The main objective of the study is (a) to explore the stressors influencing the psychological well-being of teachers. (b) to map the measures/interventions which helped in managing the stress. To attain the objectives of the study scoping review was conducted in 2022. The methodological framework adhered to the guidelines proposed by Arksey and O’Malley (2005) and was developed further by Levac and his colleagues ( Levac et al., 2010). Besides the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) guidelines were followed with the following methodological steps: (a) Identification of research question; (b) Identification of studies which are relevant; (c) Selection of studies; (d) Charting of data; (e) Collation of results, summary and report. The scoping review was not entered into the PROSPERO database in accordance with the study’s design. (a)

To explore the stressors influencing the psychological well-being of teachers.

A scoping review is a predominantly adopted technique for appraising and synthesizing literature evidence which gives the broader prospect and the extent of the research activity in terms of the topic proposed, mapping the literature gaps and finally provide future direction to the researchers. Based on the objectives, the review addresses the following research questions: a.

What are the descriptive findings of the selected studies?

The preliminary search for the study was conducted in the National library of medicine database to define the search strategy and to identify key terms. Once key terms and MeSH terms were identified, three databases (Scopus, Web of Science and PubMed) were used to collect the relevant articles. These databases were considered as a majority of the content published is indexed in reputed journals. The search strategy was performed using various keywords, phrases and Boolean operators based on the combination of the following: stress OR burnout OR cynicism AND perceived stress OR stress factors OR personal stress OR work-related stress OR job-related stress AND well-being OR wellbeing OR psychological well-being OR psychological health OR mental well-being AND teachers OR instructors OR educators OR academicians OR facilitators OR school teachers OR elementary schools. In addition to the electronic search, a manual search using the snowball technique and reference lists was conducted of studies that qualify. The search terms were restricted to title, abstract and keywords in Scopus and PubMed, in Web of Science title, abstract, author keyword and keyword plus.

Studies were considered and included if they met the following inclusion criteria:

The central focus of the study was to understand the impact of stress on well-being mainly due to the burgeoning studies on teachers’ well-being in the past two decades. Research articles mainly focusing on evaluating stress among SEN, language teachers or any other teachers were not considered as it was not in the scope of the study. However, this suggestion is addressed by proposing to future researchers to conduct a comparative review or study by considering the above-mentioned segments.

All eligible studies were further screened by two researchers independently with the title and abstract in Rayyan software by excluding duplicates and considered the full text for data extraction. Third researcher was involved to resolve discrepancy through discussion. The reference lists of systematic reviews were examined to recognise possible eligible studies.

The search resulted initially in total of 3564 hits, duplicates were removed in Microsoft Excel which resulted in up to 2502 articles. All the refined articles were added to Raayan software for title and abstract screening. Two independent researchers screened and in any case of any discrepancies, was solved by discussion with the third researcher ( Brereton et al., 2007). With the reasons records of other professional samples (1431), records with outcome other than psychological well-being (862), records with review papers (15), records with book chapters (10) and records with foreign language (18) were excluded which resulted to 166 articles were considered for full paper screening. Further, among 166 articles by full paper screening we excluded articles with reasons such as studies not considered psychological well-being only as outcome variable (17), articles not studying the association between stress and psychological well-being (24), articles studying stress factors associated with variables other than psychological well-being (25), articles not solely focused on the teaching profession (12), records with book chapters (14), records requested to authors but not received (14). Finally, 60 articles were considered for the study.

A piloted and standardised data extraction form was used by two reviewers to independently collect the data and third as a checker ( Brereton et al., 2007). Finally 60 selected articles were reviewed separately by two authors in order to analyse and record the data. Each article was summarized in Microsoft Excel carefully, by recording following main elements: ‘Bibliographic information such as, extent i.e., year of publication, title, author, country, objective of the study, methodology, sample size, data analysis, findings, stress factors, measures to overcome stress, future scope and limitations. During the process, two researchers compared their Excel forms and discussed if any disagreements in weekly meetings. A third researcher cross checked the information.

What are the descriptive findings of the selected studies?

Publication period

Figure 2 shows the annual distribution of selected articles. As seen, the publication of articles on stress factors aligned with psychological well-being among schoolteachers are very few in 2010, a moderate increase can be noticed in 2013. In 2014, there was no studies recorded. From 2016 to 2020 there was a substantial increase in studies. Maximum records were identified recently in the year 2021 i.e., post covid period.

