Not all stressors are equal: Using ecological theory to examine systems that predict stress and mental health in principals

Stressors in the principalship are plentiful, but few studies have examined their differential impacts on work-stress and mental health, particularly from a systems perspective. Guided by Lazarus and Folkman's occupational stress theory and Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory, we conducted an embedded mixed-method design with a quantitative-dominant crossover analysis for hierarchical regression to identify emergent stressors, the systems from which they originate, and whether stressor systems, cumulatively and differentially, predict negative psychological outcomes including work-stress, anxiety, and depression. We identified ten thematic stressors that were organized into five systems based on proximity to the principalship and degree of control: nanosystem, microsystem, macrosystem, exosystem, and chronosystem. In our sample, principals reported high work-stress, moderate anxiety, and mild to moderate depression symptoms. Regression analyses showed that the cumulative number of stressors significantly predict work-stress. However, only system-level stressors, especially nanosystem stressors, predicted anxiety, and depression symptoms. Our study suggests that the amount of stressors shape principals’ perceptions of stress, but only personal impacts from work spillage predicts mental health symptoms.