Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between elementary and secondary teachers' background characteristics and constructs of self-efficacy, using the Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale--TSES, during a difficult economic period for Greece and other European countries. Design/methodology/approach Equation modeling techniques were used to examine the construct validity of Greek version of TSES and second to examine teachers' self-efficacy profile in primary and secondary schools during a difficult economic period for Greece and other European countries. Findings: The findings of the study, using the equation modeling techniques, revealed that a multidimensional first-order three-factor model fits well to the data using multiple-group analysis, the results of the study indicate that background characteristics, such as teachers' gender, teaching experience, educational level (elementary and secondary level) and age affect their self-efficacy factors (efficacy in student engagement, efficacy in instructional strategies and efficacy in classroom management). Research limitations/implications: The data of the specific analysis is based on centralized education systems during a difficult economic period. For improvement, future research using longitudinal approaches may give further important factors across different academic years and across the same individuals. Further research is also required in order to investigate the relationship between self-efficacy and students' achievement. Originality/value: The originality and value of the current manuscript highlights the confirmation and the interpretation of latent factors measuring elementary and secondary school teachers' self-efficacy (TSES) based on a centralized educational system.