Abstract
Today’s teachers face intense stress (Robinson et al. in School Mental Health 15(1):78–89, 2023), which means they often need to regulate strong emotions, like frustration and anxiety, in the classroom. Given the importance of this skill for classroom life, it is essential that we gain a more nuanced understanding of teachers’ emotion regulation (ER). The teacher ER literature is growing, and we aim to contribute meaningfully in three ways. First, we examine two general ER strategies (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) descriptively in a sample of 190 public school teachers (grades K-6) from 33 elementary schools. Second, we explore whether these two ER strategies are correlated with important teacher (burnout, years of experience) and classroom (class size) factors. Third, we examine whether these ER strategies are linked to observed emotionally supportive classroom interactions. Teachers in this sample reported frequent use of cognitive reappraisal and relatively infrequent use of expressive suppression in general. These two ER strategies were not significantly correlated with one another. Teachers reporting greater use of cognitive reappraisal reported less burnout, while teachers reporting greater use of expressive suppression reported more burnout. Teachers with more years of experience also reported greater use of cognitive reappraisal. Contrary to our hypotheses, cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression were not related to class size and did not predict unique variance in observed emotionally supportive interactions. Implications for teacher supports and interventions are discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aldao, A. (2013). The future of emotion regulation research: Capturing context. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 8, 155–172. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691612459518
Ansari, A., Pianta, R. C., Whittaker, J. V., Vitiello, V. E., & Ruzek, E. A. (2022). Preschool teachers’ emotional exhaustion in relation to classroom instruction and teacher-child interactions. Early Education and Development, 33(1), 107–120.
Baker, C. N., Peele, H., Daniels, M., Saybe, M., Whalen, K., Overstreet, S., & The New Orleans, T. I. S. L. C. (2021). The experience of COVID-19 and its impact on teachers’ mental health, coping, and teaching. School Psychology Review, 50(4), 491–504.
Blatchford, P., Bassett, P., & Brown, P. (2011). Examining the effect of class size on classroom engagement and teacher–pupil interaction: Differences in relation to pupil prior attainment and primary vs. secondary schools. Learning and Instruction, 21(6), 715–730.
Bonanno, G. A., Papa, A., Lalande, K., Westphal, M., & Coifman, K. (2004). The importance of being flexible: The ability to both enhance and suppress emotional expression predicts long-term adjustment. Psychological Science, 15(7), 482–487.
Brackett, M. A., Palomera, R., Mojsa-Kaja, J., Reyes, M. R., & Salovey, P. (2010). Emotion-regulation ability, burnout, and job satisfaction among British secondary-school teachers. Psychology in the Schools, 47(4), 406–417.
Brady, B., Kneebone, I. I., & Bailey, P. E. (2019). Validation of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire in older community-dwelling adults. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 58(1), 110–122.
Brockman, R., Ciarrochi, J., Parker, P., & Kashdan, T. (2017). Emotion regulation strategies in daily life: Mindfulness, cognitive reappraisal and emotion suppression. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 46(2), 91–113.
Bryne, B. M. (1991). The Maslach Burnout Inventory: Validating factorial structure and invariance across intermediate, secondary, and university educators. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 26(4), 583–605.
Buettner, C. K., Jeon, L., Hur, E., & Garcia, R. E. (2016). Teachers’ social–emotional capacity: Factors associated with teachers’ responsiveness and professional commitment. Early Education and Development, 27(7), 1018–1039.
Butler, E. A., Lee, T. L., & Gross, J. J. (2007). Emotion regulation and culture: Are the social consequences of emotion suppression culture-specific? Emotion, 7(1), 30.
Capone, V., & Petrillo, G. (2020). Mental health in teachers: Relationships with job satisfaction, efficacy beliefs, burnout and depression. Current Psychology, 39, 1757–1766.
Chang, M. L. (2009). An appraisal perspective of teacher burnout: Examining the emotional work of teachers. Educational Psychology Review, 21(3), 193–218. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-009-9106-y
Chang, M. L. (2013). Toward a theoretical model to understand teacher emotions and teacher burnout in the context of student misbehavior: Appraisal, regulation and coping. Motivation and Emotion, 37(4), 799–817.
Chang, M. L. (2020, June). Emotion display rules, emotion regulation, and teacher burnout. In Frontiers in Education (Vol. 5, p. 90). Frontiers Media, SA.
