A Survey of Social Support and Coping Style in Middle School Female Teachers in China

doi:10.4236/ce.2011.23030

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Creative Education

2011. Vol.2, No.3, 220-225

A Survey of Social Support and Coping Style in Middle

School Female Teachers in China

Ping Wang1, Qiong Dai2

1School of Foreign Languages and Literature of Wuhan University, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China;

2Maternal Hospital of Hubei Province, Wuhan, China.

Email: [email protected], [email protected]

Received May 20th, 2011; revised June 8th, 2011; accepted June 15th, 2011.

Objective: It is hypothesized that social support and different coping style would make a difference in people’s

health. This paper attempts to investigate social support and coping style in middle school female teachers in

Wuhan, China. Methods: 1:2 case-control matched study. 300 female teachers as case group, 300 matched male

teachers as control group 1 and another 300 matched female workers as another control group. Results: Female

teachers got significantly lower score on positive coping and higher negative coping than male teachers. How-

ever, they got significantly higher score on positive coping and lower negative coping than female workers (P <

0.05 respectively). Female teachers scored significantly lower than male teachers but higher than female workers

on total score of social support, objective and subjective support and utility degree of social support (P < 0.05

respectively). There were no significant differences between female teachers from senior and junior middle

schools on coping style and social support (P > 0.05 respectively). The female teachers from key senior and

junior middle schools got significantly higher score on positive coping style and social support than those from

non-key middle schools (P < 0.05 respectively). There were no significant differences between female teachers

on negative coping from key and non-key senior and junior middle schools (P > 0.05 respectively). The female

teachers with a higher title and professional qualification got significantly lower score on negative coping and

higher score on positive coping and social support than female teachers with a lower title and professional quali-

fication and female workers (P < 0.05 respectively). The female teachers with master and bachelor degree got

significantly lower score on negative coping and higher score on subjective support and utility degree of social

support than those without a degree (P < 0.05 respectively). Conclusion: The impact of social support and cop-

ing style showed significant differences for female teachers of different school, professional and education level.

Keywords: Social Support, Coping Style, Middle School, Female Teachers

Introduction

Teachers’ stress is a much discussed issue. However, the re-

search on teachers’ (especially female teachers) coping style

and social support for different stages of school is insufficient.

The American scholar Turner (1983) discussed social support

in a systematic way in his book Social support: Concep-

tualization, measurement, and implication for mental health.

Vernitria (2009) discussed about improving teacher retention

by providing needed support in her doctorate dissertation. Xie

& Li (2010) discussed the relationship between female tea-

chers’ life quality and their coping style in Shaoxin District,

China. Lots of papers published abroad and home including

Psychological Science, Journal of Personality and Psychology,

International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, etc. provided

reference for the research of middle school female teachers’

way of coping style and social support. Based on a review of

international research, it is concluded that teachers’ stress is a

serious problem and it is definitely associated with a range of

causal factors, including those intrinsic to teaching, individual

vulnerability and systematic influences.

Female teachers as a special group play not only a teacher’s

role but also special social roles, such as wife, mother, daughter

and so on. China is a country with a long history of feudalism

and women are expected to shoulder the duties and response-

bilities of service and care giving. It is the usual case that

women are the primary care-giver of their families. For some,

they are not only the primary care-giver of their nuclear fami-

lies, but also the extended families as well. Therefore, they

have to endure double stress from family and work. As Walk-

erdine claimed that being a female teacher is actually “an im-

possible fiction”. In Bitter Milk: Women and Teaching, Grumet

applies the bitter milk as a metaphor to reveal the paradox of

being a female teacher. Indeed, to be a teacher and a primary

care-giver of the family are both demanding and it is almost

beyond the capacity of a human. Psychosocial factors have

been considered largely responsible for the health problems

observed in female teachers.

Teachers’ job satisfaction has been recognized as extremely

important for implementing any type of education reform, for

involving the teacher in life-long learning, for the quality of the

teaching-learning process, and for satisfaction with life in ge-

neral. It is of great significance to reduce teachers’ stress and

increase their job satisfaction. What’s more, there may be dif-

ferences in trait coping style and social support between male

and female teachers because females tend to be more delicate

and sensitive than males. On the basis of these facts, the study

attempts to give a survey of the trait coping style, social support

in junior and senior middle school female teachers.

