Burnout and engagement correlation in middle school teachers from Mexico City

Introduction
Teachers are chronically exposed to stressful conditions that may caused the Burnout syndrome (BO), however little has been said about the work engagement´s protective effect against theBO. This study analyzes the association between theses conditions in teachers.

Methods
A cross sectional study with 384 secondary teachers in Mexico City was organized. The CSQT and Work Engagement-Utrecht questionnaires were applied and information about sex, age, seniority, working hours in front of a group, work shift and type of contract was obtained. The data were analyzed using the SPSS-19 and Pearson´s correlation coefficient calculated.

Results
The BO´s component were negatively correlated with Engagement´s components, when higher the burnout, lower was the Engagement (Rho = 0.50, p=0.000). The level of commitment was negatively correlated significantly with the lack of job´s illusion (rho=-0.649, p=0 .000), professional disenchantment (rho=-0.412, p=0.000) and worker´s guilt (rho= -0.238, p=0.000). Vigor and physical exhaustion were also negatively correlated (rho=-0.524, p=0.000). The engagement´s dedication dimension was not correlation with the BO dimensions.

Discussion
This study found that teachers who have greater involvement in their work have lower levels of burnout, so we can deduce that promoting the Engagement at work is a way to prevent burnout. Importantly, if we want to raise teachers´ engagement the support and recognition from superiors and colleagues should be promoted.