out ways to better support teachers’ psychological challenges. After using
the research literature to identify potential predictors (e.g., Hall-Kenyon et al., 2014; Jennings &
Greenberg, 2009), we examine associations between teachers’ professional background; teaching efficacy
and work environments; and teachers’ psychological well-being, measured by depression, general stress,
and job-related emotional exhaustion.

Professional Background and Psychological Well-being

We first examine the role of teachers’ professional background in their psychological well-being,
exploring factors such as educational attainment, years of experience, whether they majored in early
childhood education, and their role in the classroom (lead or assistant teacher). Although many studies
have investigated the impact of teachers’ professional background on classroom practices or child
outcomes (Early et al., 2006; Kelley & Camilli, 2007), it is largely unknown whether professional
characteristics are related to teachers’ own emotional health. Rimm-Kaufman and Hamre (2010) argued
that the quality of teachers’ interaction with children is influenced by the interplay between teachers’
professional experience and psychological attributes. More educated and more experienced teachers
might be more capable of dealing with children’s challenging behaviors, which are the most common
classroom stressors among early childhood educators (Friedman-Krauss, Raver, Morris, & Jones, 2014),
so they might feel less depressed and stressed in their work. Alternatively, more experienced teachers
might have built effective coping strategies that may buffer their psychological load and help them handle
emotional frustration associated with teaching. In fact, there is evidence that new teachers are more likely
to experience burnout and leave the job within 5 years of their employment (Wells, 2015). There are a few
studies showing that teachers’ educational attainment and years of work experience are positively
correlated with their job satisfaction and negatively correlated with burnout (Bloom, 1988; Manlove,
1993); it is, however, less clear whether professional background characteristics are related to teachers’
general depressive symptoms or stress.
In addition, we hypothesize that teacher status will be associated with teachers’ psychological well-being:
Lead teachers (vs. assistant teachers) might feel better job security and higher levels of autonomy in their job
that could potentially buffer against emotional strain from work (Pearson & Moomaw, 2005). In addition,
lead and assistant teachers may have different motivations (e.g., level of involvement and engagement in
instruction, salary, social status) in their job (Wells, 2015), which may also impact their well-being.
Although Whitaker et al. (2015) found that there was no statistical difference between lead teachers and
assistant teachers in their depressive symptoms, assistant teachers experienced more stressors from their
lives (e.g., economic hardships due to lower earnings) than lead teachers.
Overall, we expect that teachers who have higher levels of educational attainment and more work
experience years and who majored in early childhood education and serve as a lead teacher will be less
depressed, stressed, and emotionally exhausted because they may have more knowledge and resources
to support their competence and motivation on the job and strategies to deal with work-related
stressors.
 EARLY EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT 55

Teaching Efficacy and Psychological Well-being

Next we explore associations between teachers’ efficacy and psychological well-being. Self-efficacy is
defined as individuals’ perceptions and beliefs about their own abilities to produce certain outcomes in
specific contexts (Bandura, 1997). Teachers’ efficacy is specifically defined as teachers’ self-judgement
of their teaching capabilities to achieve desired outcomes in the school context (Tschannen-Moran &
Hoy, 2001). Teaching efficacy is generally measured by two types of constructs: personal teaching
efficacy, which is teachers’ perception of their abilities to stimulate children’s learning and to support
difficult children; and general teaching efficacy, which is the level of teachers’ expected outcomes from
teaching above and beyond parental influences on children’s development (Gibson & Dembo, 1984;
Hoy & Davis, 2005; Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2001). In early childhood classrooms, teachers’
disciplinary efficacy, which is teachers’ self-perceived abilities to manage children’s challenging beha-
viors (Bandura, 1997), is another critical domain that supports teachers’ practices and child outcomes
(Fox & Hemmeter, 2009). Bandura (1993) suggested that individuals’ beliefs about their capabilities
affect their competence or anxiety in dealing with challenging situations, which in turn threaten their
psychological well-being. Teachers with lower levels of personal, general, and disciplinary teaching
efficacy might experience more anxiety in their job and/or might be less confident in using coping
strategies when they face difficult situations than teachers who have higher levels of teaching efficacy.
In turn, the lack of competence in their teaching capabilities is likely to elevate their levels of
depression, stress, and emotional exhaustion. In the current study, three teaching efficacy constructs
(personal efficacy, general efficacy, and disciplinary efficacy) are explored as potential antecedents of
teachers’ mental health.
We also examine teachers’ general competence in their teaching as a predictor of their psychological
well-being. The theory of self-determination suggests that an individual’s competence is one of the basic
psychological needs for well-being and satisfaction (Ryan & Deci, 2000). According to this theory,
teachers who feel more competent and are more likely to be persistent, engaged, and intrinsically
motivated would demonstrate a higher quality level of performance in classrooms and would report a
higher degree of psychological well-being (Deci & Ryan, 1985). For example, surveying Canadian school
teachers, Collie, Shapka, Perry, and Martin (2016) found that teachers’ perceptions of their competence
were significantly related to their general well-being. Similarly, Skaalvik and Skaalvik (2014), studying
Norwegian elementary and middle school teachers, showed a significant association between teachers’
perceived self-efficacy and their professional engagement and satisfaction.