The psychological definition of coping is the process of

P. WANG ET AL. 221

managing taxing circumstances, expending effort to solve

personal and interpersonal problems, and seeking to master,

minimize, reduce or tolerate stress or conflict (Vitaliano, 1990)

Social support has been summarized as a network of indi-

viduals on whom one can rely for psychological or material

support to cope effectively with stress. Social support is

theorized to be offered in the form of instrumental support (i.e.,

material aid), appraisal/informational support (i.e., advice,

guidance, feedback), or emotional support (i.e., reassurane of

worth, empathy, affection) (Turner, 1983) Social support in this

paper is mainly concerned with the support related to support to

teachers’ work and life.

Perceived social support is support that an individual be-

lieves to be available, regardless of whether the support is

actually available. Actually, perceived support appears to cor-

relate more closely with health status than does actual social

support (Edgar & Rhonda, 2000: p. 920).

Social support is one of the most important factors in pre-

dicting the physical health and well-being of everyone, ranging

from children to adults. The well-being of people are sustained

through primary group ties, the absence of which may result in

a loss of identity, confusion and despair (Schwarzer & Leppin,

1991). In most cases, the absence of social support would harm

the physical and mental health among the impacted individuals.

The initial social support given is also a determining factor in

successfully overcoming the stress in everyday life. The pres-

ence of social support significantly predicts the individual’s

ability to cope with stress. Knowing that they are valued by

others is an important psychological factor in helping them to

forget the negative aspects of their lives, and thinking more

positively about their environment. Social support not only

helps improve a person’s well-being, it affects the immune

system as well (Taylor, et al., 2007). Thus, it is also a major

factor in preventing negative symptoms such as depresssion and

anxiety (Taylor, 2006). At the same time, the social support and

physical health are two of the crucial factors that help the over-

all well-being of individuals.

Participants

The study was carried out during 2010-2011 by selecting 320

female teachers randomly from ten junior and senior middle

schools in Wuhan urban areas to fill in the questionnaires. 300

questionnaires were collected, reaching a response rate of 93.75%.

Control group was divided into two groups. Control group 1

was an age-stratiﬁed random sample of male teachers in the

same school and 1:1 frequency-matched to the female teachers

within 5-year age groups and adjusted teaching course. Control

group 2 was an age-stratiﬁed random sample of women in Wu-

han (urban areas) identiﬁed by using random digit dialing.

Controls were randomly selected and 1:1 frequency-matched to

the female teachers within 5-year age groups and adjusted edu-

cational years.

Data Collection

Face-to-face interviews were conducted. Interviewers were

trained in survey and mental assessment methods. The same

interviewer interviewed both cases and the age-matched con-

trols to reduce information bias. Information on demographic

characteristics (ethnicity, residence) was ascertained directly

from the subjects. All participants were interviewed with traits

coping style questionnaire (TCSQ) and social support rating

scale (SSRS).

Psychosocial Measures

Participants completed questionnaires at baseline to assess

demographic and psychosocial variables. Questionnaires were

administered as following:

Social support was measured by the social support rating

scale (SSRS) (Wang, 1999). The SSRS, with10 items, is to

assess the scores of objective and subjective support, utility

degree of social support, and measures perceived availability

(the number of people the individual thinks he or she can count

on when necessary) and satisfaction with perceived social sup-

port respectively.

Coping style was measured by the trait coping style ques-

tionnaire (TCSQ) (Wang, 1999). The TCSQ composed of posi-

tive coping and negative coping, and each factor was respect-

tively composed of 10 items, the scores on coping styles were

assessed by the differences between the negative coping and

positive coping. The higher the scores, the more negative the

coping styles were. The extent to which each item has been

experienced is rated on a 5-point scale, ranging from 1 (very

positive) to 5 (very negative).

Data Analysis

All data was carried out by SAS 9.0 software. Descriptive

statistics were calculated for all variables. Student t tests (for

continuous data), analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Spearman

Rank Correlation were used to assess differences between the

case and control groups. All tests of statistical signiﬁcance were

two-sided and considered as p ≤ 0.05.

Results

Associations between each of the 6 independent variables in

2 independent questionnaires—traits coping style questionnaire

(TCSQ scores), and social support rating scale (SSRS scores)—

were examined separately at the different points of assessment.

Comparison of Female Teachers and National Norm.

Female teachers scaled significantly higher score on positive

coping (24.47 ± 4.71) than national norm (21.25 ± 7.14). t =

3.31, P = 0.001. (Wang, 1999) Female teachers scaled sig-

nificantly lower score on negative coping (12.51 ± 3.53) than

national norm (30.26 ± 8.74). t = 5.78, p = 0.000.

