The impact of family support on depression among primary and secondary school teachers in China: the serial mediating roles of subjective time pressure and work-family conflict
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Abstract
Background: The mental health of teachers has been demonstrated to be a contributing factor to the promotion of high-quality education in the country. The present study draws upon Conservation of Resources Theory and Social Support Theory in order to explore the relationship between family support and teachers’ depression in primary and secondary school teachers, along with its underlying mechanisms. Methods: This study employed convenience sampling to survey 3,159 primary and secondary school teachers ( M age = 40.43, SD = 10.22; 37.4% male) in China via online platforms. Participants completed the Family Support Questionnaire, Time Affluent scale, Teacher Work-Family Conflict Questionnaire, and Patient Health Questionnaire. The subsequent analysis of the data was conducted using SPSS and its PROCESS plugin. Results: The results suggested that family support was significantly negatively associated with teachers’ depression. Furthermore, subjective time pressure and work-family conflict exerted a serial mediating effect in the relationship between family support and depression in this teacher group. Conclusions: The findings of the study indicate that teachers who encounter diminished levels of familial support are more prone to manifest elevated degrees of depression. This phenomenon may be attributed to the fact that such teachers face greater subjective time pressure and more intense work-family conflicts, which exacerbate depression. Therefore, the provision of enhanced family support and encouragement has been demonstrated to be an effective means of alleviating the stress and depression experienced by these teachers, thereby promoting their mental health.
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Female primary school teachers in China frequently face compounded role demands-including domestic responsibilities, childcare, and the expectation of emotional labor with students and parents-that may generate work-family conflict and attenuate work engagement relative to their male colleagues.
“female primary school teachers in China frequently face compounded role demands—including domestic responsibilities, childcare, and the expectation of emotional labor with students and parents—that may generate work–family conflict (Sun et al., 2022; Zhong et al., 2025) and attenuate work engagement relative to their male colleagues (Sun et al., 2022)”
From Teaching beliefs and wellbeing among primary school teachers: a moderated mediation of work engagement and career adaptability (2026) · cites this paper as Zhong et al., 2025
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Sorted by citations
Wang, J., & Xu, X. (2026) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1835767
Ma, S., Jia, N., & Jinghua, D. (2026) · Journal of Behavior Therapy And Mental Health · doi:10.14302/issn.2474-9273.jbtm-25-5885
Ma, C. (2026) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1943721
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- Authors
- Zhong, S., Hu, J., & Xu, H.
- Affiliations
- Leshan Normal University (CN)
- Sichuan Normal University (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Xu, Huachun
- ORCID
- Hu, Jinyu
- Venue
- BMC Psychology
- Published
- 2025-11-19
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 1280-1280
- ISSN
- 2050-7283 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC12628968
- OpenAlex
- W4416392553
- Cited by
- 4
- References
- 40
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4
- FWCI
- 7.33
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- BMC Psychology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Research Square (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Sichuan Provincial Social Science Foundation, China (25JX 389)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Occupational Therapy › Occupational Health and Burnout
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Work-Family Balance Challenges
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Stress and Burnout Research
- Keywords
- family support, teacher depression, work-family conflict, serial mediation, conservation of resources theory, social support theory, teacher mental health, basic education teachers
- MeSH terms
- School Teachers, Work-Life Balance, Family Support, Adult, China, Conflict, Psychological, Depression, Family, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Surveys and Questionnaires, Social Support
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