arbiter
JournalsAccount

Unveiling emotional strain: The interplay of loneliness, stress, and depression among school leaders

Gülnar Özyildirim & Michaela Gläser-Zikuda

Educational Management Administration & Leadership2026https://doi.org/10.1177/17411432261438258article
AJG 2ABDC B
Weight
0.50

Abstract

This embedded mixed-methods study contributes to the emerging leadership literature by examining how school leaders’ emotions interact and influence one another. Drawing on the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, we explored the interplay among different emotional strains experienced by school leaders in Antalya, Türkiye (N = 342). We proposed that both emotional job demands (e.g., workplace loneliness) and strain (e.g., work-related stress) are key antecedents of a health impairment outcome (e.g., workplace depression). Additionally, we hypothesized that workplace loneliness would be associated with work-related stress. The findings from our structural equation model provide significant empirical support for JD-R processes in the context of school leadership, and interviews with school administrators corroborated our quantitative results. This study reinforces the JD-R model by demonstrating that emotional job demand can trigger other work-related strains and mental health impairment, which may eventually affect broader organizational well-being.

Open via your library →

Cite this paper

https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/17411432261438258

Or copy a formatted citation

@article{gülnar2026,
  title        = {{Unveiling emotional strain: The interplay of loneliness, stress, and depression among school leaders}},
  author       = {Gülnar Özyildirim & Michaela Gläser-Zikuda},
  journal      = {Educational Management Administration & Leadership},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/17411432261438258},
}

Paste directly into BibTeX, Zotero, or your reference manager.

Flag this paper

Unveiling emotional strain: The interplay of loneliness, stress, and depression among school leaders

Flags are reviewed by the Arbiter methodology team within 5 business days.

Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.