A Longitudinal Examination of Teacher Stress, Emotion Regulation, and Self Efficacy

Abstract

The current study examines predictors and outcomes of teacher stress, with the goal of creating a theoretical model depicting relations between teacher stress, self-efficacy, and use of emotion regulation strategies (e.g., cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression, and behavioral regulation). Further, a range of additional school and teacher-related variables were examined including administrative support, school connectedness, teaching experience, student risk, perceived control, and challenge appraisal. Data were collected from two unique samples. First, 380 teachers participated in a pilot study to provide a preliminary understanding of relations among constructs and shed light on methodological concerns (e.g., need for increased participant recruitment). A longitudinal study was then conducted to understand relations among variables across the school year. Nearly 600 teachers from ten states completed the survey in the fall, winter, and spring of the 2018-2019 school year. Data indicated a relatively well-fitting model. Specifically, teachers who reported greater stress in the fall indicated lower self-efficacy in the spring. In addition, teachers with greater teaching experience and perceived control reported stronger teaching efficacy, whereas teachers who reported more administrative support, school connectedness, and perceived control displayed lower stress levels. A chi-square difference test was then used to examine whether use of emotion regulation strategies moderated the relation between stress and efficacy, within the context of the larger hypothesized model. Unexpectedly, emotion regulation strategies did not moderate this relation; however, when examined individually, each of the three-emotion regulation strategies was associated with stress and efficacy. That is, teachers who were more likely to use cognitive reappraisal and behavioral regulation strategies reported lower stress and greater efficacy. In contrast, expressive suppression was correlated with increased stress and poorer efficacy. Implications regarding using findings to support teachers are discussed.