Role stress and perceived intensity of burnout among reading specialists

Abstract

Abstract This study investigated the relationship between role stress and perceived intensity of burnout for 324 public school reading specialists. It also investigated differences in role stress and burnout for reading specialists and four other teacher groups: classroom teachers, guidance counselors, school psychologists, and school social workers. Both measures of role stress, Role Conflict and Role Ambiguity, were found to be statistically significant predictors of burnout for reading specialists. Concerning the three measures of burnout, reading specialists reported the lowest comparable level of burnout for the Emotional Exhaustion subscale, a middle range level on the Depersonalization subscale, and the highest level of burnout on the Personal Accomplishment subscale. Reading specialists also reported the lowest comparative level of Role Conflict and a middle range of Role Ambiguity. Implications of these findings and suggestions for further research are offered.