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Cited by 20Stress and Burnout ResearchWorkaholism, burnout, and well-beingOccupational Health and Burnout

The relationship between work stress and well-being among Chinese primary and secondary school teachers: the chain mediation of affective rumination and work engagement

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Shao, Yanhong, Jiang, Wenxuan, Zhu, Hongdong, Zhang, Chao, Xu, Weili·2025·BMC Psychology
DOI 10.1186/s40359-025-02628-wPMC PMC11969784
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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Although scholars have explored the impact of work stress, affective rumination, and work engagement on teachers' well-being, there is a need for more research to investigate the mechanisms through which work stress influences teachers' well-being via affective rumination and work engagement. METHODS: Based on the Conservation of Resources Theory and the Job Demands-Resources Model, this study examined the potential indirect roles of affective rumination and work engagement in the association between work stress and well-being among primary and secondary school teachers. A paper questionnaire survey was administered to 760 primary and secondary school teachers (M = 39.84, SD = 8.848) selected through cluster sampling from nine schools in Yancheng City, Jiangsu Province, China. All participants completed structured self-report questionnaires, including measures of work stress, affective rumination, work engagement, and well-being. Data analyses were conducted using structural equation modeling via Amos 24.0. RESULTS: The results are as follows: (1) Work stress has a direct and negative effect on well-being; (2) Work stress indirectly and negatively affects well-being through affective rumination; (3) Work stress indirectly and negatively affects well-being through work engagement; (4) Work stress indirectly and negatively impacts well-being through both affective rumination and work engagement. CONCLUSION: The results underscore the detrimental effects of work stress and identify the feasibility of interventions targeting affective rumination and work engagement, offering insights into strategies to promote the well-being of primary and secondary school teachers.

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  • Work engagement plays a significant mediating role between work values and teacher wellbeing.

    “Research on primary and secondary school teachers has also found that work engagement plays a significant mediating role between work values and teacher wellbeing (Shao et al., 2025; Feng et al., 2024)”

    From Teaching beliefs and wellbeing among primary school teachers: a moderated mediation of work engagement and career adaptability (2026) · cites this paper as Shao et al., 2025

    The Discussion (Findings; page not available) reports that work engagement significantly partially mediated the relationship between work stress and well-being among primary and secondary school teachers. It does not support the claimed mediation between work values and well-being; the predictor studied was work stress. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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Authors
Shao, Y., Jiang, W., Zhu, H., Zhang, C., & Xu, W.
Affiliations
  • Weifang Engineering Vocational College (CN)
  • Jiangsu Ocean University (CN)
  • Qufu Normal University (CN)
  • Jiangsu University of Science and Technology (CN)
Corresponding author
Zhang, Chao
ORCID
Venue
BMC Psychology
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2025-04-03
Volume
13
Issue
1
Pages
337-337
ISSN
2050-7283 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1186/s40359-025-02628-w
PMC
PMC11969784
OpenAlex
W4409150728
Cited by
12
References
47
Citations by year
2026: 9 · 2025: 3
FWCI
13.20
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • BMC Psychology (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
  • Special Research Project on Co-Building a High-Quality New Ecology for Foreign Language Education of Jiangsu higher education institutions (Grant no.2022WJYB008)
  • the International Chinese Language Education Research Program (Grant no. 23YH82C)
  • the Higher Education Youth Innovation Team Project of Shandong Province (Grant no. 2023RW050)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Stress and Burnout Research
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Workaholism, burnout, and well-being
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Occupational Therapy › Occupational Health and Burnout
Keywords
occupational stress, teacher well-being, affective rumination, work engagement, serial mediation, basic education teachers, conservation of resources theory, job demands-resources model, Chinese teachers
MeSH terms
School Teachers, Occupational Stress, Rumination, Cognitive, Work Engagement, East Asian People, Adult, China, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Surveys and Questionnaires

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