Multidimensional School Contextual Resources and Teacher Burnout: The Mediating Role of Compassion Satisfaction in a Job Demands–Resources Framework

This study examined how multidimensional school contextual resources influence primary school teachers’ burnout, with compassion satisfaction (CS) serving as a mediating mechanism within the Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) framework. It addressed the limited integration of infrastructural conditions, labor activity, socioeconomic conditions, and interpersonal relationships in explaining teachers’ professional quality of life (ProQOL). Data were collected from 644 primary school teachers in Qingdao, China, using a cross-sectional survey design. Structural equation modeling and bootstrap analyses were conducted to examine direct, indirect, and mediating effects. The results showed that all four dimensions were significantly associated with CS, whereas labor activity, socioeconomic conditions, and interpersonal relationships were directly associated with lower burnout. Infrastructural conditions were indirectly associated with burnout, with this relationship fully mediated by CS. CS was significantly and negatively associated with burnout and partially mediated the relationships between school contextual resources and burnout. The model explained 42.0% of the variance in CS and 33.3% of the variance in burnout. These findings highlight the importance of multidimensional school environments in shaping teachers’ ProQOL, with CS serving as a key psychological mechanism linking contextual resources to reduced burnout. The study extends the JD-R framework by emphasizing the mediating role of positive psychological experiences and suggests that improving school contextual conditions may enhance teachers’ CS and reduce burnout.