Kattsova A.P. Burnout Features and Personal Resources for Overcoming It among Teachers Working with Seriously Ill Children

Studying burnout among teachers working with seriously ill children is becoming more and more relevant considering the rapid development of hospital schools in Russia, the peculiarities of working in these schools, and the lack of studies on this subject. The aim of our study is to investigate the characteristics of professional burnout among teachers in hospital schools, as well as the personal characteristics of this category of teachers in order to identify internal factors contributing to professional burnout and personal resources for overcoming it.

In our scientific research, the following methods were used: the Maslach Burnout Inventory by K. Maslach (Russian adaptation by N.E. Vodopyanova), the Emotional Burnout Level Diagnosis Method by V.V. Boyko, the Professional Burnout Coefficient Calculation by V.I. Evdokimov, the Multifactor Personality Questionnaire FPI (I. Fahrenberg, H. Zarg, R. Gampel), the Multilevel Personal Questionnaire “Adaptivity” (A.G. Maklakov and S.V. Chermyanin), the “Sense-of-Life Orientations” method by D.A. Leontiev, the strategies for overcoming stressful situations “SACS” (S. Hobfoll, Russian version by N.E. Vodopyanova, E.S. Starchenkova), the “Stress Coping Questionnaire” SVF120 (V. Janke and G. Erdmann, Russian version by N.E. Vodopyanova). For data processing, we used correlation analysis and analysis of means.

The study involved 253 teachers working with long-term seriously ill children in hospital schools.

This article presents a study aimed at identifying the characteristics of professional burnout among hospital school teachers, including the internal factors contributing to burnout and the personal resources that help overcome it. External factors influencing burnout are also described.

The data obtained indicate statistically significant correlations between the level of burnout and such personality traits as emotional lability, irritability, depressive tendencies, social withdrawal, helplessness, and a tendency to avoid problems. Positive coping strategies have also been identified: self-approval, positive self-motivation, and situational control. Teachers with a higher level of burnout exhibit pronounced symptoms of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced resilience. The selected diagnostic toolkit and the results obtained can be used as instruments for selecting and providing psychological support to educators in this category.

These findings emphasize the importance of an individualized approach to preventing emotional burnout among hospital teachers. The identified correlations not only help describe burnout risks but also define key directions for psychological support and professional development for specialists working under conditions of increased emotional stress.

Key words: emotional burnout, external factors of burnout development, internal factors of burnout development, hospital school, emotional burnout prevention, resources for fighting emotional burnout

For citation: Kattsova, A.P. (2025). Burnout Features and Personal Resources for Overcoming It among Teachers Working with Seriously Ill Children. New Psychological Research, No. 3, 203–220. DOI: 10.51217/npsyresearch_2025_05_03_10