The geographic distribution

Figure 3 shows the geographic distribution of the selected articles. It can be seen that stress factors and psychological well-being has been studied most in USA (N = 21). Followed by Australia (N = 6), Finland (N = 6), UK (N = 6), Israel (N = 4), Norway (N = 4), Canada and Spain (N = 3). Regarding Colombo, Iran, Italy, India, Turkey, China two each were found.

Research methodology

There is tendency to use quantitative research methods in studying stress factors associated with psychological well-being among schoolteachers. In total, 37 publications employed quantitative research methods, whereas 13 publications employed qualitative, and 10 publications employed mixed methods respectively. Most of the studies adopted survey and randomized control trail (RCT) methods to collect the data based on statistical analysis, used SPSS and structural equational modelling (SEM), correlation/regression analysis, ANOVA/ANCOVA and t-test to test the hypothesis. Whereas qualitative method adopted in-depth interviews, semi structured interviews and focus group interviews. Mixed methods adopted both survey and interviews for the better understanding of the research problem. Table 2 presents the main research methodologies adopted in the selected publications.

Theoretical perspectives

Table 3 presents the theory which were adopted by authors among the selected studies. Job Demand and Resource model theory ( Demerouti et al., 2001) is the maximum adopted theory by the researchers followed by self-determination theory, teacher performance motivation theory. PERMA theory coined by Seligman (2018) has captured researcher's attention in recent years. Along with these social cognitive theories, theory of planned behaviour, green glass theory, psychological theory of well-being and many more were used.

What are the core stress factors influencing on psychological well-being of schoolteachers?

A number of studies have proved teachers are prone to higher level of stress ( Boyle et al., 1995; Burke et al., 1996; Bhuin, 2017) exposure to higher stress levels results in adverse consequences on health and well-being which in turn leads to poor performance, low work engagement, negative impact on the quality of student learning/education, employee turnover rates and absenteeism ( Kyriacou, 2011; Hoglund et al. 2015; Von der Embse et al., 2016). Various researchers have identified different stress factors that influence the psychological well-being of the teaching profession. Although extensive research has been carried out on identifying the stress factors very few researchers have conducted a scoping review to explore the key stressors influencing psychological well-being. In order to address the research question, factors causing stress were coded and analysed using a thematic analysis approach. The main themes ( Figure 5) on the stress factors were arrived on the basis of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems framework ( Bronfenbrenner, 1992). It has emerged as an effective framework as it captures a wide range of stress factors ranging from micro and macro systems ( Farley & Chamberlain, 2021) The stress factors were categorised into intrapersonal, systematic, relational and organisational stressors.

Systematic stress factors

The systematic stressors theme comprised of national and state level policies that manage the education system operating. Holistic changes in the policies impose burdens on teachers to professionally equip with the required alterations. The review identified approximate 7% of the factors were contributed from systematic stressors like coping with changes in the policies ( Yerdelen et al., 2016), Inefficient working policies ( Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2018), Constant changes in policies ( Alvarado & Bretones, 2018; Farley & Chamberlain, 2021), Education reforms ( Alloh et al., 2019; Hepburn et al., 2021c), National & State level policies ( Schnaider-Levi et al., 2017; Carroll et al., 2020; Gearhart et al., 2022).

Organisational stress factors

The organisational stress theme comprised of significant factors in the work place which had an influence on psychological well-being. Within this theme around 48% of the factors contributed to various categories of stress. They were multi-tasking ( Gold et al., 2009), workload ( Gold et al., 2009; Simbula et al., 2012; Vazi et al., 2013; Vesely et al., 2013; Bermejo-Toro et al., 2015; Desrumaux et al., 2015; Yerdelen et al., 2016; Helms-Lorenz & Maulana, 2016; Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2017; Alvarado & Bretones, 2018; Alloh et al., 2019; Braun et al., 2019; Soykan et al., 2019; Brady & Wilson, 2020; Carroll et al., 2020; Farley & Chamberlain, 2021; Hepburn et al., 2021a; Ibrahim et al., 2021; Tebben et al., 2021; Billett et al., 2022), lack of professional recognition and appreciation, administration overload, role conflict, poor working condition, time pressure, lack of recourses and technology, appeared as organisational factors which contributed to teachers' stress. Workload was the prominent category which was recorded in most of the studies to be the key factor for emotional exhaustion among teachers ( Bower & Carroll, 2017) and burn out ( Chang, 2009). Often inseparably connected with workload was due to increasing work demands from leadership team, extensive student performance and short deadlines. Factors such as lack of autonomy, job insecurity, technological challenges also were the reasons for creating stress among teachers ( Figure 4).

