Associations Between Physical Activity, Body Image Satisfaction, and Burnout Symptoms in Primary and Secondary School Teachers: A Sex-Based Analysis

1. Introduction

The teaching profession has undergone substantial transformation in recent decades, with increasing demands extending beyond traditional instructional responsibilities. Teachers are now required to manage complex classroom environments characterized by behavioural challenges, cultural diversity, and heightened socio-emotional needs among students, alongside growing administrative workload and accountability pressures [1,2]. These increasing and multifaceted demands contribute to elevated occupational stress, with large-scale evidence indicating that teachers consistently report high levels of stress and psychological strain across educational systems [3]. Meta-analytic findings further suggest that burnout symptoms are prevalent within the profession and are systematically associated with workload, emotional demands, and classroom-related stressors [4]. Collectively, this evidence identifies teaching as a high-risk profession for adverse mental health outcomes, underscoring the need to better understand factors that contribute to psychological vulnerability in this population.

Burnout is conceptualized as a psychological syndrome arising from chronic exposure to occupational stressors, classically characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a reduced sense of personal accomplishment [5,6]. Contemporary theoretical models, particularly the Job Demands-Resources framework, suggest that burnout develops when job demands such as workload, emotional strain, and classroom management challenges chronically exceed the individual’s available psychological and organizational resources [7]. Within educational settings, this imbalance is especially pronounced, as teachers are routinely exposed to sustained emotional and cognitive demands, which have been consistently linked to elevated levels of emotional exhaustion and burnout symptoms [2,8]. At a population level, meta-analytic evidence confirms that burnout is prevalent among teachers and is associated with adverse outcomes including reduced job satisfaction, increased turnover intentions, and diminished instructional quality [4]. Moreover, burnout has been linked to a broad range of psychological and physical health impairments, reinforcing its characterization as a multidimensional occupational health concern [9]. Importantly, the Job Demands–Resources framework also recognizes that personal resources can buffer the negative effects of job demands by enhancing individuals’ capacity to cope with stress and maintain psychological well-being [7]. Consequently, individual characteristics and health-related behaviours may contribute to explaining differences in burnout symptoms among teachers exposed to similar occupational demands.

Body image has also been increasingly recognized as a relevant construct within the broader framework of psychological well-being. However, its role in occupational contexts, particularly in relation to burnout, remains less clearly established. Conceptually, body image encompasses individuals’ perceptions, attitudes, and affective responses toward their own bodies, reflecting a multidimensional self-representational system with cognitive, emotional, and behavioral components [10]. Negative body image has been consistently associated with adverse mental health outcomes, including elevated stress, anxiety, and depressive symptomatology, suggesting that negative body-related self-evaluations may function as a chronic psychological stressor [11,12]. Although these associations are well documented in general populations, evidence linking body image specifically to occupational stress and burnout remains limited. Nevertheless, it is plausible that individuals experiencing greater body dissatisfaction may also exhibit lower self-esteem, reduced psychological well-being, and diminished coping resources, factors that have been associated with greater vulnerability to occupational stress and burnout [10,11,12]. Thus, body image may represent an individual psychosocial characteristic potentially associated with the way professionals perceive and respond to work-related demands.

In this context, teachers’ psychological well-being plays a critical role not only in their own functioning but also in shaping classroom climate, student development, and overall educational quality [13,14]. Understanding whether body image is associated with burnout in teachers may therefore contribute to a broader understanding of the individual characteristics related to occupational well-being in this population. Notably, body image is closely linked to health-related behaviours, including physical activity and lifestyle patterns, which are themselves associated with stress regulation and psychological resilience [15].

Physical activity has consistently been recognized as an important correlate of physical and psychological health, with robust evidence linking higher levels of activity to reduced stress, improved emotional regulation, and enhanced overall well-being [16,17]. Within the framework of occupational stress, physical activity may strengthen an individual’s capacity to cope with job demands and mitigate the impact of stressors on burnout-related outcomes. Empirical findings indicate that individuals who engage in regular physical activity report lower levels of emotional exhaustion and burnout symptoms, supporting its protective role in high-demand professions [17]. In addition to its direct effects, physical activity is closely associated with body image, with higher levels of engagement linked to more positive body-related perceptions, improved self-esteem, and greater body satisfaction [15]. However, some evidence suggests that engagement in physical activity may also be driven by body dissatisfaction, indicating a complex and potentially bidirectional relationship between these variables [15]. Taken together, these findings suggest that physical activity, body image, and burnout represent interconnected constructs rather than independent phenomena. Regular physical activity has consistently been associated with psychological well-being, whereas body image has been linked to broader indicators of mental health [15,16,17]. Accordingly, body image may represent an important psychosocial factor in the relationship between physical activity and burnout. However, empirical evidence simultaneously examining these three constructs remains scarce, particularly among teachers, limiting the understanding of their independent and combined associations.

