Teacher coping profiles in relation to teacher well-being : a mixed method approach

Abstract

The aim was to investigate teachers’ coping profiles and their relations to teacher well-being. Questionnaire data was collected from 107 Finnish teachers. Theory-driven content analysis of teachers’ responses revealed three coping categories: problem-focused, emotion-focused and mixed problem- and emotion-focused. Next, teachers were categorized into four coping profiles by using latent profile analysis: Low-coping users (21%), Problem-focused-coping users (15%), High-coping users (12%) and Emotion-focused-coping users (52%). Low-coping-user teachers reported less stress and fewer depressive symptoms and sleep problems compared to Emotion-focused-coping users. Using a compact amount of coping strategies and problem-focused strategies aside of emotion-focused might be beneficial for teacher well-being.