Mental Health of Teachers: Factors Affecting Teachers' Stress and Burnout In Private Tertiary Institutions In Shandong, China

Abstract

Teacher stress and burnout are undermining instructional quality and educator well-being in China’s private tertiary sector. This study investigates how five workplace conditions—teaching load, administrative responsibilities, working environment, job security, and students’ behavior—shape stress/burnout (SB) and, in turn, mental-health outcomes (MHO) among university teachers in Shandong. Using a cross-sectional survey of N=300 and a reflective measurement model (~50 items), we estimated a PLS-SEM with 1,000-sample bootstrapping. Reliability and validity met accepted thresholds (α and CR high; AVE ≥ .50; Fornell–Larcker/HTMT satisfied). All direct paths were significant and in theorized directions: WE→SB β=−0.580, STB→SB β=0.244, JS→SB β=−0.161, TL→SB β=0.141, AR→SB β=0.107; downstream, SB→MHO β=−0.687 (all p<.05). Explanatory power was substantial (R²_SB=0.584; R²_MHO=0.473), with strong predictive relevance (Q²_SB=0.504; Q²_MHO=0.359). Mediation tests showed SB significantly carried the effects of all five antecedents to MHO, strongest for WE→SB→MHO (β_ind=0.398). Findings corroborate JD-R’s health-impairment pathway and COR’s resource-loss logic, highlighting high-leverage institutional actions: improve environmental resources and collegial support, stabilize employment, streamline administrative tasks, and bolster classroom-management capacity. The results provide an empirically grounded agenda for reducing stress, preventing burnout, and strengthening the sustainability of private higher education in Shandong.