Evidence also suggests that sex may influence the relationships among physical activity, body image, and burnout. Although previous findings are not entirely consistent, women generally report lower levels of physical activity [18], greater body image dissatisfaction [19], and higher levels of emotional exhaustion [20] than men. These differences justify examining sex as a potential moderator of the associations investigated in the present study. Despite the growing body of research on occupational stress in teachers, few studies have simultaneously examined physical activity and body image as potential correlates of the different dimensions of burnout within a teacher population. Consequently, it remains unclear whether these variables are independently or jointly associated with burnout symptoms and whether these associations differ according to sex. Addressing this gap is essential for advancing a more integrated understanding of teacher well-being and for identifying potentially modifiable factors associated with burnout. Such evidence may also contribute to the development of strategies aimed at promoting teacher well-being within educational settings, while acknowledging that burnout is a multifactorial phenomenon influenced by both individual and occupational factors. Therefore, the present study aimed to examine the associations between physical activity, body image satisfaction, and burnout symptoms in teachers. Specifically, this study aims to: (i) examine the associations between physical activity, body image, and burnout dimensions; and (ii) test whether these associations are moderated by sex. Based on the existing literature and the theoretical framework described above, the following hypotheses were proposed:

H1. Higher levels of physical activity are associated with lower burnout symptoms, specifically lower emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, and higher personal accomplishment.

H2. Greater body image dissatisfaction is associated with higher burnout symptoms.

H3. The association between moderate physical activity and burnout dimensions may differ according to sex.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Study Design and Participants

This study employed a cross-sectional observational design based on the secondary analysis of data collected as part of a broader research project involving teachers from primary and secondary schools in the Setúbal district, Portugal. The present study represents a secondary analysis designed to address research questions that differed from those of the original Master’s projects while using the same standardized dataset. Data collection was conducted during the 2024–2025 academic year by two Master’s students in different schools using an identical study protocol, the same eligibility criteria, and the same online questionnaire administered through Google Forms questionnaire.

Following data collection, the records collected by the two Master’s students (n = 116 and n = 73) were merged into a single analytical database. Their integration was considered methodologically appropriate because both datasets originated from the same research project, were collected during the same study period under a single ethical approval, and followed identical recruitment procedures, assessment instruments, and data collection protocols. As participants were recruited from different schools, no participant was included in both datasets.

The final sample comprised teachers from both grouped and non-grouped primary and secondary schools, providing a heterogeneous and contextually diverse sample. Participants were eligible for inclusion if they: (i) were actively employed as teachers in primary or secondary education; and (ii) had completed all study measures.

All procedures were conducted in accordance with the ethical principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Ethical approval for the project was granted by the Institutional Ethics Committee of Instituto Piaget (approval code: P02-S09-27042022). Data collection was carried out between September 2024 and June 2025. All participants provided written informed consent prior to participation, and all data were anonymized before analysis to ensure confidentiality.

2.2. Data Collection Procedures

Data were collected using structured self-report questionnaires administered through Google Forms during the 2024–2025 academic year. Data collection was coordinated by two Master’s students who followed an identical standardized protocol across all participating schools. Before completing the questionnaires, participants received standardized information regarding the study objectives, procedures, and their rights as participants, including the voluntary nature of participation and the assurance of anonymity and confidentiality. Sociodemographic information, including age, sex, and years of service, was collected to characterize the sample and included as covariates in the statistical analyses. No incentives were offered for participation. Questionnaire responses were collected anonymously through the online platform and exported to a secure database for subsequent analysis. The same questionnaire, variable coding procedures, and data management protocol were applied to both datasets before they were merged for the secondary analyses.

