Coping with Occupational Stress, Burnout and the Moderating Effect of Social Support on Teachers’ Stress

Abstract

The present study aimed to assess occupational stress, burnout, coping strategies adopted by female teachers to address occupational stress, and the moderating effect of social support. The study adopted quantitative cross-sectional design. The sample was collected from 1,386 teachers at 86 private schools. The data was analysed using SPSS 22.0. The stepwise multiple regression, linear regression, Pearson correlation, and two-way ANOVA were used, and a p-value of 0.05 was significant. The study evaluated the moderating variable social support effect and found a significant correlation between social support, burnout, and coping strategies (p = 0.01). The results of the study revealed that teachers were found to use dysfunctional and emotional coping strategies most often; however, the coping strategies were significantly correlated with burnout (p = 0.003). Based on the results, the higher level of occupational stress and a moderate level of burnout were validated. Teachers are physically tired, and they have more to do at work than they can do in the time they have or with the skills they have. The study concluded that there is a dire need to promote a healthy working environment for better teacher performance.