Work Stress and Life Satisfaction Among Educational Counselors in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq the Mediating Role of Resilience and Life Orientation

Aims: Occupational stress represents a significant challenge for educational counselors, with potential implications for both their personal well-being and professional efficacy. This investigation seeks to examine the mediating roles of psychological resilience and life orientation in the relationship between work-related stress and life satisfaction among educational counselors in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Methods: The study sample comprised 300 educational counselors (105 male, 195 female) recruited from three governorates: Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, and Duhok. Data were collected using validated instruments with established psychometric properties (reliability and validity) for assessing the constructs of interest. Analytical procedures included correlation analysis, regression modeling, and path analysis to test the hypothesized mediation model. Results: Findings revealed a significant negative association between work-related stress and life satisfaction (β = −0.14). Conversely, psychological resilience and life orientation demonstrated positive relationships with life satisfaction (β = +0.21 and β = +0.23, respectively), while also showing inverse associations with perceived occupational stress. Notably, a modest positive correlation emerged between perceived workload intensity and life satisfaction, suggesting that optimally challenging work demands may contribute positively to overall well-being. The final structural equation model demonstrated satisfactory fit indices, confirming that resilience and life orientation partially mediate the relationship between occupational stressors and life satisfaction. Conclusions: These findings extend the existing literature on occupational well-being and provide empirical support for targeted interventions aimed at promoting psychological resilience and adaptive cognitive frameworks within educational settings. Practical implications include recommendations for fostering supportive professional environments that enhance counselor well-being and, by extension, the quality of mentoring and educational support in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.