Personal resources, burnout and symptoms associated with stress in primary and secondary teachers

Within the framework of a positive organizational psychology approach, our objective was to analyse the predictive validity of several personal dimensions (self-esteem, professional self-efficacy, dispositional optimism and perceived emotional abilities) on burnout syndrome and symptoms associated with stress in primary and secondary school teachers. The sample consisted of 245 teachers who filled out a battery of questionnaires on optimism, self-esteem, professional self-efficacy, emotional abilities, burnout and stress symptoms. In general, personal resources explained for a significant percentage of variance of burnout symptoms and, in particular, symptoms associated with stress. In regard to incremental validity, the importance of perceived emotional intelligence, attention to feelings and mood clarity are highlighted as factors capable of explaining the variance in burnout syndrome after controlling for teachers levels of self-esteem, selfefficacy and optimism. The importance of investigating the affective mechanisms involved in the onset and maintenance of burnout syndrome are discussed.