Coping Strategies and Religiosity as Predictors of Mental Well-Being among Arab Teachers in Israel
Keywords:
Mental well-being; coping strategies; religiosity; Arab teachers; Israe
Abstract
This study examined whether coping strategies and religiosity predict mental well-being among Arab teachers in Israel. Participants were 415 Arab teachers who completed an anonymous online survey including the Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale, the Brief-COPE, and the Arab Scale for Religiosity. Descriptive findings showed moderate to high levels of problem-focused and emotion-focused coping, lower levels of avoidant coping, and generally high levels of mental well-being and religiosity. Correlation analyses indicated small positive associations between mental well-being and both problem-focused and emotion-focused coping, whereas religiosity showed the strongest positive association with mental well-being. Multiple regression analysis revealed a significant overall model explaining 9.1% of the variance in mental well-being. Religiosity emerged as the strongest unique predictor, while coping styles and demographic variables showed relatively small effects. The findings suggest that religiosity may serve as an important protective resource for teachers’ mental well-being, whereas coping contributes in expected but more modest ways. The study highlights the value of culturally responsive approaches to supporting teacher well-being in the Arab educational context in Israel.
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References
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25. Sista, T. R., Putranto, W., & Abu Darda. (2021). The influence of religiosity on the resilience of class 1 students intensive at the Darussalam Gontor Ponorogo modern Islamic boarding school. Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, 581, 401–410.
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27. Tennant, R., Hiller, L., Fishwick, R., Platt, S., Joseph, S., Weich, S., Parkinson, J., Secker, J., & Stewart-Brown, S. (2007). The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS): Development and UK validation. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 5, 63. https://doi.org/10.1186/1477-7525-5-63
28. Wang, H., Lee, S. Y., & Hall, N. C. (2022). Coping profiles among teachers: Implications for emotions, job satisfaction, burnout, and quitting intentions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 68, Article 102030. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2021.102030
29. Wang, Z., Liu, H., Yu, H., Wu, Y., Chang, S., & Wang, L. (2017). Associations between occupational stress, burnout and well-being among manufacturing workers: Mediating roles of psychological capital and self-esteem. BMC Psychiatry, 17, Article 364. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-017-1533-6
2. Abu-Hussain, J. (2023). Israel’s education policy toward the Arab education system from a historical perspective from 1948 to 2022. Creative Education, 14, 2531–2557. https://doi.org/10.4236/ce.2023.1412163
3. Abu Nasra, M., & Arar, K. (2020). Leadership style and teacher performance: Mediating role of occupational perception. International Journal of Educational Management, 34(1), 186–202. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEM-04-2019-0146
4. Agbaria, Q., & Mokh, A. A. (2022). Coping with stress during the coronavirus outbreak: The contribution of Big Five personality traits and social support. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 20(3), 1854–1872. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-021-00486-2
5. Akbayram, H. T., & Keten, H. S. (2024). The relationship between religion, spirituality, psychological well-being, psychological resilience, and life satisfaction of medical students in Gaziantep, Turkey. Journal of Religion and Health. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-024-02027-2
6. Al-Mansouri, A. M. (2014). Brief version of the experienced problems coping orientations scale (Brief COPE). Al-Satel Journal, 8(11), 83–109.
7. Aulén, A.-M., Pakarinen, E., Feldt, T., & Lerkkanen, M.-K. (2021). Teacher coping profiles in relation to teacher well-being: A mixed method approach. Teaching and Teacher Education, 102, Article 103323. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2021.103323
8. Awwad-Tabry, S., Levkovich, I., Pressley, T., & Shinan-Altman, S. (2023). Arab teachers’ well-being upon school reopening during COVID-19: Applying the job demands-resources model. Education Sciences, 13(4), Article 418. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13040418
9. Carver, C. S. (1997). You want to measure coping but your protocol’s too long: Consider the Brief COPE. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 4(1), 92–100. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327558ijbm0401_6
10. Chang, E. C., Tugade, M. M., & Asakawa, K. (2006). Stress and coping among Asian Americans: Lazarus and Folkman’s model and beyond. In P. T. P. Wong & L. C. J. Wong (Eds.), Handbook of multicultural perspectives on stress and coping (pp. 439–455). Springer.
11. Diener, E., Lucas, R. E., Schimmack, U., & Helliwell, J. (2010). Well-being for public policy. Oxford University Press.