Chang, M. L., & Taxer, J. (2021). Teacher emotion regulation strategies in response to classroom misbehavior. Teachers and Teaching, 27(5), 353–369.
Dixon-Gordon, K. L., Aldao, A., & De Los Reyes, A. (2015). Repertoires of emotion regulation: A person-centered approach to assessing emotion regulation strategies and links to psychopathology. Cognition and Emotion, 29(7), 1314–1325.
Early, D., Maxwell, K., Burchinal, M., Alva, S., Bender, R., Bryant, D., Cai, K., Clifford, R. M., Ebanks, C., Griffin, J. A., Henry, G. T., & Zill, N. (2007). Teachers’ education, classroom quality, and young children’s academic skills: Results from seven studies of preschool programs. Child Development, 781, 558–580. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01014.x
Gordon, R. A., Peng, F., Curby, T. W., & Zinsser, K. M. (2021). An introduction to the many-facet Rasch model as a method to improve observational quality measures with an application to measuring the teaching of emotion skills. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 55, 149–164.
Gross, J. J. (1998). Antecedent-and response-focused emotion regulation: Divergent consequences for experience, expression, and physiology. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(1), 224.
Gross, J. J. (2002). Emotion regulation: Affective, cognitive, and social consequences. Psychophysiology, 39(3), 281–291.
Gross, J. J. (2015). Emotion regulation: Current status and future prospects. Psychological Inquiry, 26(1), 1–26.
Gross, J. J., & John, O. P. (2003). Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: Implications for affect, relationships, and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 348–362.
Hafen, C. A., Hamre, B. K., Allen, J. P., Bell, C. A., Gitomer, D. H., & Pianta, R. C. (2015). Teaching through interactions in secondary school classrooms: Revisiting the factor structure and practical application of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System-Secondary. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 35(5–6), 651–680.
Hamre, B. K., Pianta, R. C., Downer, J. T., DeCoster, J., Mashburn, A. J., Jones, S. M., Brown, J. L., Cappella, E., Atkins, M., Rivers, S. E., Brackett, M. A., & Hamagami, A. (2013). Teaching through interactions: Testing a developmental framework of teacher effectiveness in over 4,000 classrooms. The Elementary School Journal, 113(4), 461–487.
Hoglund, W., Klingle, K. E., & Hosan, N. E. (2015). Classroom risks and resources: Teacher burnout, classroom quality and children’s adjustment in high needs elementary schools. Journal of School Psychology, 53(5), 337–357. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2015.06.002
Jennings, P. A., & Greenberg, M. T. (2009). The prosocial classroom: Teacher social and emotional competence in relation to student and classroom outcomes. Review of Educational Research, 79(1), 491–525. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654308325693
Jeon, L., & Ardeleanu, K. (2020). Work climate in early care and education and teachers’ stress: Indirect associations through emotion regulation. Early Education and Development, 31(7), 1031–1051.
Jeon, L., Buettner, C. K., Grant, A. A., & Lang, S. N. (2019). Early childhood teachers’ stress and children’s social, emotional, and behavioral functioning. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 61, 21–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2018.02.002
Joormann, J., & Stanton, C. H. (2016). Examining emotion regulation in depression: A review and future directions. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 86, 35–49.
Kim, L. E., Oxley, L., & Asbury, K. (2022). “My brain feels like a browser with 100 tabs open”: A longitudinal study of teachers’ mental health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 92(1), 299–318.
Kokkinos, M. (2006). Factor structure and psychometric properties of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Educators Survey among elementary and secondary school teachers in Cyprus. Stress & Health, 22(1), 25–33. https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.1079
Koole, S. L. (2009). The psychology of emotion regulation: An integrative review. Cognition and Emotion, 23(1), 4–41. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699930802619031
Kush, J. M., Badillo-Goicoechea, E., Musci, R. J., & Stuart, E. A. (2022). Teachers’ mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Educational Researcher, 51(9), 593–597.
Lee, K. J., & Carlin, J. B. (2010). Multiple imputation for missing data: Fully conditional specification versus multivariate normal imputation. American Journal of Epidemiology, 171(5), 624–632.
Leiter, M. P., & Maslach, C. (2016). Latent burnout profiles: A new approach to understanding the burnout experience. Burnout Research, 3(4), 89–100.
