Psychological mapping of stressors protective factors and outcomes in teacher mental health research from 2000 to 2025

Teacher mental health has emerged as a critical concern within educational psychology, particularly as educators face increasing job demands, limited resources, and complex student needs. This bibliometric study mapped research on teacher mental health published from 2000 to 2025 using Scopus data (n = 1,442 documents, 313 sources). Publication analyses, co-authorship networks, keyword co-occurrence mapping, and thematic visualization were conducted using VOSviewer and Bibliometrix. Results reveal a steady upward trajectory in publications, with dominant themes clustering around stress, burnout, job demands–resources frameworks, coping strategies, resilience, and psychological well-being outcomes. By situating these themes within dominant psychological frameworks, such as job demands, resources, stress coping, and conservation of resources, the study clarifies how teacher mental health research has operationalized, extended, and, at times, fragmented core psychological constructs. International collaboration is evident (23.79% international co-authorship), with influential research hubs bridging multiple regions. While the field demonstrates strong conceptual organization grounded in occupational health psychology, intersections between organizational and systemic factors and individual psychological resources remain comparatively underexplored. Findings highlight the need for multi-level, psychologically informed approaches that integrate contextual working conditions with individual protective processes to advance theory-driven research and intervention in teacher mental health.