12. Egbaria, H. (2024). The contribution of emotional intelligence and religiosity in predicting psychological resilience among Israeli Palestinian high school students. European Journal of Social Sciences Studies, 9(6). https://doi.org/10.46827/ejsss.v9i6.1683
13. Ellis, L., Farrington, D. P., & Hoskin, A. W. (2019). Handbook of crime correlates (2nd ed.). Academic Press.
14. Fu, W., Wang, C., Zou, L., Guo, Y., Lu, Z., Yan, S., & Mao, J. (2020). Psychological health, sleep quality, and coping styles to stress facing the COVID-19 in Wuhan, China. Translational Psychiatry, 10, Article 225. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-020-00913-3
15. Gustems-Carnicer, J., & Calderón, C. (2013). Coping strategies and psychological well-being among teacher education students. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 28, 1127–1140. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-012-0158-x
16. Hascher, T., & Waber, J. (2021). Teacher well-being: A systematic review of the research literature from the year 2000–2019. Educational Research Review, 34, Article 100411. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2021.100411
17. Kim-Prieto, C., & Miller, L. (2018). Intersection of religion and subjective well-being. In E. Diener, S. Oishi, & L. Tay (Eds.), Handbook of well-being (pp. 1–9). DEF Publishers.
18. Lange, M., & Kayser, I. (2022). The role of self-efficacy, work-related autonomy and work-family conflict on employee’s stress level during home-based remote work in Germany. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(9), Article 4955. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19094955
19. Levkovich, I., & Shinan-Altman, S. (2024). Well-being among Arab teachers in Israel during the COVID-19 pandemic: A mixed-methods study. Multicultural Education Review, 16(1), 71–88. https://doi.org/10.1080/2005615X.2024.2338981
20. Papanikolopoulos, P. N., & Kaprinis, S. G. (2022). Religiosity and mental health of adolescents and young adults: A review. Psychiatriki, 33(2), 157–165. https://doi.org/10.22365/jpsych.2021.036
21. Rahmi, K. H. (2024). Teachers’ mental health and well-being in education: What can be improved for the education system in Indonesia? Multidisciplinary Reviews, 7(12), Article 4301. https://doi.org/10.31893/multirev.2024301
22. Ramsay, J. E., Tong, E. M., Chowdhury, A., & Ho, M. H. R. (2019). Teleological explanation and positive emotion serially mediate the effect of religion on well-being. Journal of Personality, 87, 676–689. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12425
23. Ryff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(6), 1069–1081.
24. Salavera, C., Urbón, E., Usán, P., Franco, V., Paterna, A., & Aguilar, J. M. (2024). Psychological wellbeing in teachers: Study in teachers of early childhood and primary education. Heliyon, 10(7), Article e28868. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e28868
25. Sista, T. R., Putranto, W., & Abu Darda. (2021). The influence of religiosity on the resilience of class 1 students intensive at the Darussalam Gontor Ponorogo modern Islamic boarding school. Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, 581, 401–410.
26. Sokal, L. J., Trudel, L. G. E., & Babb, J. C. (2020). Supporting teachers in times of change: The job demands-resources model and teacher burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Contemporary Education, 3(2), 67–74. https://doi.org/10.11114/ijce.v3i2.4931
27. Tennant, R., Hiller, L., Fishwick, R., Platt, S., Joseph, S., Weich, S., Parkinson, J., Secker, J., & Stewart-Brown, S. (2007). The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS): Development and UK validation. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 5, 63. https://doi.org/10.1186/1477-7525-5-63
28. Wang, H., Lee, S. Y., & Hall, N. C. (2022). Coping profiles among teachers: Implications for emotions, job satisfaction, burnout, and quitting intentions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 68, Article 102030. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2021.102030
29. Wang, Z., Liu, H., Yu, H., Wu, Y., Chang, S., & Wang, L. (2017). Associations between occupational stress, burnout and well-being among manufacturing workers: Mediating roles of psychological capital and self-esteem. BMC Psychiatry, 17, Article 364. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-017-1533-6
Published
2026-04-12
How to Cite
Egbaria, H. (2026). Coping Strategies and Religiosity as Predictors of Mental Well-Being among Arab Teachers in Israel. European Scientific Journal, ESJ, 52, 321. Retrieved from https://eujournal.org/index.php/esj/article/view/20895
Section
ESI Preprints
Copyright (c) 2026 Hamza Egbaria
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
