Correlation between time pressure, emotional exhaustion, and children's behavioral problems among primary and secondary school homeroom teachers.

Authors

Shuai Teng, Yuguang Zhuang, Fengfeng Teng, Mengying Wang, Jinping Xu, Xinping Chen

Published in

Frontiers in public health. Volume 14. Pages 1920886. Epub Aug 12, 2026.

Abstract

This study explored the relationship between homeroom teachers' time pressure, emotional exhaustion, and students' behavioral problems, as well as the mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying these associations. A total of 86 primary and secondary homeroom teachers and 1,287 students were recruited and surveyed via standardized scales. Results showed that teachers experienced moderate time pressure, with administrative work occupying teaching time as the most prominent issue; secondary school teachers reported higher time pressure than primary school teachers. Nearly half of the teachers suffered moderate or above emotional exhaustion, which was more severe among teachers with over 10 years of teaching experience. The overall detection rate of students' behavioral problems was 18.34%, with externalizing problems significantly more severe than internalizing problems. Correlation analyses revealed significant positive associations between teachers' time pressure, emotional exhaustion, and students' behavioral problems. Regression analyses indicated that time pressure and emotional exhaustion positively predicted students' behavioral problems. Further analyses confirmed that emotional exhaustion partially mediated the link between time pressure and students' behavioral problems, while teaching experience moderated the relationship between time pressure and emotional exhaustion. These findings suggest that targeted interventions optimizing teachers' working time allocation and implementing stratified psychological support can effectively reduce teachers' emotional exhaustion and improve students' behavioral development.

PMID:
42656865
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 27 Aug 2026.

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