This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Student discipline, staffing problems, frustrated parents—school principals spend their days moving from one problem to the next. And the stress of running a school doesn't necessarily end when they leave campus.
There isn't enough time to get everything done. Problems from the day can keep running through a principal's head long after they've left the building. Eleanor Su-Keene calls it "work spillage." "Whether it's too much work, work they take home, or thoughts that keep repeating in their head, making it difficult for them to sleep, that kind of stress is what affects their mental health and well-being," said Su-Keene, an assistant professor in Texas A&M University's Department of Teaching, Learning and Culture.
New research led by Su-Keene suggests where principals' stress comes from may matter more than simply how many pressures they face. The findings are published in Educational Management Administration & Leadership. Among 119 Texas principals at public, noncharter K-12 schools, researchers found different patterns depending on where stress originated.
The most commonly reported stressors came from their immediate school environment, where principals can be responsible for everything from supporting teachers to making sure the building itself is functioning. Yet those everyday challenges were not significantly associated with work stress, anxiety or depression symptoms. Instead, broader pressures such as district demands, funding constraints and accountability requirements stood out as the strongest predictor of work stress.
And when demands of the job spilled into principals' personal lives, whether by competing with responsibilities at home or creating emotional strain, they were associated with higher anxiety and depression symptoms. For their analysis, Su-Keene and her co-authors asked principals to identify their major sources of job-related stress and complete established measures of work stress, anxiety and depression symptoms. Next, the researchers identified 10 types of stressors and organized them based on where they originated in and around a principal's work.
Some were close to the day-to-day job: student behavior, teacher effectiveness, staff morale and parent complaints. Others came from further outside the school, reflecting pressures they had less control over—including decisions made at the district level and broader political pressures surrounding public education. About 61% of principals cited school- and teacher-related problems, making them the most commonly reported sources of stress.
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