School Principals’ Stress Profiles During COVID-19, Demands, and Resources

Abstract

The present study examined latent profiles of school principals’ stress concerning students’, teachers’, parents’, and principals’ own ability to cope during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the role of job demands (workload, remote work stress, difficulty to detach from work, COVID-19 crisis, COVID-19 infections at school, impact of COVID-19 on future teaching), resources (buoyancy, effective crisis leadership, social appreciation, successful transition to remote teaching), and occupational well-being (measured as job burnout and engagement) in predicting the latent profiles of stress sources was examined. The participants were 535 (59% women) school principals across Finland, who answered to a questionnaire concerning their sources of stress and occupational well-being during spring 2020. Three latent profiles were identified according to principals’ level of stress: high stress (41.4% of the school principals), altered stress (35.9%), and low stress (22.7%) profiles. Work burnout, workload, COVID-19 related concerns, and difficulty to detach from work increased the probability of principals belonging to the high or altered stress profile rather than to the low stress profile. Work engagement, buoyancy, and social appreciation increased the probability of principals belonging to the low rather than to the high or altered stress profile.

Professional support, efficacy beliefs, and compassion fatigue in principals during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“…Principals also recognized the vital role of wider community networks in providing the necessary support and resources to address the crisis effectively (Thornton, 2021). As a type of support, social appreciation was significantly associated with low stress levels among principals during the pandemic (Upadyaya et al, 2021). Studies have also noted that the direction of effects on principal well-being greatly depends on their types of support (Beausaert et al, 2016), leaving space for future research to study the effects of work-related support on their well-being.…”

“…In August 2020, a poll revealed that 45% of principals were considering expediting their departure from the profession due to the pandemic's challenging working conditions (Havens, 2020). Upadyaya et al (2021) indicated that 77% of school principals reported that their high stress levels were related to their school community's ability to manage the pandemic crisis. Many principals turned to their personal and professional networks to manage their stress (DeMatthews et al, 2021), while school psychologists offered more consultation services to assist school leadership during the pandemic (Reupert et al, 2022).…”

The role of self-efficacy on feelings of burnout among Flemish school principals during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…In a school principal's job, workload is a typical demand, which is characterized by completing multiple tasks, and requires extended effort. In addition, the following job demands are also important: role conflict, task and policy ambiguity (Devos et al, 2018;Elomaa et al, 2021;Upadyaya et al, 2021). In this regard, it is interesting to analyze whether the COVID-19 pandemic is characterized by these job demands and to what degree this is related to school principals' feelings of burnout.…”

“…Also, job resources refer to physical, psychological, social or organizational aspects of the job that are functional in achieving work goals, reduce job demands and the associated physiological and psychological costs and stimulate personal growth, learning and development (Demerouti et al, 2001). Research indicates that the following job resources are important for school principals: strong work relationships, autonomy and skill utilization (Devos et al, 2018;Elomaa et al, 2021;Upadyaya et al, 2021). As for the job demands, it is useful to analyze if the pandemic influences school principals' job resources and consequently is related to burnout.…”

COVID-19-related fear, stress and depression in school principals: impacts of symptoms like COVID-19, information confusion, health-related activity limitations, working hours, sense of coherence and health literacy

“…During the pandemic, school principals’ responsibilities have changed unexpectedly and considerably. They are expected to be dynamic and flexible in allocating resources and finances, complying with infection prevention guidelines, and motivating and collaborating with teachers and students to ensure learning and teaching activities, even in a virtual environment [ 15 ]. The extra work and burden placed school leaders under enormous pressure, which may cause burnout, stress and other mental health problems [ 11 ].…”