LoCasale-Crouch, J., Jamil, F., Pianta, R. C., Rudasill, K. M., & DeCoster, J. (2018). Observed quality and consistency of fifth graders’ teacher–student interactions: Associations with feelings, engagement, and performance in school. SAGE Open, 8(3), 2158244018794774.
Madigan, D. J., & Kim, L. E. (2021). Does teacher burnout affect students? A systematic review of its association with academic achievement and student-reported outcomes. International Journal of Educational Research, 105, 101714.
Mashburn, A. J., Pianta, R. C., Hamre, B. K., Downer, J. T., Barbarin, O. A., Bryant, D., Burchinal, M., Early, D. M., & Howes, C. (2008). Measures of classroom quality in prekindergarten and children’s development of academic, language, and social skills. Child Development, 79(3), 732–749. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01154.x
Maslach, C., Jackson, S. E., & Schwab, R. L. (1996). Maslach burnout inventory—Educator survey (MBI—ES). In C. Maslach, S. E. Jackson, & M. P. Leiter (Eds.), MBI manual (3rd ed.). Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
Maslach, C., Schaufeli, W. B., & Leiter, M. P. (2001). Job burnout. Annual Review of Psychology, 52(1), 397–422.
McLean, L., & Connor, C. M. (2015). Depressive symptoms in third-grade teachers: Relations to classroom quality and student achievement. Child Development, 86(3), 945–954. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12344
Orgeta, V. (2009). Specificity of age differences in emotion regulation. Aging & Mental Health, 13(6), 818–826. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607860902989661
Pakarinen, E., Lerkkanen, M. K., Poikkeus, A. M., Kiuru, N., Siekkinen, M., Rasku-Puttonen, H., & Nurmi, J. E. (2010). A validation of the classroom assessment scoring system in Finnish kindergartens. Early Education and Development, 21(1), 95–124.
Park, J. (2016). Did you know the CLASS isn’t reliable? Why you need professional development for observers and coaches. Teachstone, Inc. https://info.teachstone.com/blog/did-you-know-the-class-isnt-reliable-why-you-need-professional-development-for-observers-and-coaches
Pennings, H. J., Brekelmans, M., Sadler, P., Claessens, L. C., van der Want, A. C., & van Tartwijk, J. (2018). Interpersonal adaptation in teacher–student interaction. Learning and Instruction, 55, 41–57.
Pianta, R. C., La Paro, K. M., & Hamre, B. K. (2008). Classroom assessment scoring system™: Manual K-3. Baltimore: Paul H Brookes Publishing.
Pianta, R. C., Hamre, B. K., & Allen, J. P. (2012b). Teacher–student relationships and engagement: Conceptualizing, measuring, and improving the capacity of classroom interactions. In S. Christenson, A. Reschly, & C. Wylie (Eds.), Handbook of research on student engagement (pp. 365–386). Boston, MA: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-2018-7_1
Pianta, R., Hamre, B., & Mintz, S. L. (2012a). Upper elementary classroom assessment scoring system (CLASS). Charlottesville, VA: Teachstone Inc.
Preece, D. A., Becerra, R., Hasking, P., McEvoy, P. M., Boyes, M., Sauer-Zavala, S., Chen, W., & Gross, J. J. (2020). The emotion regulation questionnaire: Psychometric properties and relations with affective symptoms in a United States general community sample. Journal of Affective Disorders, 284, 27–30.
Pressley, T. (2021). Factors contributing to teacher burnout during COVID-19. Educational Researcher, 50(5), 325–327.
Ray, R. D., McRae, K., Ochsner, K. N., & Gross, J. J. (2010). Cognitive reappraisal of negative affect: Converging evidence from EMG and self-report. Emotion, 10(4), 587.
Ripski, M. B., LoCasale-Crouch, J., & Decker, L. (2011). Pre-service teachers: Dispositional traits, emotional states, and quality of teacher–student interactions. Teacher Education Quarterly, 38(2), 77–96.
Roberts, A., LoCasale-Crouch, J., Hamre, B., & DeCoster, J. (2016). Exploring teachers’ depressive symptoms, interaction quality, and children’s social-emotional development in Head Start. Early Education and Development, 27(5), 642–654. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2016.1127088
Robinson, L. E., Valido, A., Drescher, A., Woolweaver, A. B., Espelage, D. L., LoMurray, S., Long, A. C., Wright, A. A., & Dailey, M. M. (2023). Teachers, stress, and the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative analysis. School Mental Health, 15(1), 78–89.
