Special education administrators' perceptions of the social supports that ameliorate the stress inherent in their professional role

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to investigate special education administrators' perceptions of the social supports that ameliorated the stress inherent in their professional role. Phase I (quantitative) of the study consisted of administration of a mailed, researcher-developed, questionnaire. Phase II (qualitative) consisted of in-person interviews with select volunteers. Survey results and verbatim interview transcripts served as the data set for analysis.; House's (1981) definition of social support was the conceptual framework for this study. House conceptualized social support as addressing and answering the question: "Who gives what to whom regarding which problems?" (p. 22). Through his research, House established that the concept of social support could be categorized into four dimensions: (a) emotional support, (b) informational support, (c) instrumental support, and (d) appraisal support.; Findings from the two phases of the study are reported for each of the four dimensions of the social supports model. Data indicated that 100% of the respondents (N= 67) experienced job-related stress either frequently or once in a while. This stress rose for managing conflicts (83%), performing administrative tasks (79%), and dealing with expectations of external stakeholders (74%). Professional colleagues were most often cited (80%) as people who provided support when things got tough at work.; Conclusions are presented for each of the four dimensions of the social support model. Recommendations for practice, policy, and future research are presented for each of the conclusions.