Mental Health Challenges Among Teachers: The Role of the Workplace

Abstract

Teacher mental health is an increasingly salient issue with societal and economic implications for educational quality and student outcomes. This study examines the role of schools as workplaces in generating heterogeneity in teachers’ mental health. Using comprehensive population-wide Danish register data linking teachers to schools, students, and health care utilization, we document large and persistent differences in mental health outcomes across schools. We attribute these differences to causal workplace effects rather than selection, leveraging a quasi-experimental mover design: teachers’ mental health deteriorates after moving to schools with worse mental health environments, with effects unfolding over the subsequent years. These effects are robust to coinciding life events, such as childbirth or changes in cohabitation status. Auxiliary analyses based on variation over time in student composition find that higher shares of female students and students from higher-SES households are associated with improved teacher mental health of teachers. Yet, observable characteristics explain only a small share of variation, suggesting that unobserved dimensions of workplace quality, such as leadership and organizational climate, play a central role as potential drivers of heterogeneity in teacher mental health.