Relational stress factors

Within the theme of relational factors, there were many categories which contributed up to 21% of the stress factors. Authors mentioned, parent demands and expectations ( Carroll et al., 2020), low level of depersonalization ( Luk et al., 2010; Brown & Roloff, 2011; Ross et al., 2011; Klassen et al., 2012; Alloh et al., 2019), Student behaviour & massive class strength, interpersonal relations with colleagues and students, maintaining discipline and teaching preparation ( Yerdelen et al., 2016) were the contributing factors under this theme.

Intrapersonal Stress factors

The theme intrapersonal stress comprised of factors that were not related to work directly. Ibrahim et al. (2021) and Gearhart et al. (2022) found emotional exhaustion and lack of coping abilities with challenges ( Alhija, 2015; Mahipalan & Sheena, 2019; Carroll et al., 2020; Hepburn et al., 2021c) as the prime factors for intrapersonal stress. Followed by inequity Work/family conflict ( Jerrim & Sims, 2021; Billett et al., 2022; Gearhart et al., 2022), Low self-efficacy level ( Vesely et al., 2013; Bermejo-Toro et al., 2015; Prilleltensky et al., 2016), Lack of experience ( Ibrahim et al., 2021), Low self-efficacy level ( Schnaider-Levi et al., 2017; Braun et al., 2019).

What are the measures/interventions adopted in managing stress among schoolteachers?

The number of therapies, interventions and measures have increased in lowering employee stress in recent years. Although ample research has identified different ways to manage stress among teachers very few studies have carried out scoping reviews to explore intervention or measures in align with psychological well-being. To address the research question, three different ways of measures/interventions were coded and analysed using a thematic analysis approach. There were five themes identified from the selected studies. They are mindfulness-based intervention, improved social support, coping mechanisms, improved managerial support and others.

Mindfulness-based intervention

Mindfulness can be defined as “a state of being attentive to and aware of what is taking place in the present” ( Brown & Ryan 2003, p. 822). Under this theme, Cultivating Awareness and Resilience for Teachers (CARE) ( Roeser et al., 2012; Jennings et al., 2013), Stress management and relaxation techniques (SMART) ( Roeser et al., 2013; Jennings et al., 2013), Co-ordinated Anxiety Learning and Management program (CALM) ( Jennings et al., 2013; Jennings et al., 2019; Hepburn et al., 2021a), Inner Resilience Mindful based training ( Frank et al., 2013; Beshai et al., 2015; Dave et al., 2020; Bonde et al., 2022), Emotional Intelligence skill training ( Vesely et al., 2013; Schoeps et al., 2019), Mindfulness stress reduction practice such as walking, stretching, body awareness reflection, deep breathing ( Jennings et al., 2013; Hepburn et al., 2021a), RCT through training sessions ( Siu et al., 2014), training sessions on gratitude, happiness day (an activity which consist of planning and carrying out of positive emotions for example activities such as visit to the parlour for self-care, an outing or musical experiences.), savouring experience (“savoring makes a decisive contribution to experiencing and intensifying positive emotions” Bryant et al. (2011)., letter ( Rahm & Heise, 2019), social-emotional skill training ( Tarrasch et al., 2020), training & classes to promote well-being ( Tebben et al., 2021), Mentalising ( Schwarzer et al., 2021), intervention - brief PPIs (BPPIs)- ( Shankland & Rosset, 2016), Mindfulness training ( Bonde et al., 2022) were identified. Recently yoga based intervention ( Harris et al., 2015; Telles et al., 2018; Dyer et al., 2020; Hepburn et al., 2021c) was the most commonly adopted intervention to overcome stress.

Improved social support

Under this theme, the measures which are adopted through social support such as colleagues, students and family were recorded. They are: building of inter-personal relationships ( Ibrahim et al., 2021), Positive interactions with students ( Ross et al., 2011), collaboration between teachers and colleagues ( Helms-Lorenz & Maulana, 2016; Round et al., 2022), Positive social climate ( Aldrup et al., 2017), interpersonal support environment ( Soykan et al., 2019), mentor and coach collaborative and reflective relationship ( Hollweck, 2019; Carroll et al., 2020), Community bonding ( Gearhart et al., 2022), Positive and supportive relations with colleagues and parents and collective culture ( Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2017) were identified under this theme.

