Teacher burnout and physical health: A systematic review

Abstract

Teachers are at risk of many negative physical health consequences. The high levels of burnout in the teaching profession may be one of the reasons why this is the case. We tested this idea by providing the first systematic review of the association between teacher burnout and physical health. We found 21 relevant studies including 5267 teachers. The findings showed that teacher burnout was consistently associated with somatic complaints (e.g., headaches), illnesses (e.g., gastroenteritis), voice disorders, and biomarkers of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal-axis dysregulation (cortisol) and inflammation (cytokines). Future work in this area would benefit from a greater focus on integrating and testing theory. Nevertheless, the findings suggest that burnout may be a factor underpinning the development of physical ill-health in teachers.