Work Environment and Psychological Well-being

The previous literature has shown that employees’ psychosocial work environment, including job
demands, resources, and social support, significantly impacts their emotional health and well-being
(e.g., Demerouti, Bakker, Nachreiner, & Schaufeli, 2001; Martin, Karanika-Murray, Biron, &
Sanderson, 2016; Stansfeld & Candy, 2006). When an individual encounters external stressors
from the workplace, he or she is more likely to experience increased psychological load and burnout,
especially when the person perceives the environment as overwhelming and unmodifiable (Lazarus
& Folkman, 1984). In education settings, a positive workplace environment, which promotes staff
members’ mental health, is particularly important because teachers primarily set the tone for the
classroom learning environment. Although there have been studies examining working conditions or
organizational stressors and their associations with kindergarten through Grade 12 teachers’ depres-
sion, stress, and emotional exhaustion (e.g., Borrelli, Benevene, Fiorilli, D’Amelio, & Pozzi, 2014;
Kidger et al., 2016; Stauffer & Mason, 2013), only a few studies have investigated the multiple facets
of work environments for early childhood teachers. The current study seeks to identify potential
indicators of early childhood teachers’ work environments and to explore associations between these
indicators and teachers’ psychological well-being.
56 L. JEON ET AL.

Bloom (1988) first suggested five organizational factors that are important for early childhood
teachers’ job satisfaction and commitment: coworker relations, supervisor relations, the work itself
(e.g., the degree of challenge, autonomy, tasks and time demands, and control), pay and promotion
opportunities, and overall working conditions (e.g., flexibility, teaching resources, teacher-to-child
ratio). When teachers perceived these five factors as more favorable, they were less likely to
experience emotional exhaustion and more likely to experience job satisfaction (Bloom, 1988;
Buettner et al., 2016; Manlove, 1993). Although teachers’ mental health was not directly examined,
Wells (2015) found that teachers’ satisfaction with their relationship with their supervisor predicted
teachers’ actual turnover. Reffett (2009) also explored potential sources of Head Start teachers’
occupational stress and found that work environment (e.g., work load, physical environment,
responsibilities) was more strongly related to teachers’ emotional strain than professional character-
istics (e.g., educational attainment, experience years).
In addition to program-level organizational support, Kelly and Berthelsen (1995) emphasized the
role of social support for teachers’ well-being and found that parental support and children’s
behaviors were other psychosocial environmental predictors of preschool teachers’ stress. For
example, teachers experience stress when they feel that parents do not respect their job, do not
communicate with them, or do not properly care for children (Curbow, Spratt, Ungaretti,
McDonnell, & Breckler, 2000; Kelly & Berthelsen, 1995). Furthermore, teachers often report that
they are stressed when they need to continuously attend to children’s challenging behaviors or when
they have difficulties forming positive relationships with children (Kelly & Berthelsen, 1995). The
current study examines both teacher-perceived support from children’s families and children’s
challenging behaviors as predictors of teachers’ psychological well-being.
Another critical aspect of the child care environment is the degree of structure and organization.
When teachers work in safe, structured, and organized environments, they become more capable of
providing better support for children (Friedman-Krauss, Raver, Morris, et al., 2014; Mashburn et al.,
2008). Conversely, teachers in chaotic environments, which are noisy, crowded, instable, unpredict-
able, and disorganized, tend to have more negative interactions with children (Buettner et al., 2016).
Wachs, Gurkas, and Kontos (2004) first adapted the home version of the Confusion, Hubbub, and
Order Scale (Matheny, Wachs, Ludwig, & Phillips, 1995) to measure chaos in child care environ-
ments. They found that children in more chaotic classrooms demonstrated less compliant behaviors
after they controlled for children’s temperament and observed child care global quality and teachers’
caregiving behaviors. However, there is a lack of studies examining whether chaotic environments
directly affect teachers’ mental health. To our knowledge, only one study has examined teachers’
mental health: Jeon, Hur, and Buettner (2016) found that child care chaos hampers teachers’ ability
to regulate their emotions and to cope with stressors. The parenting literature has shown that
household chaos affects the psychological well-being of parents (Deater-Deckard, Chen, Wang, &
Bell, 2012) as well as children (Evans, Gonnella, Marcynyszyn, Gentile, & Salpekar, 2005; Fiese &
Winter, 2010). Likewise, we hypothesize that chaotic environments in child care will be negatively
associated with teachers’ psychological well-being, as a chaotic climate may limit individuals’
capabilities to cope with their emotional arousal and may increase their levels of fatigue and tension,
which increase psychological burdens (Corapci & Wachs, 2002; Evans, Maxwell, & Hart, 1999).
Furthermore, many researchers suggest that it is critical for teachers to be involved in ongoing
professional development to maintain their expertise and instructional quality (Fantuzzo et al.,
2012). Although there is evidence that teachers’ engagement in ongoing training is associated with
teachers’ job-related satisfaction (Manlove, 1993), studies that have examined whether ongoing
professional development opportunities are related to teachers’ general psychological well-being
are lacking. Fantuzzo et al. (2012) suggested that teachers receiving more professional development
opportunities are more likely to have resources to learn new skills, reflect on their practice, engage in
positive interactions with children, and collaborate with other teachers. Therefore, teachers might
feel that they are more confident in working with children, which in turn might help teachers
maintain psychological well-being.
 EARLY EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT 57

