Trauma blocking or resource buffering? Occupational stress, burnout, and existential anxiety in teachers bereaved during the COVID-19 pandemic: the domain-specific effect of work–family boundary flexibility

Xiang Ji, Yu Zuo, Yiya Xu, Peilai Jin, Cheng Lyu, Xiaodong Liu, Miaomiao Wang

Background The COVID-19 pandemic left deep psychological scars on teachers who lost loved ones. This population bore a dual burden—profound grief while fulfilling professional duties—yet their psychological processes remain understudied. Integrating conservation of resources theory with existential psychology, this study examined the relationship between occupational stress and existential anxiety in pandemic-bereaved teachers, the mediating role of burnout, and the differential functioning of four work–family boundary flexibility dimensions, proposing the trauma blocking hypothesis and reporting preliminary findings consistent with it. Method A convenience sample of 1,103 secondary school teachers who lost immediate family members to COVID-19 completed measures of occupational stress, burnout, existential anxiety, and work–family boundary flexibility. Mediation and moderated mediation analyses were conducted using PROCESS, controlling for gender and age. Results Occupational stress positively predicted existential anxiety. Burnout partially mediated this relationship (59.3% of total effect). The four flexibility dimensions dissociated: only work flexibility ability significantly moderated the stress–burnout pathway, amplifying (rather than buffering) the association. Work flexibility willingness, family flexibility ability, and family flexibility willingness showed no significant moderation. Conclusion All four hypotheses received empirical support. Occupational stress translated into existential anxiety via resource depletion and meaning erosion embodied by burnout. Findings provide preliminary evidence for the trauma blocking hypothesis, suggesting domain-specific resource efficacy: family-related resources showed no moderation, whereas work flexibility ability shifted from buffering to amplifying. Because blocking mechanisms were not directly measured, interpretations need future support. Practically, educational administrators should prioritize objective work flexibility over encouraging bereaved teachers to “seek support from family.”