ISSN: 2782-893X
eISSN: 2799-0664
ISSN: 2782- 893X
—— This study explores the academic stress and coping strategies of secondary school teachers, as well as any relationships between those demographic profiles, levels of academic stress, and coping mechanisms employed. The research employed a descriptive-correlational study involving 125 secondary school teachers. Participants had diverse characteristics in terms of age, gender, marital status, rank as an educator, education level and number of years of teaching. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire and analyzed by using descriptive statistics and correlation analysis. Analysis showed that the majority of the respondents were female teachers aged 31–40, married, held the Teacher I position, completed graduate studies, and taught for six to ten years. The results indicated that the academic stress of secondary school teachers at a grand mean of 3.10 was moderate. The two biggest sources of academic stress were student behavior and classroom management, then time pressure, deadlines, and institutional responsibilities. Teachers engaged in coping mechanisms often with a grand mean of 3.49. Social support was the most common strategy, while institutional support was the least used. Additionally, there were significant associations between teachers’ demographic profiles and their levels of academic stress, as well as between demographic characteristics and coping strategies. The academic stress level, too, significantly correlated with the secondary school teachers’ coping strategies. This indicates that secondary school teachers experience academic stress that affects their ability to manage their work, and it suggests that implementing coping strategies may be beneficial. The study concludes, “Schools should add to their institutional support in the form of reducing nonteaching workloads beyond a certain level, as excessive workloads adversely impact teachers’ coping capacity and overall well-being. Keywords — Academic Stress, Coping Mechanisms, Teacher Workload, Classroom Management, Social Support, Institutional Support, Descriptive-Quantitative Research Method, Bohol, Philippines