The Present Study

The current study explores potential antecedents of preschool teachers’ psychological well-being as
identified from the literature. First, we hypothesize that teachers’ different levels and types of profes-
sional background, including higher levels of education, having majored in early childhood education,
having more years of experience, and being a lead teacher, will be associated with a higher degree of
psychological well-being, measured by levels of depressive symptoms, general stress, and job-related
emotional exhaustion. Second, we hypothesize that teachers who are more competent and who report
higher levels of teaching efficacy will demonstrate a higher degree of psychological well-being. Finally,
we hypothesize that teachers who perceive their work environment as more positive will report higher
levels of psychological well-being. As reviewed, work environment indicators that early childhood
teachers may frequently encounter include the workplace climate (e.g., relationships with coworkers
and a supervisor, the work itself, pay and promotion opportunities, and working conditions), support
from children’s families, the level of children’s challenging behaviors, the degree of chaos in the setting,
and opportunities for ongoing professional development.
We include teachers’ demographics, such as age, sex, race/ethnicity, marital status, household
income, and salary, as covariates because individuals’ demographics have been shown to be
associated with their psychological well-being (Burke & Greenglass, 1996; Cairney, Boyle, Offord,
& Racine, 2003). Overall, the current study examines the associations between teachers’ profes-
sional background; teaching efficacy and perceived work environment; and the levels of teachers’
depression, stress, and emotional exhaustion after controlling for individual demographics.

Method
Participants
A total of 1,129 preschool classroom teachers in child care centers (n = 755, 68.6%) and public
prekindergarten programs (n = 346, 31.4%) across the United States participated in the study. Table 1
shows participants’ demographics. To collect the data, we identified 7,500 potential participants from a
master list of U.S. early care and education programs available from the Market Data Retrieval, a
commercial mailing list service that has been used in previous studies (Pianta, Cox, Taylor, & Early,
1999; Rous, Hallam, McCormick, & Cox, 2010). We conducted proportional stratified sampling to
represent the national population of teachers working with preschool-age children. Program type (child
care or public prekindergarten) and U.S. Census Bureau geographic region (nine areas: New England,
Middle Atlantic, East North Central, West North Central, South Atlantic, East South Central, West South
Central, Mountain, and Pacific) were used as two criteria in the sampling process. Market Data Retrieval
was asked to use the 18 strata to proportionally randomly select 7,500 programs. More specific sampling
and data collection procedures are described in Buettner et al. (2016).
After the 7,500 programs were identified, we sent a teacher survey packet to the administrators of
the programs and asked them to distribute it to their teacher (working with preschool-age children)
whose birthday was closest to the day they received the survey packet. The survey packet included a
questionnaire asking about the teacher’s background, work environment, program and classroom
characteristics, and social-emotional attributes; a business reply envelope; and a $1 bill as an
incentive. We also sent a reminder postcard 3 weeks after the initial packets were sent. Of the
7,500 programs, we could not reach 455 programs because addresses were undeliverable or programs
were closed. A total of 128 teachers either returned the survey but indicated that they were not
willing to participate in the study (n = 58) or returned the survey without responses (n = 70). The
rest of surveys were not mailed back. Overall, 16% of teachers (n = 1,129) returned completed
questionnaires.
58 L. JEON ET AL.

Table 1. Descriptive statistics.

Variable n M or % SD Theoretical Range Range No. of Items α
Psychological well-being
Depression 1,129 3.16 3.71 0–27 0–25 9 .84
Stress 1,129 11.97 5.66 0–40 0–34 10 .84
Emotional exhaustion 1,119 3.53 1.68 1–7 1–7 2 .86
Personal background
Age (years) 1,048 44.62 12.44 20–70 1
Sex (1 = female) 1,110 97.21% 1
Race/ethnicity 1,083 1
White, non-Hispanic 84.86% 0–1 0–1
Black, non-Hispanic 7.76% 0–1 0–1
Hispanic 1.94% 0–1 0–1
Other race 5.45% 0–1 0–1
Marital status (1 = single) 1,101 25.34% 0–1 0–1 1
Annual salary 1,085 $25,000–$30,000a 1–11 1–11 1
Family income 1,045 $50,000–$75,000a 1–13 1–13 1
Professional background
Educational attainment 1,109 1
Less than an associate’s degree 20.02% 0–1 0–1
Associate’s degree 13.26% 0–1 0–1
Bachelor’s degree 66.73% 0–1 0–1
Majored in ECE 1,041 65.80% 0–1 0–1 1
Work experience in ECE (years) 1,114 15.56 9.62 1–50 1
Teacher type (1 = lead) 1,102 93.01% 0–1 0–1 1
Teaching efficacy
Competence 1,109 6.29 1.04 1–7 1–7 1
General teaching efficacy 1,119 3.69 0.78 1–5 1–5 5 .75
Personal teaching efficacy 1,119 4.35 0.53 1–5 1–5 4 .72
Disciplinary efficacy 1,120 4.26 0.62 1–5 2–5 3 .84
Work environments
Perceived conditions 1,111 3.97 0.69 1–5 1.6–5 5 .75
Degree of chaos 1,120 2.23 0.47 1–5 1.2–4.1 16 .81
Children’s behaviors 1,119 1.34 0.71 0–4 0–4 7 .89
Support from families 1,120 3.34 0.47 1–5 1.5–4 6 .82
PD opportunities 1,108 4.03 0.77 105 1–5 4 .69
Note. ECE = early childhood education; PD = professional development.
a
Median.

