Personal and Workplace Contributors of Teachers' Depression Across Early Childhood Settings

• In Event: Teachers’ Mental Health and Psychological Well-Being Across Contexts

Abstract

Teachers experiencing depression are less likely to provide emotionally supportive and cognitively stimulating interactions (Hamre & Pianta, 2004), which has negative implications for children’s development (Author, 2016). Given that early childhood educators, in particular, often experience low pay and stressful situations, it is plausible that early childhood working conditions may be insufficient to support teachers’ well-being (Whitebook, Phillips, Howes, 2014). Since young children experience various care and education settings (NSECE, 2016), it is important to understand teachers’ depression across settings. The goals of the study were to determine how teachers’ beliefs, economic status, and work-related stress, were associated with their depressive symptoms, and to determine the extent to which these associations varied by setting.
Early childhood educators, including licensed home-based providers, center-based teachers, public Pre-K and K-3 teachers, were surveyed in a Midwestern state in 2015-2016. Stratified random samples were derived by region. The present sample consists of 1,640 educators within 1,063 schools/centers. Thirty-six percent (n = 594) of teachers taught grades K-3, 25% (n = 403) were home-based providers, 23% (n = 371) were in licensed centers, and 17% (n = 272) were Pre-K teachers. Most teachers were female (97.8%) and white (94.9%.) All measures were collected via teacher-report surveys, including the Parent Modernity Scale (Schaefer & Edgerton, 1985), the Child Care Worker Job Stress Inventory (Curbow et al., 2001), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale, 10 item version (CESD-10; Radloff, 1977). Teachers also reported wage, benefits, multiple jobs, and utilization of public assistance.
First, depression was regressed on adult-centered beliefs, insurance status, hourly wage, public assistance use, whether the teacher had multiple jobs, work-related stress (demands, control, resources), demographic covariates, and setting type. Schools/centers were entered as clusters to remove the random variability associated with nesting. After controlling for all other variables, teachers who held more adult-centered beliefs had more depressive symptoms. In terms of economic status, teachers who did not have insurance, had lower wages, and who held multiple jobs had more depressive symptoms. Finally, all aspects of work-related stress were significant, such that teachers who had less control, more demands, and fewer resources had more depressive symptoms. The overall model accounted for 21.7% of the variance in teachers’ depression.
Second, moderation analyses were conducted through a series of multiple linear regressions. Interaction terms were between dummy-coded setting variables and beliefs, economic indicators, and stress. Following a series of multiple regressions, one significant interaction emerged. Home-based providers significantly differed from center-based teachers on the association between wage and depression (β = -.07, SE = .03, p = .049). As child-centered beliefs decreased (i.e., more adult-centered), the depressive symptoms of home-based providers increased. In comparison, beliefs related very little to teachers’ depression scores in center-based settings. Results suggest that home-based providers may require unique professional development to meet their needs. Further, individuals who care for and educate young children need to be well-compensated, have access to affordable health care, and not feel overburdened by stress, in order to ultimately minimize the negative impact of depression.

Authors

• Amy Roberts, Buffett Early Childhood Institute

• Kathleen Gallagher, University of Nebraska - Kearney

• Alexandra Daro, University of Nebraska - Omaha

• Iheoma U. Iruka, HighScope Educational Research Foundation

• Susan Sarver, Buffett Early Childhood Institute