Early childhood educators’ emotional exhaustion and the frequency of educational activities in preschool

Previous research has demonstrated that early childhood educators are particularly affected by burnout symptoms, such as emotional exhaustion. However, only few studies exploring preschool quality consider early childhood educators’ burnout symptoms as a predictor. Yet we know from other professions that burnout symptoms often lead to reduced job performance. Therefore, this study examines the link between emotional exhaustion in early childhood educators and an important aspect of preschool quality: the frequency of educational activities promoting language and pre-literacy (e.g. story reading or storytelling). We included 1389 educators nested in 204 preschools in Germany. Multilevel regression analyses revealed that emotional exhaustion was negatively related to the frequency of activities beyond important structural characteristics. Our findings suggest that more attention needs to be paid to early childhood educators’ emotional exhaustion as it impairs quality care. Further, they encourage interventions targeting burnout symptoms in early childhood educators to avert detrimental effects for themselves and for children.