This research project conducts a longitudinal study monitoring school principals and deputy/assistant principals’ and deputy/assistant principals and deputy/assistant principals’ health and wellbeing annually. Principals and deputy/assistant principals’ health and wellbeing in differing school types, levels and size will be monitored along with lifestyle choices such as exercise and diet and the professional and personal social support networks available to individuals. The turnover of principals and deputy/assistant principals within schools will allow investigations of moderator effects, such as years of experience prior to taking up the role. The longitudinal study will allow the mapping of health outcomes on each of these dimensions over time.

Australia’s School Principals: A 4-year Longitudinal Snapshot

• Over the 4-years of the survey to date, responses have been collected from 2,621 Principals and 1,024 Deputy/assistant principals.
• Principals experience high levels of emotional demands and emotional labour when compared to the general population. This is correlated with higher levels of burnout and stress symptoms (difficulty sleeping, somatic symptoms)
• The greatest source of stress for all principals and deputies/assistants in every state and every sector is the sheer quantity of work, closely followed by a lack of time to focus on teaching and learning.
• Principals and deputy/assistant principals experience far higher prevalence of offensive behaviour at work than the general population: adult-adult bullying (4-times higher); threats of violence (5-times higher); and, actual violence (7-times the rate of the general population) measured on the COPSOQ-II. The prevalence rates vary from state to state with the Northern Territory and Western Australia reporting the highest levels.
• Despite having many predictive attributes for high scores on health and wellbeing (COPSOQ- II; Personal Wellbeing Index) and quality of life (Assessment of Quality of Life-8D) measures, collectively principals and deputy/assistant principals score less than the general population on all positive measures (self-rated heatlh; happiness; mental health; coping; relationships; self-worth; personal wellbeing index) and higher on all negative measures (burnout; stress; sleeping troubles; depressive symptoms; somatic stress symptoms; cognitive stress symptoms). The differences are detailed in the full report.