Work-related social media exposure and teacher burnout in pre-pandemic China: the mediating role of work-to-family conflict

Abstract

Teacher burnout negatively impacts educational quality and the interpersonal relationships among teachers, parents, and students. In the context of increasing integration of social media in education, this brief report examines the relationship between work-related social media exposure (SME) and burnout. Adopting a cross-sectional survey design, data were collected via an online questionnaire in early 2019 from middle school teachers (N = 141) in China’s Yangtze River Delta Economic Zone. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 26.0 and its PROCESS macro for mediation analysis. The results reveal significant correlations between work-related SME and burnout, with work-to-family conflict serving as a partial mediator. Drawing on the Conversation of Resources (COR) theory, this study highlights the detrimental effects of excessive work-related SME on teachers’ mental health and professional functioning, evening before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings underscore the urgency for educational policymakers to develop targeted interventions, including (1) institutional protocols to mitigate SME-induced boundary permeability, and (2) evidence-based strategies for preserving work-family boundary.