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Burnout and Wellbeing: Testing the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory in New Zealand Teachers

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Abstract

The Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) is a public domain questionnaire measuring the degree of physical and psychological fatigue experienced in three sub-dimensions of burnout: personal, work-related, and client-related burnout. This study first examines the reliability and validity of the CBI in measuring burnout in New Zealand secondary school teachers, and then the relationship between burnout and wellbeing among this population. The CBI had acceptable reliability (internal consistency and homogeneity) as well as factorial and criterion-related validity. As expected, burnout was negatively related to wellbeing measures (wellbeing index, school connection, and perceived general health). The findings indicate that this burnout questionnaire is a valid instrument to use with New Zealand secondary teachers, and also highlight the potential impact of burnout on the health and wellbeing of teachers.

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Notes

  1. Standardized coefficients can be larger than 1.0 in magnitude, and may indicate multicollinearity (Jöreskog 1999). This may also indicate that personal and work-related burnout can be combined into a single latent factor. Thus, a two-factor burnout model is possible, in which student-related burnout items load on one factor, while the personal and work-related burnout items load on a second factor. This two-factor model also had acceptable fit to the present data (χ2 = 365.44; df = 151; χ2/df = 2.42; CFI = .96; RMSEA (90%CI) = .11 (.092–.12) SRMR = .067), and should be further tested in other studies.

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Acknowledgements

This research is funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand (grant 05/216), the Department of Labour, Families Commission, Accident Compensation Corporation, Sport and Recreation New Zealand, the Alcohol Advisory Council of New Zealand and the Ministries of Youth Development, Justice and Health. We thank the participating teachers and schools for their contributions to this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Paediatrics, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, 1001, New Zealand

    Taciano L. Milfont & Simon Denny

  2. Section of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, 1001, New Zealand

    Shanthi Ameratunga & Elizabeth Robinson

  3. Werry Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, 1001, New Zealand

    Sally Merry

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  1. Taciano L. Milfont
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  2. Simon Denny
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Correspondence to Taciano L. Milfont.

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Milfont, T.L., Denny, S., Ameratunga, S. et al. Burnout and Wellbeing: Testing the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory in New Zealand Teachers. Soc Indic Res 89, 169–177 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-007-9229-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-007-9229-9

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