Measures
Psychological Well-being
Teachers’ psychological well-being was measured by depressive symptoms, general stress, and job-
related emotional exhaustion. We used nine items from the short form of the Center for
Epidemiologic Studies–Depression scale (Radloff, 1977) to measure teachers’ depressive symptoms.
The Center for Epidemiologic Studies–Depression scale asks the frequency of teachers’ depressive
symptoms in the past week using a 4-point scale (0 = rarely or none of the time, 1 = some or a little
of the time, 2 = occasionally or a moderate amount of time, and 3 = most or all of the time). The
internal reliability was high in the current sample (α = .84). Teachers’ general stress was measured by
teachers’ responses on 10 items from the short form of the Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen, Kamarck,
& Mermelstein, 1983). It asks the degree of perceived stress in the past month using a 5-point scale
(0 = never, 4 = very often). Internal reliability was .84 in the current sample. We also asked two
questions (e.g., “I am emotionally exhausted by my work”) to measure teachers’ job-related emo-
tional exhaustion using a 7-point scale (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree). The internal
reliability was .86 in the current sample.

Professional Background
Teachers’ background characteristics were measured by teachers’ responses about their educational
attainment, college major, work experience, and teacher role. Teachers’ educational attainment was
 EARLY EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT 59

dummy coded into two variables: (a) having at least an associate’s degree (compared to teachers
without an associate’s degree) and (b) having a bachelor’s degree (compared to teachers with at least
an associate’s degree). We also asked whether teachers had received a college or graduate degree in
an early childhood education area (1 = yes, 0 = no). Teachers also responded to the number of years
they had worked in the field of early childhood education and their status as a lead or assistant
teacher (1 = lead teacher, 0 = assistant teacher).

Teaching Efficacy
Teachers’ teaching efficacy was measured by three constructs: general teaching efficacy, personal teach-
ing efficacy, and disciplinary teaching efficacy. Teachers responded to five items asking about general
teaching efficacy (Cronbach’s alpha in this sample = .75) and four items asking about personal teaching
efficacy (Cronbach’s α = .72) using the preschool teacher version (Gibson & Dembo, 1984) of the Teacher
Efficacy Scale. The scale utilized a 5-point scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree). Teachers’
disciplinary efficacy was measured by three items from Bandura’s (1997) Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale
(Cronbach’s α = .84). This scale also utilized a 5-point scale (1 = not at all like me, 5 = a lot like me). The
means of the items were calculated for all three constructs. In order to measure teachers’ job competence,
we asked teachers to respond to the item “I feel competent in my job” using a 7-point scale (1 = strongly
disagree, 7 = strongly agree).

Work Environments
Teacher-perceived work environments were measured by five variables: perceived working conditions, a
degree of chaos, children’s behaviors, support from families, and professional development opportu-
nities. To measure how teachers perceived their working conditions, we asked teachers how much their
current work situation resembled their ideal situation in the following five areas: a relationship with a
supervisor, a relationship with coworkers, the work itself, pay and promotion opportunities, and working
conditions. Baker, Kupersmidt, Voegler-Lee, Arnold, and Willoughby (2010) adapted this 5-point scale
(1 = not at all like my ideal, 5 = is my ideal) from the Work Attitudes Questionnaire (Bloom, 1988). The
internal reliability, Cronbach’s alpha, in the current sample was .75.
The degree of child care chaos was measured using the child care version of the Confusion, Hubbub, and
Order Scale (Wachs, 2005), which was adapted from the home version of the Confusion, Hubbub, and
Order Scale (Matheny et al., 1995). We asked teachers to respond to 16 items measuring levels of noise,
crowd, confusion (vs. structure), disorganization, and instability in their environment using a 5-point scale
(1 = definitely untrue, 5 = definitely true). An example item is “There is very little commotion in our
classroom setting.” The internal reliability, Cronbach’s alpha, was .81, and a mean of 16 items was obtained.
Teachers also responded to seven items asking about average children’s behaviors (e.g., difficulty
following directions) in their current classroom using a scale from Rimm-Kaufman, Pianta, and Cox
(2000). We utilized a 5-point scale (0 = none, 4 = more than half of the class) to measure the approximate
percentage of children in their classroom having certain challenges. The internal reliability, Cronbach’s
alpha, was .89, and we calculated a mean of the items for the following analysis.
To measure teachers’ perception of support from children’s families, we used six items (Cronbach’s
α = .82) from the Supportive Parent–Caregiver Relationship Subscale of the Scales Measuring Aspects of
Child-Care Quality (Emlen, Koren, & Schultze, 2000). An example item is “Family members are
supportive of me as a caregiver.” The scale uses a 4-point scale (1 = never, 4 = always).
Finally, teachers’ professional development opportunities were measured by teachers’ responses to
four items (Cronbach’s α = .69) asking about how satisfied they were with professional development
activities and the availability of these opportunities. The items were adapted from the Motivation for
Professional Development (Karabenick & Conley, 2011). An example item is “Professional develop-
ment activities are readily available and accessible to me.” The scale uses a 5-point scale (1 = strongly
disagree, 5 = strongly agree), and a mean was obtained.
60 L. JEON ET AL.

