Workforce well-being: Personal and workplace contributions to early educators' depression across settings

Authors

Amy M. Roberts, Buffett Early Childhood Institute, University of NebraskaFollow
Kathleen C. Gallagher, University of Nebraska at KearneyFollow
Alexandra Daro, Buffett Early Childhood Institute, University of NebraskaFollow
Iheoma Iruka, HighScope Educational Research Foundation, Ypsilanti, MIFollow
Susan Sarver, Buffett Institute, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

10-2017

Document Type

Article

Citation

Published in Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 61 (2019), pp. 4–12.

doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2017.09.007

Comments

Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. Used by permission.

Abstract

Building on research demonstrating the importance of teachers' well-being, this study examined personal and contextual factors related to early childhood educators' (n =1640) depressive symptoms across licensed child care homes, centers, and schools. Aspects of teachers' beliefs, economic status, and work-related stress were explored, and components of each emerged as significant in an OLS regression. After controlling for demographics and setting, teachers with more adult-centered beliefs, lower wages, multiple jobs, no health insurance, more workplace demands, and fewer work-related resources, had more depressive symptoms. Adult-centered beliefs were more closely associated with depression for teachers working in home-based settings compared to center-based settings. These findings provide preliminary evidence about what relates to depression in the early childhood workforce, which has implications for supporting well-being across settings.