COPING E BURNOUT EM PROFESSORES DA EDUCAÇÃO BÁSICA.

Abstract

The objective of this study was to analyze the existing relations between coping strategies, burnout and social-demographic factors that go on with teachers of Basic Education of the state public system in the municipalities of Goiânia and Iporá Goiás, Brazil. The text is structured in two parts. The first part considers the main theoretical studies, found in specialized literature, regarding the subject, and the second part is structured as an article to be submitted for publication in a scientific journal. The participants in this research were 200 teachers. The instruments used were: The CRI Coping Response Inventory Adult Form, and the Maslach Burnout Inventory General Survey (MBI-GS). The data collected were analyzed in three distinct stages. In the first stage, a descriptive analysis was done to describe the stressful events most experienced in the work context and verify the most used coping strategies. In the second stage, Variance analysis was done (t-test and ANOVA with scheffé) among social-demographic variables, coping, and burnout. In the third stage, correlation (Pearson) and multiple regression (stepwise) analysis was done. The results of the descriptive analysis demonstrated that among the participants of this study there was a predominance of experienced relational problems (66%) and the most used coping strategies were the ones focusing in approach, related to the behavioral abilities. Among the burnout dimensions, the results revealed higher grade of emotional exhaustion in teachers of Basic Education researched. It was observed that the teachers who occupy a leadership position used more of search for support and guidance strategies. In relation to the gender variable, women used more cognitive avoidance strategies. The results of multiple regression applied to the analysis of the predictive factors of burnout showed that the coping abilities towards reward seeking and emotional discharge problems are predictive of emotional exhaustion. The direction of these relations is negative and positive, respectively. The results also demonstrate that the strategies problem solving and acceptance/resignation analysis showed to be predictors of cynicism and inefficacy. In regard to approach and avoidance strategies, significant results were found only in the relation between the burnout dimension emotional exhaustion and the strategies of problem avoidance. Based on the obtained results, it is concluded that the teachers of Basic Education, who participated in this study, have not yet developed burnout; that is because there was no significance in all of the dimensions, but most of them show emotional exhaustion, which dimension is characterized by tiredness and resource exhaustion to which can be added the feeling of frustration and tension in the workers. Therefore, it can be said that for this population the coping strategies have a bigger probability of being predictors of burnout.