A multivariate meta-analysis of student misbehavior and teacher burnout

•We meta-analyzed the relation between student misbehavior and teacher burnout.•The relationship among student misbehavior and burnout is moderate.•The relationship varies for the different burnout dimensions.•Practical recommendations are discussed.

A multivariate meta-analysis was conducted to explore the relationship between student misbehavior and the three dimensions of teacher burnout (i.e., emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment). A total of 21 independent samples were included in the analysis, which provided a total of 63 effect sizes. Our results indicated that students’ misbehavior related significantly with the three dimension of teacher burnout. The largest effect was between students’ misbehavior and teacher emotional exhaustion, followed by depersonalization, and then personal accomplishment. Moderator analyses revealed that grade level, teacher age, country, percentage of female teachers, and year of publication each explained some variability among the effects. Practical recommendations and recommendations for future research are discussed.