Job stress, mental health, and related mechanisms among junior high school teachers

This study investigated the mechanisms influencing junior high school teachers’ mental health in China by integrating job stress, work–life balance, and job satisfaction into a comprehensive theoretical framework. Using questionnaire data from 437 junior high school teachers, we employed the PROCESS macro for SPSS to analyze the moderated mediation effects. The results revealed that job satisfaction moderated the indirect effect of job stress on mental health through work–life balance. Further, job satisfaction significantly moderated the indirect effect of job stress on mental health through work–life balance. Specifically, the negative impact of stress via work–life balance became weaker at higher levels of job satisfaction. This study not only enriches theoretical understanding of the interplay among job stress, work–life balance, and job satisfaction in the context of teachers’ mental health, but also provides practical insights for education administrators to develop targeted interventions aimed at improving teachers’ mental well-being.