Prevention Right from the Start

First Results of a Digital Workshop on Burnout Prevention for Prospective Physical Education Teachers, Regarding Job-related Autonomy Satisfaction, Burnout, and Job-Related Self-Efficacy Expectation

Abstract

Physical education teachers are considered a group of professionals affected by burnout. Strain factors should be examined separately due to the special conditions of physical education. From a motivational psychological perspective, the job-related satisfaction of the three basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness is of central importance, because a lack of need satisfaction may promote the development of burnout. The goal of this paper is a pre-post comparison of a digital workshop for prospective physical education teachers which aims to strengthen job-related basic psychological needs as a central resource within the framework of the job-demands-resources model and to reduce existing burnout symptoms. Using validated questionnaires, we assessed job-related psychological need satisfaction, burnout, job engagement, job-related self-efficacy expectation, and well-being at two measurement time points, before and after workshop participation, in 43 student PE teachers. The results show a significant increase in job-related autonomy satisfaction after workshop participation as well as significant decreases in burnout dimensions of emotional exhaustion and reduced performance accomplishment. The two dimensions of engagement, “vitality” and “absorbedness”, increased significantly after the workshop. Job-related self-efficacy expectations also increased after workshop participation, but there was no significant effect for well-being. The regression analyses also showed associations of job-related psychological need satisfaction with burnout and job-engagement. Future research addressing the effectiveness of the digital workshop for burnout prevention through controlled studies is recommended to further validate the findings.