Covariates
Recognizing the potential effects of teachers’ demographics on their psychological well-being, we controlled
for a set of individual characteristics. We included teachers’ age (in years), sex (dummy coded as 1 = female,
0 = male), race/ethnicity (dummy coded into three variables—Black and non-Hispanic, Hispanic, and
Other—with White and non-Hispanic as the reference category), and marital status (dummy coded as
1 = single, separated, divorced, or widowed and 0 = married or cohabiting). In addition, we controlled for
the family’s annual income using 13 categories (1 = $5,000 or less, 13 = $200,001 or more) and total annual
salary using 11 categories (1 = $5,000 or less, 11 = $75,001 or more).

Data Analysis
To examine the associations between professional background, teaching competence and work environ-
ments, and teachers’ psychological well-being after controlling for demographics, we conducted multi-
variate multiple regression analyses in STATA using a sem command, which allowed us to
simultaneously test all predictors and psychological well-being outcome variables. This also allowed us
to estimate the covariances between error terms of the three dependent variables (depression, stress, and
emotional exhaustion), which were likely to be correlated. In the multivariate multiple regression model,
teachers’ demographics, professional background, levels of teaching efficacy, and work environments
were added sequentially. Missing data were handled using full information maximum likelihood
estimation. Full information maximum likelihood estimation preserves all available data to produce
unbiased estimates under conditions of both missing completely at random and missing at random
(Enders & Bandalos, 2001).

Results
Descriptive statistics for all independent and dependent variables are shown in Table 1. In addition,
Table 2 shows bivariate correlations between the variables. Because independent variables were generally
correlated with one another, multicollinearity was examined using variance inflation factor values. We
retained all independent variables in the following regression analyses because all variance inflation
factor values were less than 3 (range = 1.03–2.11; Montgomery, Peck, & Vining, 2001). Table 3 shows the
results of the final multivariate multiple regression analysis that simultaneously added all independent
and dependent variables into the model. Among teachers’ demographics, teachers’ age was significantly
associated with perceived stress: When teachers were older, the degree of perceived stress was lower. In
addition, family income was significantly associated with depression, and annual salary was significantly
associated with job-related emotional exhaustion.
When we added professional background variables, we found that only teachers’ educational attain-
ment was significantly associated with teachers’ job-related emotional exhaustion after we controlled for
other independent variables: When teachers had at least an associate’s degree, they were less likely to be
exhausted. None of the other professional background characteristics were significantly associated with
teachers’ psychological well-being. Teachers’ professional background characteristics and demographic
covariates explained 4.0%, 4.8%, and 2.0% of the variance in depression, stress, and emotional exhaus-
tion, respectively.
Next we found that when teachers had higher levels of job competence, they were less likely to be
depressed and stressed; however, they were more likely to be emotionally exhausted at their job after we
controlled for other predictors. General teaching efficacy was negatively associated with stress and
emotional exhaustion, which indicates that when teachers have more positive beliefs about the impact
of teaching, they are less stressed and exhausted. Although teachers’ personal teaching efficacy was not
significantly associated with psychological well-being, disciplinary efficacy predicted teachers’ job-related
emotional exhaustion. When teachers were more confident about their abilities to discipline children,
they reported lower levels of emotional exhaustion in their job. After teaching efficacy variables were
Table 2. Bivariate correlations.
Variable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Psychological well-being
1. Depression —
2. Stress .55*** —
3. Emotional exhaustion .31*** .38*** —
Professional background
4. Associate’s degree .05 .02 –.06* —
5. Bachelor’s degree –.05 –.02 .05 –.55*** —
6. Majored in ECE .00 –.01 .02 .13*** .29*** —
7. Work experience –.09*** –.15*** –.04 .07* –.08** .15*** —
8. Lead teacher .03 –.00 –.02 .06* –.02 .07* .03 —
TE
9. Competence –.19*** –.25*** –.08*** –.00 .07* .05 .10*** .05 —
10. General TE –.16*** –.21*** –.23*** –.03 .12*** .06* .05 .02 .16*** —
11. Personal TE –.14*** –.26*** –.15*** –.00 .05 .12*** .17*** .04 .32*** .16*** —
12. Disciplinary TE –.14*** –.25*** –.22*** –.04 .15*** .07* .08** .02 .25*** .11*** .45*** —
Work environments
13. Work conditions –.20*** –.26*** –.25*** –.00 –.03 .01 .09** –.02 .18*** .12*** .23*** .24*** —
14. Chaos .32*** .44*** .44*** .03 –.02 .02 –.14*** –.04 –.25*** –.28*** –.34*** –.39*** –.33*** —
15. Children’s behaviors .18*** .19*** .31*** –.06 .12*** .11*** –.02 –.02 –.06 –.10*** –.09** –.12*** –.13*** .36*** —
16. Support from families –.14*** –.24*** –.16*** .04 –.04 –.00 .07* –.04 .19*** .15*** .35*** .26*** .31*** –.32*** –.15*** —
17. PD opportunities –.13*** –.19*** –.10*** .06 –.08* –.01 .02 –.02 .11*** .07* .21*** .09** .30*** –.19*** –.10** .24*** —
Note. ECE = early childhood education; TE = teaching efficacy; PD = professional development.
*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.
EARLY EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT
61
62 L. JEON ET AL.

Table 3. Results from multiple regression.