A total of 189 teachers completed the online questionnaire. As all questions in the Google Forms survey were mandatory and data collection was supervised by the research team to ensure correct completion, no missing data were observed and no participants were excluded from the analyses. Consequently, the final analytical sample comprised all 189 participants.

2.3. Measures

2.3.1. Burnout

The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) is a psychometric instrument developed by Maslach et al., 1981 [5], designed to assess burnout in professionals working in human service occupations. It consists of 22 items distributed across three main dimensions: Emotional Exhaustion (EE), Depersonalization (DP), and Personal Accomplishment (PA). Emotional Exhaustion assesses feelings of emotional overload and fatigue caused by work. Depersonalization measures impersonal and negative attitudes toward recipients of one’s services. Personal Accomplishment reflects the sense of competence and achievement at work. Each item is rated on a scale from 0 to 6, representing how frequently the individual experiences each feeling, ranging from “never” to “every day.” The instrument is self-administered and widely used across professional contexts. The MBI has demonstrated adequate psychometric properties in Portuguese populations, supporting its use for assessing burnout dimensions in occupational settings [21]. Interpretation of the results considers that Emotional Exhaustion and Depersonalization indicate higher levels of burnout when scores are high, whereas Personal Accomplishment indicates higher levels of burnout when scores are low.

2.3.2. Body Image

The Body Image questionnaire, the Figure Rating Scale, developed by Stunkard et al., 1983 [22], is a widely used instrument for assessing an individual’s perception of body image, that is, how a person sees and interprets their own body. The Figure Rating Scale is supported by evidence of adequate reliability and validity for assessing perceived body image and body dissatisfaction and is widely used in epidemiological and psychological research [23]. This instrument is particularly useful in clinical and research contexts, especially in the fields of psychology, nutrition, public health, and physical education, serving as a simple yet effective tool for identifying discrepancies between perceived body image and ideal body image. The Figure Rating Scale consists of a set of nine drawn silhouettes representing human bodies of both sexes, progressively ranging from very thin to very obese. These figures do not include facial features or other elements that might distract the participant, focusing exclusively on body shape and volume. There are distinct versions for men and women, reflecting typical differences in body morphology between the sexes. The scale is administered in a very straightforward way: participants are asked to look at the nine silhouettes and select two of them. Body image dissatisfaction was calculated as the directional difference between the perceived and ideal body image scores, following the recommended scoring procedure for the Figure Rating Scale. A score of zero indicated body image satisfaction, negative values (-1 and -2) indicated dissatisfaction related to the desire to have a larger body size, and positive values (+1 to +4) indicated dissatisfaction related to the desire to have a thinner body size. Accordingly, the analyses were based on directional rather than absolute score differences, allowing the distinction between the direction of body image dissatisfaction. For descriptive analyses, participants were classified into three categories: body image satisfaction (score = 0), dissatisfaction related to the desire for a larger body size (negative scores), and dissatisfaction related to the desire for a thinner body size (positive scores). For the logistic regression analyses, body image was subsequently dichotomised into “satisfied” (score = 0) and “dissatisfied” (any non-zero score), irrespective of the direction of dissatisfaction. The “satisfied” category was used as the reference group in the regression models.

2.3.3. Physical Activity

Habitual physical activity was assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form (IPAQ-SF), originally developed by Craig et al. (2003) [24] and subsequently validated for the Portuguese population by Pais-Ribeiro et al. (2005) [25]. The Portuguese version of the IPAQ-SF has demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties, including adequate validity and reliability for assessing habitual physical activity in adults [25]. Although the IPAQ-SF allows the estimation of total physical activity expressed as MET-min/week, for the purposes of the present secondary analysis, vigorous physical activity, moderate physical activity, and walking were coded as binary variables indicating whether participants reported performing each activity during the previous seven days (0 = no participation; 1 = any reported participation). These binary variables were used in all subsequent descriptive and regression analyses..

2.4. Statistical Analysis

Because the present study was based on a secondary analysis, the sample size was determined by the number of eligible participants available in the original datasets. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to estimate the smallest effects detectable with the available sample of 189 participants, assuming α = 0.05 and 80% statistical power. For the multiple linear regression models with seven predictors, the minimum detectable effect size was f² = 0.079. For the moderation analyses, considering one interaction term tested within a model containing five predictors, the minimum detectable incremental effect size was f² = 0.042.

Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS (version 23, IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). Descriptive statistics (means, standard deviations, and frequencies) were calculated to characterize the sample. Pearson correlation coefficients were computed among the continuous study variables as a preliminary assessment of bivariate associations and potential multicollinearity prior to the regression analyses. Independent samples t-tests and chi-square tests were used to assess differences between men and women for continuous and categorical variables, respectively. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to examine the associations between physical activity variables (vigorous, moderate, and walking), body image, and burnout dimensions (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment), adjusting for age, sex, and years of service. Sex was retained as an adjustment variable in all multivariable models based on its theoretical relevance as a potential confounder and because it was also examined as a moderator of the associations between physical activity and burnout outcomes.

Logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess factors associated with body image dissatisfaction, using a dichotomized body image variable (0 = satisfied [reference category]; 1 = dissatisfied, including both perceived underweight and perceived overweight). Moderation analyses were performed using the PROCESS macro for SPSS (Model 1) to examine whether sex moderated the association between moderate physical activity and burnout dimensions, in accordance with the study hypothesis. Sex was examined as a moderator because one of the study objectives was to determine whether these associations differed between men and women, rather than to assess mean differences between sexes. Prior to model interpretation, the assumptions of the regression analyses were evaluated. Normality was assessed using skewness and kurtosis values, multicollinearity was examined using variance inflation factors (VIF), and homoscedasticity and residual diagnostics were evaluated through inspection of residuals and the Breusch–Pagan test. No relevant violations of the regression assumptions were identified. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05, and effect sizes were interpreted where appropriate.

3. Results

3.1. Sample Characteristics

The characteristics of the sample (n = 189) are presented in Table 1. Skewness and kurtosis values indicated acceptable univariate normality for all continuous variables (skewness ranging from −0.782 to 0.815 and kurtosis from −0.918 to 0.993), supporting the use of parametric analyses. No significant sex differences were observed for age, years of service, depersonalization, personal accomplishment, body image, or physical activity variables (p > 0.05). A marginal difference was observed for emotional exhaustion (p = 0.050), with higher values in women. Regarding body image, most participants reported dissatisfaction related to the desire to be thinner (68.3%), whereas 26.5% were satisfied and 5.3% reported dissatisfaction related to the desire to be larger. No significant sex differences were observed for age, years of service, depersonalization, personal accomplishment, body image, or any physical activity variable (all p > 0.05).

Legend: BI = Body Image; PA = Physical Activity.

3.2. Associations Between Physical Activity, Body Image, and Burnout

Preliminary Pearson correlation analyses among the continuous variables revealed generally weak correlations. As expected, age and years of service were strongly and positively correlated (r = 0.858, p < 0.001). Among the study outcome variables, the strongest association was observed between emotional exhaustion and depersonalization (r = 0.439, p < 0.001), while the remaining correlations were weak and not statistically significant. Despite the strong correlation between age and years of service, collinearity diagnostics (VIF range: 1.04–3.90) indicated no evidence of problematic multicollinearity among the predictors included in the regression models.

3.2.1. Multiple Linear Regression Analyses

The results of the multiple linear regression models are presented in Table 2. The model predicting emotional exhaustion was not statistically significant (F (7,181) = 1.295, p = 0.255; R² = 0.048). Although sex showed a borderline association with emotional exhaustion (β = −0.147, p = 0.050), this finding should be interpreted with caution because the overall model was not statistically significant.

Similarly, the model predicting depersonalization was not statistically significant (F (7,181) = 1.491, p = 0.173; R² = 0.055). Nevertheless, moderate physical activity was negatively associated with depersonalization (β = −0.180, p = 0.022), although this association should also be interpreted cautiously given the lack of significance of the overall model.

In contrast, the model predicting personal accomplishment was statistically significant (F (7,181) = 2.639, p = 0.013; R² = 0.093), explaining 9.3% of the variance. Both years of service (β = 0.373, p = 0.008) and moderate physical activity (β = 0.186, p = 0.015) were positively associated with personal accomplishment.

Overall, moderate physical activity was associated with lower depersonalization and higher personal accomplishment, whereas no significant associations were observed for vigorous physical activity, walking, or body image.

