The job stress and subjective well-being among Chinese primary and secondary school teachers: the role of marital quality and social support

Introduction: Although the relationships among job stress, subjective well-being, social support, and marital quality have been examined across various cultural contexts, limited research has addressed these mechanisms within the Chinese cultural setting. This study aimed to explore how social support and marital quality interact to explain the association between teachers' job stress and subjective well-being. Methods: A total of 189 married primary and secondary school teachers from China participated in this study. Data were collected through validated self-report questionnaires measuring job stress, marital quality, social support, and subjective well-being. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothesized mediation model. Results: The findings indicated that marital quality served as a significant mediator in the relationship between job stress and subjective well-being. Furthermore, marital quality and social support jointly exerted a partial sequential mediating effect, suggesting that stress originating in the school context can cascade into family and social domains. Discussion: These results highlight the interdependent nature of teachers' work and family systems and extend the ecological systems theory by demonstrating how interactions across school, family, and social networks contribute to teachers' well-being. The findings underscore the importance of supportive marital and social environments in mitigating the negative impact of job stress.