Objective: The increasing demands of the teaching profession, especially in private schools, have made work-related stress a major contributor to the decline of
mental well-being among teachers. Understanding the relationship between
work stress and
mental well-being is crucial in order to help teachers deal with this overwhelming problem. This study examined
work stress as a correlate of
mental well-being among private secondary school teachers, and to assess whether gender, marital status, and teaching experience moderate this relationship.Methods: A descriptive correlational research design was adopted for this study. The target population of the study was ۱,۲۵۳ private school teachers and a sample of size of ۴۲۴ private school teachers was utilised using stratified random sampling method. The instruments utilised for data collection are the School Teachers Job Stressor Scale (STJSS) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-۱۲). Pearson correlation and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to analyze the data.Results: The results showed a significant negative correlation between
work stress and
mental well-being (r = -۰.۷۶۷, p < ۰.۰۰۱).
Gender significantly moderated the relationship (β = .۱۸۷, p < ۰.۰۰۱), with male teachers showing greater susceptibility. Marital status (β = -۰.۱۹۱, p < ۰.۰۰۱) and teaching experience (β = .۱۸۷, p < ۰.۰۰۱) also significantly moderated the relationship, indicating that married and less experienced teachers were more negatively affected by work stress.Conclusion: The study concludes that high
work stress significantly diminishes the
mental well-being of private school teachers, with the magnitude of this impact varying significantly across demographic variables such as gender, marital status, and years of teaching experience.