Coping mechanisms

Coping mechanisms which were employed to overcome stress has been recorded under this theme. Jennings found that emotional skill instruction helped in managing the prevailing stress ( Jennings et al., 2013). School enculturation was the technique used by Helms ( Helms-Lorenz & Maulana, 2016). Followed by an improvement in communication skills ( Carroll et al., 2020), sessions on stress management techniques ( Li et al., 2016), cognitive and behavioural coping ( Bermejo-Toro et al., 2015; Prilleltensky et al., 2016; Aulén et al., 2021; Turner et al., 2021; Ciuhan et al., 2022) feeling valued and fringe benefits ( Gearhart et al., 2022), workplace change ( Carroll et al., 2020) and health promotion ( Vazi et al., 2013) were gathered from the selected studies.

Improved managerial support

This theme comprises of the measures which was adopted by management to reduce stress mong teachers. Many researchers found building of interpersonal relationships among colleagues and management helped in reducing stress ( Wu et al., 2006; Luk et al., 2010; Ibrahim et al., 2021; Prilleltensky et al., 2016) further, positive interaction with students ( Ross et al., 2011), Positive & supportive relations with colleagues and parents, collective culture ( Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2017) and community bonding ( Gearhart et al., 2022) were the thoughts adopted by management in lowering stress among teachers ( Figure 6).

The results of the review showed that the articles on stress aligned with psychological well-being among schoolteachers were few in the year 2010, gradual increase was recorded between 2013 to 2020 and exponential growth was recorded in the year 2021. The significant growth in the articles is associated with the outbreak of the global pandemic, called for incorporating the additional factors such as technological challenge ( Farley & Chamberlain, 2021; Ibrahim et al., 2021), lack of work life balance ( Billett et al., 2022; Gearhart et al., 2022), student behaviour management ( Tebben et al., 2021; Hepburn et al., 2021a) and online teaching ( Billett et al., 2022) along with the prevailing factors that elevated stress among the teaching profession.

The geographical distribution of the study shows that most studies emerged from US (n = 16) followed by UK, Finland and Australia (n = 5). The geographical distribution of the selected articles in the review demonstrates stress and interventions as a measure to overcome stress has captured global attention. However, the review highlights a lacuna of studies emerging from developing countries such as India, Iran and Turkey.

60 studies ranging from the year 2010 to 2022 were selected that fulfilled inclusion and exclusion criteria set out for the study. Among them, 37 studies adopted quantitative method, 13 studies adopted qualitative method and 10 articles adopted mixed methodology. It is apparent from the review that, quantitative research design was extensively used method by the researchers to examine the phenomena.

An application of a strong theoretical background enhances the outcome of the study in terms of proposing theoretical and practical implications. Through review it was observed that researchers have adopted various psychological, psychosocial, and behavioural theories. JD R theory ( Demerouti et al., 2001) strongly guided the stress and well-being literature. However, these results are not surprising as the existing literature has confirmed the application of JD R models from past two decades. Furthermore, positive emotion, engagement, positive relationships, meaning and accomplishment which is termed as “PERMA” ( Seligman 2011) was used as a core theory to measure the psychological well-being. This model has exhibited a great heuristic power in stimulating enormous studies due to integration of various theories in positive psychology.

Data from teaching and learning survey reports confirmed the existence of high level of stress in teaching profession ( Carroll et al., 2022). High level of stress impacts the job performance, mental and physical health. Another study by ( Della Valle et al., 2020) expressed chronic stress among employees results in huge economic burden due to low productivity and engagement. The current study emphasised on identifying the drivers of the stress. The stressors were classified into intrapersonal, systematic, relational and organisational stressors. Among the studies included in the review it could be observed that workload (22 studies), time pressure and gap between job demand and availability of resources (6 studies), administration overload (4 studies), role conflict and ambiguity (4 studies), poor working condition (4 studies), job insecurity (3 studies), lack of administrative support (2 studies), and lack of appreciation (1 study) were the commonly studied organisational stress factors. Further, massive class strength, poor relationship between teacher, student, and colleagues (13 studies), managing supervisors (9 studies), low levels of depersonalization (5 studies) and managing parents demand and expectations (2 studies) were highlighted under relational stress factors. Additionally, intrapersonal factors such as Low self-efficacy level (10 studies), emotional exhaustion (8 studies), Inequity Work/family conflict (7 studies), moderate levels of personal accomplishment (4 studies), Lack of coping abilities with challenges (3 studies), Lack of experience (3 studies), Lack of time (2 studies), Lack of motivation (2 studies) Personal challenges (1 study). Among the mentioned factors “workload”, poor relation between students, teachers and colleagues”, low self-efficacy and emotional exhaustion were frequently studied by the researchers. There were relatively lower studies focusing on policy related factors. Overall researchers empirically validated that excessive stress levels caused unpleasant outcomes such as low productivity, dissatisfaction, job turnover, low job performance, increased anxiety levels, sleep disorder, insomnia and chronic health problems. Moreover, the negative consequences of stress did not restrict only to the facilitators but also affected the students' academic performance. Stress management interventions act as an antidote for overcoming the negative consequence of stressors. Various strategies have been developed by researchers to reduce the impact of stress on the well-being of the desired population. Stress management interventions at the workplace emphasise on designing ameliorative tactics to prevent and restore the well-being of employees through promotive wellness programs. Therefore, interventions identified through this scoping review were aligned with the stress factors which were deployed to overcome stress among the teaching profession.