Rucinski, C. L., Sutton, E., Carlton, R., Downer, J., & Brown, J. L. (2021). Classroom racial/ethnic diversity and upper elementary children’s social-emotional development. Applied Developmental Science, 25(2), 183–199.
Schmidt, L., & Jones-Fosu, S. (2019). Teacher stress in urban classrooms: A growing epidemic. Urban Education Research & Policy Annuals, 6(2), 18–25.
Scott, T. M. (2017). Training classroom management with preservice special education teachers: Special education challenges in a general education world. Teacher Education and Special Education, 40(2), 97–101.
Shimony, O., Malin, Y., Fogel-Grinvald, H., Gumpel, T. P., & Nahum, M. (2022). Understanding the factors affecting teachers’ burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study. PLoS ONE, 17(12), e0279383.
Simpson, E. (1949). Measurement of diversity. Nature, 163(4148), 688. https://doi.org/10.1038/163688a0
Sokal, L., Trudel, L. E., & Babb, J. (2020). Canadian teachers’ attitudes toward change, efficacy, and burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Educational Research Open, 1, 100016.
Steiner, E. D., & Woo, A. (2021). Job-related stress threatens the teacher supply: Key finding from the 2021 State of the US Teacher Survey. Technical Appendixes. Research Report. RR-A1108-1. Rand Corporation.
Sullivan, B., Hegde, A. V., Ballard, S. M., & Ticknor, A. S. (2015). Interactions and relationships between kindergarten teachers and English language learners. Early Child Development and Care, 185(3), 341–359.
Sutton, R. E. (2004). Emotion regulation goals and strategies of teachers. Social Psychology of Education, 7, 379–398.
Sutton, R. E., Mudrey-Camino, R., & Knight, C. C. (2009). Teachers’ emotion regulation and classroom management. Theory into Practice, 48(2), 130–137.
Swartz, R. A., & McElwain, N. L. (2012). Preservice teachers’ emotion-related regulation and cognition: Associations with teachers’ responses to children’s emotions in early childhood classrooms. Early Education & Development, 23(2), 202–226.
Taxer, J. L., & Frenzel, A. C. (2015). Facets of teachers’ emotional lives: A quantitative investigation of teachers’ genuine, faked, and hidden emotions. Teaching and Teacher Education, 49, 78–88.
Taxer, J. L., & Gross, J. J. (2018). Emotion regulation in teachers: The “why” and “how.” Teaching and Teacher Education, 74, 180–189.
Urry, H. L., & Gross, J. J. (2010). Emotion regulation in older age. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 19(6), 352–357.
Valiente, C., Swanson, J., DeLay, D., Fraser, A. M., & Parker, J. H. (2020). Emotion-related socialization in the classroom: Considering the roles of teachers, peers, and the classroom context. Developmental Psychology, 56(3), 578.
von der Embse, N., & Mankin, A. (2021). Changes in teacher stress and wellbeing throughout the academic year. Journal of Applied School Psychology, 37(2), 165–184.
Westerlund, M., & Santtila, P. (2018). A Finnish adaptation of the emotion regulation questionnaire (ERQ) and the difficulties in emotion regulation scale (DERS-16). Nordic Psychology, 70(4), 304–323.
Whitmore Schanzenbach, D. (2014). Does class size matter? [Policy Brief]. National Education Policy Center.
Zinsser, K. M., Zulauf, C. A., Das, V. N., & Silver, H. C. (2019). Utilizing social-emotional learning supports to address teacher stress and preschool expulsion. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 61, 33–42.
Acknowledgements
The research was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305A180326 to the University of Virginia. The research was also supported by the Society for the Study of School Psychology (SSSP) Dissertation Award. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education or SSSP.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Human Subjects Research
This research included human participants who provided informed consent prior to participating. The research project was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) for Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia. The IRB study name is Examining the Efficacy of RULER on School Climate, Teacher Well-Being, Classroom Climate, and Student Outcomes, protocol number 2808.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Doyle, N.B., Downer, J.T. & Rimm-Kaufman, S.E. Understanding Teachers’ Emotion Regulation Strategies and Related Teacher and Classroom Factors. School Mental Health 16, 123–136 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-023-09624-8
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-023-09624-8