Self-endangering work behaviour of Polish school principals during the COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the work-related demands of school principals grew incredibly, and many experienced overwork and stress. This study focuses on three self-endangering work behaviour (SEWB) subscales - work extensification (EW), intensification (IW), and quality reduction (QR) - among Polish school principals during COVID-19 and its association with respondents’ well-being (WHO), exhaustion (EXH), and psychosomatic complaints (PC). Taking care of the health of school principals and teachers is particularly important in the context of European public health as they are crucial models of health attitudes for students as future citizens. METHODS: The results come from an online survey among school principals in Poland. The survey was conducted in 8 provinces in Poland between June 2021 and December 2021. 1899 school principals participated in the survey, of which 928 completed the questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, Kendall's Tau correlation, and regression models were conducted. Sociodemographic characteristics (gender, age, and type of school) were considered the control variables. RESULTS: The study confirmed increasing respondents’ EW (62.6%) and IW (52.5%) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The rise in EW was associated with lower WHO (τ = -0.25), greater EXH (τ = 0.29), and PCs (τ = 0.23). The more respondents intensified their work, the lower well-being declared (τ = -0.36). With the increase in IW and QR, WHO decreased, and the level of EXH and PC grew. Male and older school principals less frequently felt PC. CONCLUSIONS: The study suggests that SEWB presented by Polish school principals during the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with respondents’ WHO, EXH, and PC. These findings could be a baseline for policymakers for multidimensional interventions to reduce school principals’ SEWB and prevent overwork and burnout in Polish school principals.