The most common intervention adopted to overcome organisational, intrapersonal and relational stressors was mindfulness (30 studies). It mainly comprised of CARE, CALM and SMART programmes. These programmes were conducted based on randomised control trials. Study by ( Roeser et al., 2012; Jennings et al., 2013, 2019; Carroll et al., 2020) examined the effectiveness of CARE program package such as emotional skills instructions, mindful awareness, caring and compassion practices. It resulted in proximal outcomes such as emotional stability, decrease in psychological and physical distress. The cohort which underwent this program, have shown massive difference in teaching efficacy and reported lower level of anxiety ( Jennings et al., 2019). Studies by ( Jennings et al., 2013, 2019; Telles et al., 2018; Rahm & Heise, 2019; Dyer et al., 2020; Hepburn et al., 2021a) implemented CALM program. It included sessions on yoga, relaxation, breathing exercises, gratitude, loving and caring, self-care and shared experience with colleagues. The results of CALM and SMART program showed significant increase or improvement in work related functioning, better adaptability towards work climate, reduction in emotional exhaustion ( Roeser et al., 2012; Jennings et al., 2013). Recently investigators have introduced innovative mindfulness techniques such as emotive behaviour theory, inquiry-based stress reduction and mentalising programs. It was observed that these interventions manifested positive improvements in productivity and wellness of controlled group participants.

Through review it was evident that relational and intrapersonal stressors were second contributors for the persistent stress level among teachers. Coping mechanism (14 studies) such as social support (12 studies) and improved managerial (8 studies) consisting of individual and organisational interventions were designed to overcome the above-mentioned stress factors. The interventions were delivered in the form of seminars, training session on stress awareness, stress management tactics, conflict management, school enculturation technique, cognitive and behavioural coping ( Bermejo-Toro et al., 2015; Prilleltensky et al., 2016; Aulén et al., 2021), workplace change ( Carroll et al., 2020). That resulted in meeting the job demands, having a work life balance and improved student teacher relationship, meeting the expectations of management, colleagues and parents, increase in self efficacy and improved work engagement.

The current scoping review have certain limitations. At the first instance, the articles are published in English and only three available databases were considered for the study, which resulted in loss of data reported in other languages or the studies from other databases. Secondly, articles that examined stress factors in alliance with psychological well-being were only considered, hence further researchers can explore the association of stress with occupational well-being. Thirdly, this review was limited to only schoolteachers from primary and secondary level school, kindergarten and higher education teachers can be the future scope to study and analyse the stress factors and the interventions.

Though it can be observed, researchers have adopted diverse stress management interventions to cope with the stress and enhance well-being. In summary it can be concluded all the strategies aimed at attaining balance to work life and promote overall growth and development of teachers professionally and personally. Yoga intervention programs were adopted as a mechanism to overcome stress. For instance, Harris et al. (2015) conducted sessions on gentle yoga for educators which included meditation practices. Another group of researchers implemented interventions through residential programs which mainly comprised of bhakti yoga (mediation on Sanskrit syllable), Surya namaskar (sun salutation), Sukshma vyayama (relaxation exercise), shavasana (guided relaxation), pranayama (voluntarily regulated breathing, aasanas (posture) and meditation ( Telles et al., 2018; Dyer et al., 2020) designed a 3-days program comprising of physical exercises and yoga postures, sitting meditation and breathing exercises ( Hepburn et al., 2021b) introduced meditation practices (samyama), ethical principles (yama niyama), posture asana (asanas). All these yoga interventions focused on eliminating personal stress. Therefore, future researchers can evaluate the effectiveness of these intervention at an organisational level. There were relatively lower studies focussing on the systematic stress factors. Hence, future research can focus on exploring the impact of policy related changes on the well-being of teachers. Additionally, a larger emphasis can be placed on a qualitative approach to better understand the fundamental problems relating to the workplace, work climate, and work culture. Lastly, it was observed that the definition of psychological well-being has been operationalized according to the context of the study by different authors, therefore, future research can explore in framing a common definition through a meta-analysis considering heterogeneity.