Managing conflictual teacher-child relationship in pre-schools: A preliminary test of the job resources buffering-effect hypothesis in an emerging economy

•Burnout (i.e., Emotional Exhaustion ‘EE’) relates positively with conflict teacher-child relationship (TCR).•The EE–TCR positive relation is more pronounced among teachers with low job reward.•The EE–TCR positive relation is stronger for teachers low in job autonomy. As early childhood education in low- and middle-income countries experience (LMICs) rapid change, teachers’ wellbeing and the quality of their classroom relational practices have emerged as important issues. This study employed the energetic process of health impairment of job demands, and the buffering hypothesis of job resources of the Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) theory in the stressor–strain–outcome framework, to examine (1) the relationship between teacher burnout (i.e., emotional exhaustion “EE”) and conflict teacher-child relationship (TCR), and (2) the buffering effect of job resources (i.e., job autonomy “JA” and job reward “JR”) in the burnout–conflict TCR link. Data was collected from pre-school teaching staff in Ghana (N = 285). High EE was associated with high levels of conflict TCR, and high JA and JR buffered the EE–conflict TCR relation significantly. The findings provide critical preliminary evidence for teacher burnout preventive and treatment intervention programs (i.e., managing burnout effects on conflict TCR through strategic allocation of school-level resources) in pre-schools in LMICs, where children and youth education remain a major policy issue.