3.2.2. Logistic Regression Analysis (Body Image)

The logistic regression model examining factors associated with body image dissatisfaction was not statistically significant (χ²(6) = 7.688, p = 0.262), accounting for 11.8% of the variance (Nagelkerke R² = 0.118). The Hosmer–Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test indicated an adequate model fit (χ² = 13.610, p = 0.093).

Although the overall model was not statistically significant, a borderline association was observed between moderate physical activity and body image dissatisfaction (OR = 4.467, 95% CI: 1.001–19.937, p = 0.050). Given the borderline statistical significance, the wide confidence interval, and the lack of statistical significance of the overall model, this finding should be interpreted with caution. Similarly, years of service was positively associated with body image dissatisfaction (OR = 1.103, 95% CI: 1.004–1.212, p = 0.042); however, this association should also be interpreted cautiously within the context of the non-significant overall model. No significant associations were observed for vigorous physical activity, walking, age, or sex (Table 3).

3.2.3. Moderation Analyses

Moderation analyses focused on the interaction between moderate physical activity and sex. No significant interaction effects were observed for any of the burnout dimensions, indicating that sex did not significantly moderate the association between moderate physical activity and burnout dimensions (Table 4).

For personal accomplishment, the interaction between moderate physical activity and sex was not statistically significant (B = 3.308, p = 0.109; ΔR² = 0.013). Although years of service remained a significant positive predictor (B = 0.165, p = 0.014), neither moderate physical activity nor sex showed significant main effects.

Similarly, no significant interaction effect was observed for depersonalization (B = -0.242, p = 0.868; ΔR² < 0.001). Moderate physical activity showed a significant main effect (B = -1.557, p = 0.030), suggesting lower depersonalization scores among participants reporting moderate physical activity. However, this finding should be interpreted with caution because the interaction effect was not significant and the overall model did not reach statistical significance.

For emotional exhaustion, neither the interaction between moderate physical activity and sex (B = 0.092, p = 0.982; ΔR² < 0.001) nor the main effects of moderate physical activity, sex, age, or years of service were statistically significant.

Overall, these findings indicate that the associations between moderate physical activity and the burnout dimensions were consistent across sexes and were not moderated by sex.

Overall, these findings indicate that the associations between moderate physical activity and burnout outcomes are consistent across sexes and are not moderated by sex. Accordingly, H1 was partially supported, as moderate physical activity showed significant associations with lower depersonalization and higher personal accomplishment, but not with emotional exhaustion. However, these findings should be interpreted in light of the non-significant overall regression model for depersonalization. H2 was not supported, as body image dissatisfaction was not significantly associated with any burnout dimension. Likewise, H3 was not supported, as no significant moderating effect of sex was observed.

4. Discussion

The present study examined the associations between physical activity, body image, and burnout symptoms in teachers, as well as the potential moderating role of sex. Overall, the findings provided partial support for H1, indicating that moderate physical activity was associated with lower depersonalization and higher personal accomplishment, but not with emotional exhaustion. In contrast, H2 and H3 were not supported, as body image dissatisfaction was not significantly associated with burnout dimensions and no moderating effect of sex was observed. One of the main findings was that moderate physical activity was associated with lower depersonalization and higher personal accomplishment, but not with emotional exhaustion. Although these associations should be interpreted in light of the non-significant overall regression model for depersonalization, these results are broadly consistent with previous literature reporting that higher levels of physical activity are associated with lower levels of certain burnout dimensions, particularly those related to professional efficacy and interpersonal functioning [16,17]. Within the Job Demands–Resources (JD–R) framework [7], physical activity may be conceptualized as a personal resource associated with greater coping capacity and psychological resilience, which may help explain the observed associations with specific burnout dimensions. The observed association with personal accomplishment suggests that teachers who engage in moderate physical activity may report greater feelings of competence and effectiveness in their professional roles, while the lower levels of depersonalization observed among physically active teachers may be related to more favourable emotional regulation and reduced psychological distancing from students [13]. However, given the cross-sectional design of the present study, these findings should be interpreted as associations rather than evidence of causal relationships.

