Does Self-compassion preserve beginning teachers against burnout? The protective role of Self-compassion in teachers' induction phase

Self-compassion is a psychological mechanism for dealing with stressful life events, which involves showing compassion to oneself. Early-career teachers face a variety of tasks that some of them find stressful and that can lead to burnout. In two studies involving a total of 130 early-career teachers, we measured the association between self-compassion and burnout (emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and inefficacy) while controlling for situational demands (amount of additional work done at home, autonomous teaching, amount of work at school). Study 1 (n=77) showed that self-compassion is negatively related to exhaustion, cynicism, and inefficacy. Study 2 (n = 53), using vignettes, confirmed that self-compassion is associated with health-related aspects of burnout, and mediation analyses showed that these associations are mediated by the coping strategies of positive refraining and emotional support. In summary, the results provide evidence of a protective association of self-compassion with stress and coping behaviors among early-career teachers.