The predictive value of individual and work-related resources for the health and work satisfaction of German school principals

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to investigate individual and work-related resources (decision latitude, self-efficacy and work-related sense of coherence) and their relationship to health and work outcomes (general health, cognitive and emotional irritation, and work satisfaction) among German school principals. Method: In 2016, all teachers and principals in Lower Saxony, Germany, were invited to participate in an online-based cross-sectional study. Data from a sub-set of 1,026 school principals and members of the school leadership team (i.e. vice principals) were analysed using univariate and bivariate analysis and stepwise linear regression. Results: Findings revealed fairly high levels of self-efficacy and decision latitude and low levels of sense of coherence for administrative tasks. With regards to health, more than one quarter of respondents reported a poor general health status, and more than one third reported being dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with their work. Primary school principals were more often affected by low levels of resources as well as lower health status and work satisfaction. Based on a series of regression analyses, decision latitude and self-efficacy proved to be the strongest predictors of all health and work outcomes. Conclusion: Given that school leaders are of critical importance for their entire school, this professional group should be placed more firmly in the focus of school health education and promotion. There is a particular need for health promotion measures for primary school principals, who have the least resources and the lowest health status.

Health Promoting Schools in Germany. Mapping the Implementation of Holistic Strategies to Tackle NCDs and Promote Health

“…According to the demand-control model, a high ability to make decisions on the job and work tasks is seen as an important ingredient for an active job [43]. Research has identified decision latitude and autonomy not only as a predictor for job satisfaction and health among school leaders [45], but also as important contributing factor for work engagement [68], organizational commitment [69] and organizational change [42]. Strengthening decision-latitude and autonomy could therefore serve two goals at the same time, the health of educators and the implementation of health-promoting change processes in schools.…”

“…Decision latitude can be regarded as a job characteristic that reflects an individual’s ability to make decisions about his or her own job (decision authority) and/or the degree to which the job involves various tasks and requires the development of new abilities (skill discretion) [ 43 ]. Low decision latitude has been identified as a risk factor for physical and mental health [ 44 , 45 ] and theoretical work suggests decision latitude as a work factor contributing to an organizationally health environment [ 46 ]. It can therefore be assumed that a high level of decision latitude increases the likelihood of implementing school health promotion activities.…”

Open letters about health dialogues reveal school staff and students' expectations of school health promotion leadership

“…First of all is this important to acknowledge. Given that school leaders are of critical importance to their entire school, this professional group should be placed more firmly in the focus of school health education and health promotion (Dadaczynski et al, 2020b). The healthpromoting organization that the professionals described involved administrative leadership building structures, budgeting and directing resources.…”

Friend or foe? The effects of harmonious and obsessive passion on entrepreneurs’ well-being, strain and social loneliness

“…While these two components may allow for more differentiated results, the total scale is also proven to show high internal consistency and, therefore, we have used it unidimensionally following other studies (e.g. Dadaczynski et al, 2020;Rigotti et al, 2014). Finally, we measured social loneliness using the five items from the De Jong Gierveld loneliness scale (De Jong Gierveld and Kamphuis, 1985;De Jong Gierveld and Van Tilburg, 1999).…”