Female and male teachers and female workers on the scale

of TCSQ and SSRS (Table 1).

Female teachers got significantly lower score on positive

coping and higher negative coping than males, however, they

got significantly higher score on positive coping and lower

negative coping than female workers (F = 24.576, P < 0.05;

q0.05 = 4.77, q0.01 = 5.84, P < 0.05 respectively). Female teach-

ers scored significantly lower than male teachers but higher

than female workers on total scoe of social support, objective r

P. WANG ET AL.

222

Table 1.

Female and male teachers a nd female workers on the sca l e o f T C S Q a n d S S RS.

Questionn ai re Variable Case (n = 300) Case (n = 300) Control 2 (n = 300)

TCSQ

Positive coping

24.47 ± 4.71 26.52 ± 7.40 21.55 ± 5.22

Negative coping

12.51 ± 3.53 8.75 ± 4.45 15.89 ± 3.89

SSRS

Total score of social su pport 40.77 ± 1.97 43.64 ± 1.76 35.02 ± 2.55

Objective support

8.43 ± 2.22 11.36 ± 3.49 5.30 ± 1.76

Subjective support

24.90 ± 3.85 31.44 ± 4.67 18.87 ± 3.12

Utility degree of socia l s up por t 60.50 ± 7.97 65.67 ± 5.77 58.93 ± 7.78

and subjective support and utility degree of social support (F =

13.881, P < 0.05 q0.05 = 4.82, q0.01 = 5.76, P < 0.05 respec-

tively).

Comparison of female teachers between key and non-key

senior and junior middle schools scored on TCSQ and SSRS

(Table 2).

There were no significant differences between female teach-

ers from senior and junior middle schools on coping style and

social support (p > 0.05 respectively). The female teachers from

key senior and junior middle schools got significantly higher

score than non-key senior and junior middle schools on positive

coping style and social support (q0.05 = 4.04, q0.01 = 5.65, p <

0.05 respectively). There were no significant differences be-

tween female teachers from both key and non-key senior or

junior schools on negative coping (q0.05 = 3.26, q0.01 = 4.75, P >

0.05 respectively).

Comparison of female teachers of different age groups

scored on TCSQ and SSRS (Table 3).

There were no significant differences among different age

groups of female teachers on coping style and social support (p

> 0.05 respectively).

Female teachers of different titles scored on TCSQ and

SSRS (Table 4).

The female teachers with higher title and qualifications got

significantly lower score on negative coping and higher score

on positive coping and social support than female teachers with

lower title and qualifications and female workers. (rs = 0.8776,

P < 0.05 respectively).

Female teachers of different education level scored on

TCSQ and SSRS (Table 5).

The female teachers with master and bachelor degree got

significantly lower score on negative coping and higher score

on subjective support and utility degree of social support than

female workers (rs = 0.8043, p < 0.05 respectively).

Discussion

The result of study showed that female teachers got higher

score on positive coping and lower score on negative coping

than national norm. In coping with different life events, female

teachers are more mature than average groups in the city. There

are some differences between female teachers in different

schools with different academic titles and qualifications.

To be human is to experience crisis. The reaction to the same

crisis differs from one to the other. The emotional experience is

as individual as the other characteristics of individuals. The

result of this study showed that female teachers got signifi-

cantly lower score on positive coping and higher negative cop-

ing than male teachers, however, they got significantly higher

score on positive coping and lower negative coping than female

workers. In coping with different life events, male teachers are

more mature than female ones. What’s more, the result of this

study showed that the female teachers of key senior and junior

middle schools got significantly higher score than those of

non-key senior and junior middle schools on coping style, and

that the female teachers with a higher title and professional

qualification got significantly lower score on negative coping

and higher score on positive coping than female teachers with a

lower title and professional qualification and female workers,

and that the female teachers with master and bachelor degree

got significantly lower score on negative coping than those

without master and bachelor degree, and there were no signifi-

cant differences among different age groups of female teachers

on coping style. In coping with pressure, female teachers are

able to solve problems by themselves. Specially, female teach-

ers with a high title and degree have more self-independence

and better anti-pressure when they have to face difficulties.