Depression Perceived Stress Job Exhaustion
Variable β (SE) β (SE) β (SE)
Personal background
Age –.04 (.04) –.11 (.04)** –.06 (.04)
Sex (1 = female) –.05 (.03)† –.02 (.03) .00 (.03)
Race/ethnicity
Black, non-Hispanic –.04 (.03) –.02 (.03) –.00 (.03)
Hispanic .00 –.02 (.03) .02 (.03)
Other race –.00 .01 (.03) –.04 (.03)
Marital status (1 = single) .04 (.03) .01 (.03) –.06 (.03)†
Annual salary .05 (.03) –.03 (.03) .09 (.03)**
Family income –.09 (.04)* –.06 (.04)† –.04 (.04)
Professional background
Educational attainment
Associate’s degree .03 (.03) .00 (.03) –.07 (.03)*
Bachelor’s degree –.03 (.04) .01 (.04) –.01 (.04)
Majored in ECE –.02 (.03) .05 (.03)† .02 (.03)
Work experience in ECE –.02 (.04) .01 (.04) .05 (.04)
Teacher type (1 = lead) .04 (.03) .01 (.03) –.00 (.03)
Teaching efficacy
Competence –.10 (.03)** –.11 (.03)*** .06 (.03)*
General teaching efficacy .05 (.03) –.07 (.03)* –.13 (.03)***
Personal teaching efficacy .01 (.03) –.04 (.03) .01 (.03)
Disciplinary efficacy .01 (.03) –.04 (.03) –.08 (.03)*
Work environments
Perceived conditions –.09 (.03)** –.07 (.03)* –.13 (.03)***
Degree of chaos .21 (.03)*** .28 (.03)*** .30 (.03)***
Children’s behaviors .08 (.03) .05 (.03)† .16 (.03)***
Support from families .01 (.03) –.04 (.03) .02 (.03)
PD opportunities –.06 (.03)† –.07 (.03)* .01 (.03)
2
R .15 .25 .27
Note. ECE = early childhood education; PD = professional development.
†
p < .10. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

added, an additional 4.4%, 11.0%, and 10.4% of the variance in depression, stress, and emotional
exhaustion, respectively, was explained in the model.
Finally, work environment variables were added in the model. It is notable that we found that
teacher-perceived work conditions and the degree of child care chaos were consistently associated with
teachers’ psychological well-being after we controlled for demographics, professional background, and
competence. Specifically, when teachers perceived their working conditions more positively, they
reported lower levels of depressive symptoms, stress, and emotional exhaustion after we controlled
for the covariates. However, when child care environments were perceived as more chaotic, teachers
were more likely to be depressed, stressed, and emotionally exhausted. Child care chaos was the
strongest predictor of teachers’ psychological well-being (βs = .21–.30). Although support from
families was not significantly associated with teachers’ psychological well-being, children’s challenging
behaviors were positively associated with teachers’ job-related emotional exhaustion. In addition,
when teachers had access to more professional development opportunities, they were less depressed
and stressed. Work environment variables additionally explained 6.5%, 9.6%, and 14.6% of the
variance in depression, stress, and emotional exhaustion, respectively. Overall, the final model
explained 15% of the variance in depression, 25% of the variance in stress, and 27% of the variance
in emotional exhaustion using four sets of independent variables, including demographics, profes-
sional background, teaching efficacy, and work environments.

Discussion
Early childhood teachers’ psychological well-being contributes to their abilities to establish a responsive,
nurturing, and learning climate for young children (Buettner et al., 2016; Jennings & Greenberg, 2009;
 EARLY EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT 63

Zinsser, Christensen, & Torres, 2016). The current study identified potential predictors of preschool
teachers’ mental health from the literature and explored whether those predictors are associated with
teachers’ self-reported depressive symptoms, general perceived stress, and job-related emotional
exhaustion.
First, contrary to our first hypothesis, most of the teachers’ professional background variables
were not significantly associated with teachers’ psychological well-being after we controlled for
personal demographics, teaching efficacy, and work environments. The only finding was that
teachers with at least an associate’s degree were less exhausted in their job than teachers without
an associate’s degree. Although we assumed that teachers’ knowledge, resources, and competency
built from their previous education or work experience would buffer their psychological load, those
professional characteristics did not appear to be strong factors that were associated with their
psychological well-being.
Second, examining teachers’ beliefs, we found that teachers’ competence in their job was negatively
associated with depressive symptoms and general perceived stress, as hypothesized. This finding is
consistent with a suggestion from self-determination theory that individuals’ psychological well-being
is grounded in their competence (Deci & Ryan, 2000). When teachers had higher levels of job-related
competence, however, they reported higher levels of emotional exhaustion, which was contrary to our
hypothesis. Pillay, Goddard, and Wilss (2005) found that teachers with higher levels of job competence
were more likely to report higher levels of self-control, which in turn often leads to teacher burnout. It
is also possible that when teachers who feel competent face challenges in their job, such as children’s
behavioral problems, they might be more likely to be frustrated and burnt out (Pillay et al., 2005).
Further research is needed to explain the mechanism between teachers’ competence and their personal
and job-related psychological well-being.
Among the teaching efficacy constructs, teachers’ general teaching efficacy was negatively asso-
ciated with teachers’ stress and job-related emotional exhaustion. One possible explanation for this is
that teachers who have higher levels of general teaching efficacy (e.g., beliefs that a teacher has a
significant impact on children’s learning and development) would be more intrinsically motivated and
more engaged and satisfied with their job, which in turn would support their psychological well-being.
This is supported by Deci and Ryan (1985) suggesting that an individual’s intrinsic motivation
contributes to his or her psychological well-being.
It is interesting that teachers’ personal teaching efficacy was not associated with teachers’ well-being
variables. In addition, disciplinary efficacy was only associated with job-related emotional exhaustion.
These findings were contrary to our hypotheses. When teachers perceive themselves as less capable of
dealing with children’s challenging behaviors, they may perceive their job as emotionally draining. In
addition, bivariate correlations showed teacher-reported lower levels of disciplinary efficacy to be
correlated with higher levels of children’s challenging behaviors—this may be another reason why
teachers feel emotional exhausted. Our findings show that the effects of these beliefs specific to job-
related skills do not extend to teachers’ general mental health, such as depressive symptoms and stress.
This is also consistent with our finding that teacher-perceived children’s challenging behaviors were
only related to job-related emotional exhaustion. Future studies are needed to better explain why
different types of teaching efficacy are differentially related to general psychological well-being and
job-specific health.
Third, as hypothesized, teacher-perceived working conditions were significantly associated with all
three psychological well-being indicators: depression, stress, and emotional exhaustion. These findings
are consistent with previous studies showing that teachers who are more satisfied with their working
conditions exhibit less burnout or job stress (Bloom, 1988; Demerouti et al., 2001). It is plausible that
teachers who perceive their working conditions as more positive might have better available human
and physical resources to immediately relieve psychological difficulties. Alternatively, when teachers
perceive their working conditions as more positive, they might actively seek resources to effectively
treat their emotional burdens in stressful situations.
64 L. JEON ET AL.

