Teacher Support Resources, Need Satisfaction and Well-Being

Based on Job Demands-Resources Model (JD-R), this study examines the relationships among teacher support resources, psychological need satisfaction, engagement and burnout in a sample of 282 Spanish secondary school teachers. Nine teacher psychological needs were identified based on the study of Bess and on the Self-Determination Theory (SDT). Self-report questionnaires were used to measure the constructs selected for this study and their interrelationships were examined by structural equation modeling. The results reveal a good model fit to the data (NNFI = .88; CFI = .90; GFI = .90; RMSEA = .061). The analyses indicate a positive and significant effect of latent variable Psychological Need Satisfaction on engagement (β = .74, p < .05), and a negative and significant effect on burnout (β = -.78, p ≤ .05). Furthermore, the results show the mediator role played by Psychological Need Satisfaction in the relationship between teacher support resources and both engagement and burnout (additional paths did not improve the model fit: Δχ2(2) = 2.428, p = .29). Finally, practical implications of these findings are discussed.