Relationship between teacher and student psychological well-being in a Japanese context

Abstract

ABSTRACT Psychological well-being (PWB) encompasses the positive aspects of mental health, such as hedonic wellbeing (experience of enjoyment and pleasure), eudaimonic wellbeing (experience of self-actualization), and life satisfaction (global evaluation of quality of life). Japanese teachers suffer from poor PWB with a high incidence of mental health problems. Despite the potentially significant impact of poor Japanese teachers’ PWB on their students’ PWB, these associations have remained largely unexplored. The present study investigated if teacher PWB has any relationship with student PWB and if teacher-student relationship, students’ abilities for resilience, and classroom climate mediate the teacher and student PWB relationship, with 46 teachers and 1,256 children aged 8–12 years from Japanese schools. A multilevel mediation analysis revealed an indirect positive relationship between Japanese teacher life satisfaction and Japanese student hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing mediated by students’ abilities for resilience. There was no relationship between teacher and student hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing. Nonetheless, the findings still imply that promoting teacher life satisfaction may contribute to the promotion of student hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing. Future researchers could investigate if a school-based intervention targeted at both Japanese teachers and students would more effectively promote PWB among students than would such interventions aimed only at students.