A Meta-analysis of the Impact of Social and Emotional Learning Interventions on Teachers’ Burnout Symptoms

Abstract

Over the last decades, extensive research has given considerable attention to teachers’ burnout. Owing to its negative personal, organizational, and social impacts (e.g., mental ill health, decreased work performance, turnover), intervention and prevention efforts have consequently been employed to minimize the effects of this phenomenon/syndrome. As teaching-specific stressors are mainly related to the socio-emotional domain, interventions targeting social and emotional learning (SEL) for teachers have been seen to increase in recent years. A meta-analysis of 13 empirical studies was conducted to investigate the effects of SEL interventions on teachers’ burnout. Results showed a statistically significant medium effect size favoring the experimental group regarding the impact of SEL on emotional exhaustion (g = − 0.37, 95% CI [− 0.70, − 0.03]) and personal accomplishment (g = 0.45, 95% CI [0.12, 0.79]). Impacts on depersonalization (g =− 0.51, 95% CI [− 1.13, 0.11]) were found to be not statistically significant. Meta regression analyses found narrower confidence intervals for interventions carried out over 3 months and tailored to the precise needs of class-level teachers for personal accomplishment. The findings add to the growing empirical evidence of the contribution of SEL interventions to improving teachers’ personal accomplishment, identified in prior literature as a mitigating factor of teacher burnout syndrome and diminishing their emotional exhaustion, thus sustaining the importance of promoting SEL within teacher training. As for their practical and methodological implications, the results contribute to understanding the role of the specific features of SEL interventions, and also important features of research design and methodological constraints, which may impact the effectiveness of these interventions.