In addition, we notably found that child care chaos was the strongest predictor of teachers’
psychological well-being in the analytic model: Teachers in more chaotic environments reported
higher levels of depression, stress, and emotional exhaustion. Teachers in chaotic environments
might experience difficulties maintaining optimal psychological functioning because they are over-
whelmed by unpredictable, disorganized, and unstructured climates (Wachs, 2005). Although a lack
of studies have examined the role of child care chaos in teachers’ psychological well-being, the
parenting literature shows that adults who experience chaos in the home setting display psycholo-
gical difficulties because they tend to feel tired and isolated (Deater-Deckard et al., 2012).
Furthermore, Wachs et al. (2004) found that higher levels of child care chaos were associated with
lower levels of children’s compliance—children’s behaviors may in turn be associated with teachers’
psychological well-being. Because child care chaos appears to be a strong predictor of teachers’
psychological well-being, the current study suggests that teachers need better preparation for
handling the emotional burdens of chaotic environments. It is also important to note that the
associations between chaotic child care environments and teachers’ psychological well-being might
be bidirectional. For example, Hur, Buettner, and Jeon (2015) found that higher levels of parental
depressive symptoms predicted more chaotic home environments, which in turn were associated
with children’s school readiness. In order to find out ways to improve teachers’ psychological well-
being, further examination of potential bidirectional relationships between child care chaos and
teachers’ psychological well-being is needed.
Another interesting finding is that teacher-perceived support from families was not significantly
associated with teachers’ psychological well-being after we controlled for other covariates. This is
inconsistent with previous findings that teachers’ social support from families impacts their psycholo-
gical functioning (Curbow et al., 2000; Kelly & Berthelsen, 1995). Additional studies are needed to
understand in which circumstances teachers are influenced by a relationship with families or whether
certain teachers are more vulnerable to their relationships with families. For example, teachers might feel
stressed and exhausted only when parents’ support is not sufficient for working with challenging
children. In addition, other sources of teachers’ social support, such as support from their own families
or a relationship with colleagues, might need to be studied along with teachers’ relationships with
children’s families in order to better understand teachers’ social support needs.
We also note that most of the teachers’ demographic control variables were not significantly
associated with teachers’ psychological well-being after other predictors were added. For example,
teachers’ annual salary, which has been suggested as one of the most important predictors of
individuals’ well-being (Barnett, 2003; Bullough, Hall-Kenyon, & MacKay, 2012), was only associated
with their job-related emotional exhaustion. This finding is consistent with a recent finding that salary
was not a significant indicator of teachers’ well-being (Wells, 2015). In the Wells (2015) study, teachers’
perception of their work environment was more strongly related to turnover. Overall, the results show
that it might be more effective to intervene with teachers’ self-efficacy or work environments in order
to support teachers’ social and emotional competence.

Limitations
First, the current study was cross-sectional and correlational, which does not guarantee causal directions
of independent and dependent variables. Although we tested teachers’ professional background, teaching
efficacy, and work environments as antecedents of their psychological well-being as the literature
suggests (e.g., Hall-Kenyon et al., 2014), it is possible that the hypothesized associations are bidirectional.
For example, the relationships between children’s behaviors and teachers’ mental health could be
bidirectional—teachers’ higher degree of emotional exhaustion may escalate children’s challenging
behaviors because of teachers’ negative moods (Friedman-Krauss, Raver, Neuspiel, & Kinsel, 2014). Or
it is possible that depressed and stressed teachers create a chaotic climate in their settings. Longitudinal
studies are needed to understand causal relationships between teachers’ professional background,
efficacy, and work environments and their psychological well-being. In addition, although we reduced
 EARLY EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT 65

