Flourishing and occupational depression: a comparison of general and special education teachers

ABSTRACT

Teachers constitute a vulnerable professional group in terms of the impact of work-related stress on depression. The present study examined flourishing and occupational depression in general education teachers (GETs) and special education teachers (SETs). A sample of 448 Italian teachers (69.6% of SETs), mostly women (85.5%), aged 26-67 (M = 40.32; SD = 9.01), completed the Flourishing Scale and the Occupational Depression Inventory. We found a negative association between flourishing and occupational depression, moderated by role (GETs versus SETs). The negative association between flourishing and occupational depression was stronger for GETs than for SETs. The potential role of individual and occupational factors in mitigating work-related stress and depression is discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Teachers
• special education teacher
• special education
• occupational depression
• flourishing

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Italian Ministry of University and Research under PRIN [Grant 202227YF9Z].