However, male teachers have better anti-pressure than female

teachers. Maybe it is because female teachers need to copy with

more household chores besides teaching. At the same time,

with the advancement of society and technology as well as the

reform and improvement of basic education curriculum, society,

school leaders and parents develop higher expectation and de-

mands for teachers including the quality of creative thinking,

good humanistic and other excellent qualities. Therefore, tea-

chers should improve themselves constantly in all-round way.

Not only female teachers have to face pressure from their work,

the assessment of teaching effectiveness, but also they should

face the pressure from their academic improvement. Thus, fe-

male teachers in middle schools, especially those with lower

degree and title could hardly endure additional pressure.

The result of this study showed that female teachers scored

significantly lower than male teachers but higher than female

workers on total score of social support, objective and subject-

P. WANG ET AL. 223

Table 2.

Comparison of female teachers of key and not key senior and junior schools scored on TCSQ and SSRS (



Questionnaire Variable Key Senior school Senior school Key junior schooljunior school F p

TCSQ

Positive coping 23.55 ± 7.75 22.07 ± 5.34 23.99 ± 5.98 21.99 ± 4.97 0.196 0.899

Negative coping 8.53 ± 3.24 8.56 ± 3.11 8.55 ± 3.12 8.54 ± 3.07 0.200 0.884

SSRS

Total score of social support 46.53 ± 9.60 40.12 ± 5.65 47.24 ± 7.55 40.67 ± 6.13 12.1430.000

Objective support 13.11 ± 3.44 9.85 ± 1.20 13.23 ± 3.03 8.22 ± 2.43 10.7800.000

Subjective support 26.46 ± 3.14 20.88 ± 4.07 25.94 ± 3.33 21.01 ± 3.21 4.979 0.003

Utility degree of social support 64.80 ± 5.11 60.00 ± 5.98 65.11 ± 5.67 61.20 ± 5.76 3.451 0.017

Note: when P < 0.05, SNK test is done.

Table 3.

Comparison of female teachers of different age groups scor e d o n TCSQ and SSRS (



Questionnaire Variable ≤35(y) 36 - 45(y) 46 - 55(y) F p

TCSQ

Positive coping 23.12 ± 7.87 22.98 ± 6.97 23.06 ± 7.50 0.312 0.729

Negative coping 8.98 ± 4.12 9.01 ± 4.32 8.92 ± 4.09 0.300 0.741

SSRS

Scale 44.53 ± 7.30 43.12 ± 6.66 43.29 ± 7.49 2.155 0.134

Objective support 12.11 ± 6.54 11.97 ± 7.27 12.20 ± 6.93 1.973 0.394

Subjective support 23.64 ± 4.71 22.98 ± 4.77 22.94 ± 4.73 3.316 0.413

Utility degree of social support 63.18 ± 5.21 62.98 ± 5.18 63.17 ± 5.67 0.153 0.936

Table 4.

Female teachers of different title scored onTCSQ and SSRS (



Questionnaire Variable Highest title High title Middle title low title

TCSQ

Positive coping 25.58 ± 9.63 24.79 ± 8.34 20.11 ± 7.12 21.02 ± 8.68

Negative coping 6.35 ± 6.76 6.56 ± 7.94 9.63 ± 6.18 9.54 ± 7.91

SSRS

Scale 46.85 ± 8.60 47.12 ± 7.67 41.24 ± 7.59 41.60 ± 7.31

Objective support 13.74 ± 1.43 13.73 ± 2.01 9.01 ± 1.20 8.78 ± 1.44

Subjective support 26.68 ± 3.64 26.34 ± 3.88 20.67 ± 3.07 20.59 ± 3.12

Utility degree of social support 64.79 ± 6.73 65.19 ± 6.63 60.91 ± 5.98 61.20 ± 5.76

tive support and utility degree of social support. In China, with

the improvement of the social status of teachers, teachers feel

more support from family, friends and neighbors. But it can not

be ignored that men who are generally considered the more

important role in a family have higher degree of concern and

more readily support available from family members, especially

their wives. Female teachers have to face as intense competition

and pressure as male teachers, and take more care of their fami-

lies. They are busy and have little free time to relax and it

causes their psychological imbalance as to impact their rela-

P. WANG ET AL.

224

Table 5.

