Work-intensity demands, autonomous motivation, and school support show distinct associations with perceived distress and low perceived coping in teachers

Teacher stress may involve distinct experiences of perceived distress and low perceived coping that relate differently to working conditions and motivational resources. This cross-sectional study examined work-intensity demands, school support, autonomous motivation, and two facets of perceived stress among 5,312 Romanian teachers. Partial least squares structural equation modelling estimated the formative work-intensity composite, higher-order constructs, indirect associations, and the interaction term; covariance-based analyses supplemented the assessment of the reflective measurement structure.

A two-factor PSS-10 specification fit better than a unidimensional model under both estimators. Work-intensity demands were positively associated with autonomous motivation, strongly associated with perceived distress, and weakly associated with low perceived coping. School support was associated with a weaker work-intensity slope for perceived distress, whereas the interaction with low perceived coping was small and positive, contrary to the proposed buffering pattern.

Four indirect associations through autonomous motivation were negative and significant; those involving work-intensity demands were opposite in sign to the corresponding direct associations at mean school support. School support and autonomous motivation were negatively associated with both stress facets, with stronger associations with low perceived coping. These findings support distinguishing the two stress facets and considering both demanding working conditions and school-level resources when examining teacher stress.

The authors thank the school management teams who forwarded the study invitation to teachers and supported access to a broad group of participants. Department of Teacher Training, Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Bucharest, 90 Panduri Street, Sector 5, 050663, Bucharest, Romania Ion Ovidiu Pânișoară & Iuliana Mihaela Lazăr Doctoral School for Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Bucharest, 90 Panduri Street, Sector 5, 050663, Bucharest, Romania Correspondence to Iuliana Mihaela Lazăr. The authors declare no competing interests.

This study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the University of Bucharest, Romania, Decision No. 57/23.05.2022. Participation was voluntary and anonymous. All participants were informed about the study’s purpose and provided informed consent before completing the questionnaire.

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