COVID-19 and Teachers’ Somatic Burden, Stress, and Emotional Exhaustion - Examining the Role of Principal Leadership and Workplace Buoyancy

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by McQueen

The study investigates how principal leadership practices and teachers’ personal resources relate to teacher well-being during COVID-19. Data from 325 Australian teachers collected in May 2020 during the first pandemic wave tested whether autonomy-supportive and autonomy-thwarting leadership predicted somatic burden, stress related to change, and emotional exhaustion. Autonomy-supportive leadership related to higher workplace buoyancy and, through it, lower adverse outcomes. Autonomy-thwarting leadership showed a direct positive link to emotional exhaustion.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages15

Reading Time38 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Study purpose and theoretical framework

COVID-19 and Schooling in Australia

AERA Open January-December 2021, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 1–15 DOI: 10. 1177/2332858420986187 Article reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)© The Author(s) 2021. [http://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero](http://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero) COVID-19 and Teachers’ Somatic Burden, Stress, and Emotional Exhaustion: Examining the Role of Principal Leadership and Workplace Buoyancy Rebecca J. Collie University of New South Wales The role of two leadership factors (autonomy-supportive and autonomy-thwarting leadership) and one personal resource (workplace buoyancy) were examined as predictors of three teacher outcomes: somatic burden, stress related to change, and emotional exhaustion. Data were collected from 325 Australian teachers in May, 2020 during the first wave of COVID-19. During this time, many Australian children were being taught remotely from home, while other students were attending schools in-person. Findings showed that autonomy-supportive leadership was associated with greater buoyancy and, in turn, lower somatic burden, stress related to change, and emotional exhaustion (while controlling for covariates, including COVID-19 work situation). Autonomy-thwarting leadership was positively associated with emotional exhaustion. In addition, autonomysupportive leadership was indirectly associated with the outcomes. The findings provide understanding offactors that may be harnessed to support teachers during subsequent waves of COVID-19 and other future disruptions to schooling that may occur. Keywords: teachers, somatic burden, stress, burnout, autonomy-support, COVID-19 Introduction Across the globe, the COVID-19 pandemic has wrought substantial challenges on individuals and societies. As part of this, teachers have faced significant stressors in relation to their work. The pandemic required a very sudden shift to remote learning, and teachers were called upon to support students’ academic development and well-being throughout this shift, while also navigating adversity and stress in their own lives. In many countries, students have returned to classrooms and teachers have been called upon to make this return as smooth as possible. Given prior research on the negative impact of major societal disruptions on teachers’ well-being (Malinen et al., 2019), the potential for teachers to experience maladaptive outcomes during COVID-19 is heightened. However, such widespread disruption has not occurred in living memory, highlighting the need for research to examine teachers’ experiences during COVID-19 . In addition, given the potential for subsequent waves of COVID-19 over the next few months and years—and indeed, different disruptionsin the future—it is important to ascertain whether there are factors positively associated with teachers’ outcomes in these challenging times. The broad purpose of the current study was to provide knowledge about teachers’ work-related experiences during COVID-19 . Using job demands–resources theory (Bakker & Demerouti, 2017), this study sought to ascertain the unique roles of two leadership factors (autonomy-supportive and autonomy-thwarting leadership) and one personal resource (workplace buoyancy) as predictors of three teacher outcomes during COVID-19: somatic burden (i.e., experience of common physical symptoms), stress related to change, and emotional exhaustion. Figure 1 displays the model under examination. Autonomy-supportive leadership refers to practices that promote individuals’ self-initiation and empowerment (Ryan & Deci, 2017), whereas autonomy-thwarting leadership refers to practices that exert external control and reduce individuals’ self-determination (Ryan & Deci, 2017). As a personal resource, workplace buoyancy is the capacity to effectively navigate experiences of adversity and challenge that occur at work (Martin & Marsh, 2008)—a highly relevant capacity during the work-related

FAQs

What leadership factors are examined in the study?

The study evaluates two leadership factors: autonomy-supportive leadership and autonomy-thwarting leadership by principals.

Which teacher outcomes are measured?

Outcomes include somatic burden, stress related to change, and emotional exhaustion.

How does workplace buoyancy relate to the results?

Autonomy-supportive leadership was associated with greater workplace buoyancy, which in turn related to lower somatic burden, stress related to change, and emotional exhaustion.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by McQueen