Stress Overload: A Mixed-Methods, Single-Case Exploration of a Principal’s Stress Accumulation, Sleep, and Well-Being over a School Year

Work-related stress and well-being in school leaders is an increasing concern in education. This paper explores how stress accumulates in a principal’s practice over time, challenging the assumption that stress is static or uniformly experienced. We conducted a single-case, mixed-methods study and collected quantitative data on sleep quality, mental health, health behaviors, and leadership self-efficacy along with qualitative data from four semi-structured interviews and two observations with a single principal. Our findings show that while work-stress was manageable, and even positive at times, increasing workload and systemic challenges led to an accumulation of stress that negatively affected Mary’s overall health and leadership self-efficacy. Her appraisal of work-stress was influenced by factors such as control, agency, complexity of the stressor, and alignment with job expectations. We recommend that principal preparation programs include education on stress management, health, and leadership sustainability, and we call attention to school districts and their role in supporting principals under increasingly complex and uncertain conditions.