Burnout in the Early Childhood Education Sector: Considering the Roles of Stress, Distress, and Support

ABSTRACT

Objectives: Early childhood education (ECE) has been shown to increase cognitive-academic functioning, developmental outcomes, and social performance at the time of entering school with benefits persisting into adulthood. Turnover has been a longstanding issue in childcare, with estimates of 15%-25% of providers exiting the field each year. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased ECE workforce exit, leading to a crisis in childcare demand. Burnout contributes to turnover and negatively impacts the relationship between providers and children. In this study, we examined factors contributing to and protective against burnout for ECE providers. Method(s) Paper questionnaires were administered at 5 childcare centers in Indianapolis, Indiana, with responses from 47 ECE providers. A single-item burnout measure was used. Stress and distress were measured using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) and the Kessler-6 Psychological Distress Scale (K6). Additional single-item questions were utilized. The null hypothesis was that there would be no differences in the relationships between burnout with stress and distress and how those variables related to feelings toward childcare and sources of support. Analyses included descriptive statistics and correlations. Significant associations were entered into bivariate linear regression. Result(s) Stress (PSS-10, beta =.471) and distress (K6, beta =.489) were significantly (p <.001) associated with burnout. Feeling like quitting (beta =.696;p <.001), feeling stuck in childcare due to few other employment opportunities (beta =.494;p <.001), and liking providing childcare but finding it difficult to make a living (beta =.438;p <.01) were significantly related to burnout. Higher supervisor support (beta = -.743) and adequate breaks (beta = -.516) were significantly (p <.001) related to less burnout. Conclusion(s) Stress and distress for ECE providers were equally related to burnout. Burnout was related to feeling like quitting, feeling stuck, and finding it difficult to make a living in childcare. Only support from supervisors and adequate breaks were related to lower burnout scores. Our study supports the idea that a better understanding of perceived stress, adequate breaktimes, and support from supervisors may be important for addressing burnout and retention of quality ECE providers. EDUC, DEV, PSC Copyright © 2022