However, the absence of a significant association between physical activity and emotional exhaustion suggests that not all burnout dimensions are equally influenced by lifestyle behaviours. Emotional exhaustion is often considered the core component of burnout and is more strongly linked to chronic job demands such as workload, time pressure, and emotional labour [2,6]. Therefore, it is possible that structural and organizational factors play a more prominent role in explaining this dimension, limiting the extent to which individual-level behaviours such as physical activity are associated with this dimension of burnout. This finding highlights that both individual lifestyle-related characteristics and organizational factors should be considered when investigating burnout among teachers. Contrary to expectations, body image was not significantly associated with any burnout dimension. Although body image has been linked to broader indicators of psychological well-being, including stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms [11,12], its role in occupational burnout remains unclear. The present findings suggest that, within a professional context such as teaching, body image may not represent a central determinant of burnout. This may be explained by the fact that burnout is primarily driven by work-related stressors [7], whereas body image is a more general psychosocial construct that may exert indirect rather than direct effects. Additionally, the relatively homogeneous profile of the sample (e.g., age and professional experience) may have attenuated variability in body image perceptions, limiting its explanatory power. It is also possible that the measurement approach used to assess body image may not have fully captured its multidimensional nature, potentially contributing to the lack of observed associations.

Interestingly, the logistic regression analysis indicated that moderate physical activity was associated with higher odds of body image dissatisfaction. However, given the borderline statistical significance (p = 0.050), the wide confidence interval, and the non-significant overall regression model, this finding should be interpreted with considerable caution and should be regarded as exploratory rather than conclusive. This result appears counterintuitive given the well-established positive association between physical activity and body image [15]. One possible explanation is that individuals who are dissatisfied with their bodies may be more likely to engage in physical activity as a compensatory behaviour, rather than physical activity leading to dissatisfaction. This interpretation is consistent with evidence suggesting a complex and potentially bidirectional relationship between these variables [15], highlighting the need for longitudinal research to disentangle the directionality of these associations. This finding also underscores the importance of considering motivational factors underlying physical activity engagement, which may differ across individuals. Another relevant finding was that years of service were positively associated with body image dissatisfaction, suggesting that more experienced teachers may report greater discrepancies between perceived and ideal body image. This may reflect age-related changes in body composition or shifting personal expectations over time, which have been previously associated with body image perceptions across adulthood [10]. However, further research is needed to better understand this association.

Regarding sex differences, the results showed that sex did not moderate the relationship between physical activity and burnout, indicating that the observed associations were consistent across men and women. This finding contrasts with some previous studies suggesting sex-based differences in burnout and health behaviours [18,20] but aligns with more recent evidence indicating that the mechanisms linking physical activity to psychological outcomes may be broadly similar across sexes [17]. The absence of statistically significant moderation effects suggests that the observed associations between moderate physical activity and burnout dimensions were similar in men and women. Nevertheless, these findings should be confirmed in longitudinal studies before any conclusions regarding intervention strategies can be drawn. Despite these contributions, several limitations should be acknowledged. First, the cross-sectional design precludes causal inferences; therefore, the observed associations should not be interpreted as evidence that physical activity influences or reduces burnout symptoms. Second, all variables were assessed using self-report measures, which may be subject to reporting bias. In particular, physical activity was assessed using the IPAQ-SF, which relies on participants’ recall of activities performed during the previous seven days and may therefore be affected by recall bias. Furthermore, because all study variables were obtained using self-reported questionnaires, the possibility of common method bias cannot be excluded. Third, although the regression models were adjusted for age, sex, and years of service, other potentially important occupational and health-related variables, such as teaching workload, weekly working hours, school characteristics, chronic diseases, body mass index, sleep quality, and psychological disorders, were not available in the original datasets and therefore could not be included in the analyses. Consequently, the possibility of residual confounding cannot be excluded. Fourth, although some individual predictors reached statistical significance, several regression models were not statistically significant overall and explained only a small proportion of the variance. Furthermore, multiple statistical models were performed, and no formal adjustment for multiple comparisons was applied, as the analyses were hypothesis-driven. Therefore, statistically significant findings, particularly those with borderline p-values, should be interpreted with caution and considered exploratory until confirmed by future studies. Although the available sample was sufficient to detect small-to-moderate effects in the linear regression models, it may have been underpowered to detect very small effects, particularly in the moderation analyses. Moreover, the wide confidence interval observed for the odds ratio in the logistic regression indicates limited precision of this estimate and should therefore be interpreted with caution. