Mental health matters: depression as a critical mediator of work-stress and leadership self-efficacy in public school principals

Purpose Principals’ capacity for school improvement efforts is influenced by their leadership self-efficacy which is particularly susceptible to psychological stress. While the impact of work-stress on self-efficacy is a global issue among principals and headmasters, the role of mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression is under-explored. This study aims to examine how work-stress influences leaders’ perception of total, management, instructional and moral self-efficacies and how mental health conditions operate as moderators and/or mediators in these relationships. Design/methodology/approach We conducted a quantitative study with data collected from Texas, US principals (n = 181–194) and performed a series of regression analyses to examine work-stress and demographic factors as predictors of leadership self-efficacies and the role of mental health as mediators/moderators of significant relationships. Findings Our findings highlight work-stress as a central negative predictor of leadership self-efficacies, and depression, not anxiety, as a significant partial mediator between work-stress and leadership self-efficacies. Additionally, mental health symptoms were not significant moderators, suggesting that mental health concerns do not affect the strength of the predictive relationships. Practical implications We provide recommendations for individuals, districts, and principal preparation programs to support leaders’ stress and depression which have downstream effects on principals’ confidence to lead schools. Originality/value This study extends the literature in school leadership well-being by providing evidence that work-stress induces depression which then negatively impacts principals’ leadership self-efficacy. Simultaneously, principals’ mental health conditions, whether induced by work or other aspects of life including genetic predispositions, do not change the magnitude of the work-stress self-efficacy relationship.