Relationship Between Chronic Health Conditions and Occupational Burnout in the Early Care and Education Workforce.

OBJECTIVE: The early care and education (ECE) workforce experiences high rates of poor mental and physical health outcomes, which impact staff well-being and burnout. This study aimed to assess the relationship between chronic health conditions and occupational burnout in ECE Head Start staff working in low-resourced locations. METHODS: This study administered an 89-item cross-sectional survey to 332 ECE staff employed in 42 Head Start centers in the United States. Staff self-reported on the following 10 chronic health conditions: arthritis, asthma, cancer, depression, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, insomnia, lung disease, and musculoskeletal disorders. RESULTS: We found that multimorbidity of chronic conditions significantly predicted overall burnout ( B = 2.39, P < 0.01), particularly related to emotional exhaustion ( B = 2.04, P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Workplace interventions targeting emotional exhaustion related to chronic health conditions are recommended to effectively address occupational burnout among ECE staff.

Risk and protective factors for mental health and wellbeing among adolescent orphans.

Background: Research has demonstrated the importance of understanding risk factors for mental health and wellbeing. Less research has focused on protective factors that protect mental health and promote wellbeing in diverse contexts. Estimating structural paths from risk protective factors to psychopathology and wellbeing can inform prioritization of targeted investment in adolescent health programs that seek to modify factors that are most closely associated with mental wellbeing. Study objective: The purpose of this study was to examine risk factors (e.g. emotional neglect, emotional abuse, physical neglect, stigma) and protective factors (e.g. community relationships, self-esteem, and autonomy) among adolescent orphans, protective associations with depression, anxiety and externalizing behaviors and promotive associations with hope, happiness, and health. Methods: The analytic sample was collected between January and March of 2019 and included 350 adolescent orphans ages 10-15 from three districts in Tanzania. Participants completed survey interviews, 75-90 min in length, that measured risk and protective factors, psychological symptoms, and mental wellbeing measures. Results: Results of the fitted structural equation model indicated that structural paths from protective factors to psychopathology (ß = -0.53, p = 0.015) and mental wellbeing (ß = 0.72, p = 0.014) outcomes were significant. Structural paths from risk factors to psychopathology (ß = -0.34, p = 0.108) and mental wellbeing (ß = -0.24, p = 0.405) were not significant. Conclusion: In a sample of vulnerable youth, protective factors (e.g. community relationships, self-esteem, and autonomy) were significantly associated with reduced depression, anxiety and externalizing behaviors and increased hope, happiness, and health in a structural equation model that included risk factors (emotional neglect, emotional abuse, physical neglect). Results suggest that strong community relationships, self-esteem and autonomy may be important modifiable factors to target in intervention programs aimed at supporting adolescent mental wellbeing.

Investigation of key domains associated with worker well-being and burnout and turnover in the early care and education workforce.

PURPOSE: The early care and education (ECE) workforce provides care for children aged zero to five. This critical segment of the workforce experiences significant burnout and turnover rates resulting from extensive demands, including job stress and poor overall well-being. Factors associated with well-being in these settings and the resulting impacts on burnout and turnover are understudied. The purpose of this study was to investigate associations between five well-being domains and burnout and turnover outcomes among a large sample of Head Start ECE staff in the United States. METHODS: An 89-item survey based off the National Institutes of Occupational Safety and Health Worker Wellbeing Questionnaire (NIOSH WellBQ) was administered to ECE staff employed in five large urban and rural Head Start agencies. The WellBQ is made up of five domains intended to measure worker well-being as a holistic construct. We utilized linear mixed-effect modeling with random intercepts to investigate associations between sociodemographic characteristics, well-being domain sum scores and burnout and turnover. RESULTS: After controlling for sociodemographic variables, the well-being Domain 1 (Work Evaluation and Experience) (ß = - .73, p < .05) and Domain 4 (Health Status) (ß = - .30, p < .05) were significantly and negatively associated with burnout; the well-being Domain 1 (Work Evaluation and Experience) (ß = - .21, p < .01) was significantly and negatively associated with turnover intent. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that multi-level well-being promotion programs could be critical to mitigate ECE teacher stress and address individual-, interpersonal-, and organizational-level predictors of overall ECE workforce well-being.