Association Between Sleep Quality and Burnout Among Primary and Secondary School Teachers

Abstract Sleep problems and burnout are increasingly recognized as intertwined occupational health concerns in school settings. This study examined the association between sleep quality and burnout syndrome among general education school teachers in Mongolia. A cross-sectional design was used with 62 teachers (87.1% female; 79.0% secondary level). Sleep-related complaints were assessed using the World Health Organization Global Sleep Assessment Questionnaire (GSAQ) and the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), and burnout was measured with the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI). Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, Spearman correlations with Holm adjustment, and ordinal logistic regression were conducted (SPSS 24). Most teachers reported some level of sleep disturbance on the GSAQ (83.9%), with 53.2% classified as severe/very severe. ISI results indicated that 90.3% had at least mild insomnia symptoms, and 29.1% had moderate-to-severe insomnia. Overall burnout was predominantly moderate (51.6%), with 17.7% high burnout. Sleep disturbance showed significant positive associations with overall burnout (ρ=0.457, p<.001) and with personal and work-related burnout domains. In ordinal logistic regression, GSAQ sleep disturbance significantly predicted higher overall burnout levels (OR=1.946, 95% CI 1.201–3.152, p=0.007), whereas ISI severity was not significant after adjustment. These findings suggest that broad sleep-related symptom burden is a robust correlate of burnout severity among teachers, supporting routine screening and targeted sleep-focused and occupational stress interventions in educational workplaces.