potential bias from omitted variables by adding a broad set of independent variables to explain teachers’
psychological well-being, there was still unexplained variance. For example, teachers’ past experiences
(such as stressful life events and childhood toxic stress), teachers’ own family issues, specific character-
istics of the children they are serving, or child care neighborhood environments might be related to their
psychological well-being.
Second, although we analyzed a large sample of randomly selected preschool teachers in the
United States, our response rate was still low, which limits generalizability. It is possible that teachers
who suffer from psychological difficulties might have opted not to participate in the study because
either they did not have enough energy to complete and return the survey or they did not want to
reveal their psychological challenges.
Finally, all of study data came from the same respondents: the teachers. In order to understand
the nature of teachers’ psychological load, such as depression, stress, or emotional exhaustion, it is
critical to understand teachers’ beliefs (e.g., teaching efficacy and competence) and perceptions of
their work environments. Through understanding what teachers themselves identify as their needs, it
is possible to better support teachers. However, the shared variance between study variables due to
responses from the same respondents might have biased the study results. Furthermore, self-report
measures of teachers’ psychological well-being do not provide information on a clinical range or
chronicity of teachers’ mental health. Although we utilized validated measures in the field (Cohen
et al., 1983; Radloff, 1977), objective assessments might further help us to understand a clinical range
of teachers’ psychological well-being.

Implications for Research and Practice

This exploratory study shows potential antecedents of teachers’ psychological well-being. Further study is
needed to determine whether these antecedents influence long-term outcomes. In addition, future
studies may examine whether the associations between (a) teaching efficacy and their psychological
well-being and (b) work environment and teachers’ psychological well-being extend to classroom
practices and child outcomes. For example, teachers’ competence in teaching might improve their
classroom organization and instructional support through mitigating their psychological burdens,
such as depression and stress. It would also be interesting to examine teachers’ individual coping
strategies as a mediator or a moderator of the associations between the predictors studied in the current
study and teachers’ psychological well-being. It is possible that teachers’ coping strategies strengthen or
weaken the associations between work environment and psychological well-being. For example, teachers
who use more effective coping strategies might feel less stress from chaotic environments because they
have an ability to handle stressors from the environment.
Furthermore, as work environments, such as working conditions, child care chaos, and professional
development opportunities, were found to be important factors to consider, there is a need to more
deeply understand center-level support that might mitigate teachers’ psychological load. Zinsser et al.
(2016) recently found that center-level social and emotional learning support decreased the degree of
teachers’ depression and increased their degree of job satisfaction. More studies are needed to understand
different aspects of work environments. In addition, teachers’ perceived working conditions, such as
relationships with directors and coworkers or pay and promotion opportunities, might be studied
separately in the future to clearly understand which conditions more strongly predict teachers’ psycho-
logical well-being. Finally, although it was valuable to understand teachers’ perceptions of their work
environments, more objective measures of the child care environment need to be gathered to provide
objective information about the effects of work environment on teachers’ psychological well-being.
This study also informs early childhood education practice and policy. Although teachers often report
that they are depressed, stressed, and emotionally exhausted, teaching is still considered a rewarding job,
and early childhood teachers enjoy working with children (Thomason & La Paro, 2013). Supporting
teachers’ needs for better psychological well-being may improve teachers’ potential satisfaction with their
job as well as their classroom practice. The results from this study suggest that it is important to help
66 L. JEON ET AL.

teachers build teaching competence and efficacy, which were identified as antecedents of their psycho-
logical well-being. This could be supported by providing learning opportunities for teachers to fill gaps in
their knowledge about pedagogy. Furthermore, administrators may empower teachers to form more
positive beliefs about their abilities in teaching.
In addition to building competence about their job, teachers need to be prepared to handle stressors
from their work environments, such as relationships with their administrator, coworkers, and children in
their care and fatigue or tension from chaotic and disorganized environments. Lazarus (2006) suggested
that an individual experiences psychological burdens when he or she thinks that the environment is not
malleable. It is important for teachers to have belief and confidence in their abilities to actively handle
and change stressful environments. Many professional development programs are designed to improve
teachers’ classroom management or instruction skills (Pianta, Mashburn, Downer, Hamre, & Justice,
2008). However, intervention components are needed that address potential stressors in teachers’ work-
place and strategies for dealing with challenging situations. The Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in
Education mindfulness-based intervention, which primarily targets self-care among elementary school
teachers, incorporates these components and has been shown to be effective for mitigating psychological
challenges (Jennings, Frank, Snowberg, Coccia, & Greenberg, 2013). The current study suggests that early
childhood teachers also need support to discover effective ways to reduce their psychological burdens.
Finally, it is important for administrators to create positive work climates for teachers and children; early
childhood policies may also emphasize the role of work environments and professional development
opportunities for teachers in an effort to improve overall quality in early care and education.

Conclusion
This is the first study to simultaneously examine early childhood teachers’ demographics, profes-
sional background, teaching efficacy, and work environment as predictors of their general and job-
related psychological well-being. We found that teaching efficacy and work environments were
generally associated with teachers’ depressive symptoms, general stress, and job-related emotional
exhaustion. The current study adds to the growing literature on teachers’ psychological well-being
and informs practice for how teachers’ psychological well-being could be better supported. Fulfilling
teachers’ psychological well-being needs is a new approach to improving the overall quality of
teachers’ practices in early care and education. We anticipate that future studies will further examine
ways to improve teachers’ psychological well-being.

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