How homeroom teachers cope with high demands: Effect of prolonging working hours on emotional exhaustion

Abstract

This study applied the job demands–resources (JD–R) model to examine antecedents and processes leading to emotional exhaustion in homeroom teachers. We hypothesized that the demands imposed by student misbehavior, conflicts with parents, and workload would relate positively with emotional exhaustion and that prolonging working hours as a coping behavior would mediate these effects. The cross-sectional study involved self-reported questionnaire-based data of 560 homeroom teachers in Switzerland. The results of structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed that workload (β = 0.43), conflicts with parents (β = 0.25), and student misbehavior (β = 0.23) were positively related to emotional exhaustion and that prolonging working hours partially mediated the effect of workload on emotional exhaustion (β = 0.21). Conflicts with parents and student misbehavior only related to emotional exhaustion directly, and not indirectly. We discuss these findings in light of the JD–R model, teacher education, and teachers' health promotion.