Female teachers of different education le v el scored on TCSQ and SSRS (



Questionnaire Variables Master Bachelor Junior college No degree

TCSQ

Positive coping 25.15 ± 8.34 24.97 ± 8.92 20.12 ± 8.14 19.92 ± 8.07

Negative coping 6.00 ± 4.46 6.16 ± 4.25 9.09 ± 5.14 8.93 ± 6.13

SSRS

Scale 46.94 ± 7.61 47.03 ± 7.59 40.94 ± 7.67 41.01 ± 7.61

Objective support 13.35 ± 1.67 13.36 ± 2.01 8.97 ± 1.03 8.87 ± 1.14

Subjective support 27.32 ± 3.43 26.84 ± 3.52 20.16 ± 3.73 20.21 ± 3.65

Utility degree of social support 65.33 ± 6.22 65.24 ± 6.37 60.19 ± 5.53 59.97 ± 5.48

tionship with their family, colleagues and friends, and it also

causes a variety of discontentment. As a result, it is less likely

for them to feel the support form their family and community.

The result of this study showed that female teachers of key

senior and junior middle schools got significantly higher score

than non-key female teachers on social support. Parents do

hope that their children be admitted to key universities so that

teachers in key schools can be the focus of concern from com-

munity and feel respected. Teachers in non-key schools have to

manage many issues besides teaching by themselves. In addi-

tion, the teachers from non-key middle schools endure greater

pressure from examinations and academic qualifications than

teachers from key middle schools because of the poor basis of

the students. The result of this study showed that female teach-

ers with higher title and degree got significantly higher score on

social support than female teachers with lower title and degree

and female workers. Teachers with higher title and degree are

more likely to identify with community, schools and family

members. At present, government has begun to adopt the an-

nual appointment policy. Teachers with lower title and degree

are very likely to have a sense of insecurity and this add to their

physical and mental stress.

A large number of studies have confirmed that a good social

support can reduce the individual cognitive appraisal to pre-

ssure as to reduce hurt when individual face pressure (Knoll &

Schwarzer et al., 2009). Due to the lack of capacity to negative

emotional catharsis, the tensions linked to the strongest emotion

convey and derail in the body. The accumulation of repressed

negative energy can cause symptoms and psychosomatic dis-

eases. From physiological perspective, social support is to pro-

vide emotional support, and then affect the physiological pro-

cesses related to emotion, and improve the level of individual

physical health, as well as to enhance the organism’s immunity

so as to develop the individual tolerance to frustration and to

decrease physical and mental diseases. The sources of social

support is only a potential support, “perceived psychological

reality is psychological reality as the actual medi-variables to

impact human behavior and development” (Schwarzer & Knoll,

2007). Subjective support is more valued.

In summary, we believe that more attention should be paid to

the multi-factor of impact on female teachers’ mental health.

Therefore, community, schools and families should work to

improve female teachers’ mental health in middle schools.

Based on the occupational characteristics of female teachers in

middle schools, educational authorities and schools should

offer the corresponding help. For example: to afford continual

education to female teachers with lower title and degree, to

elevate their professional level so that they can have a sense of

self-fulfilment and are easy to identify themselves with com-

munity and family. Information support from their colleagues

(for example: providing certain necessary knowledge), practical

support (for example: helping to complete tasks), as well as

emotional support can enhance female teachers’ command to

the situation in work so as to reduce the level of pressure and

depersonalization and to improve the personal achievement and

performance (Esther & Ronald et al., 1997). The society

shouldn’t hold too high expectation for the teachers and teach-

ers should also have reasonable expectations of themselves

because teachers’ ability is limited. At the same time, teachers

should get opportunity to improve themselves constantly so as

to catch up with the advancement of the society. Female teach-

ers in middle schools should be provided regular mental health

counseling services to help and guide them to the establishment

of good interpersonal relationships and social support networks

in order to alleviate mental pressure, improve the mental health,

and improve their subjective support and utility degree of social

support as well. Female teachers should be encouraged to

communicate with leaders, colleagues, family members and

friends when they meet difficulties and pressure, and actively

set up and take social support in order to overcome difficulties

in work and life so as to maintain their physical and mental

health.

Our study may have some dismerits as case-control studies

are notoriously susceptible to bias. We have tried to reduce

sampling bias by recruiting from ten different schools. To re-

duce reporting and measurement bias, we used two interviewers

and ensured that borderline events and difficulties were rated at

consensus meetings, and that equivocal stressors were rated by

a third person unaware of the objective of study. However, like

all case-control studies, it has potential limitations. For example,

the results could have been affected by recollection bias

because the women were asked to recall past feelings and

events.

P. WANG ET AL. 225

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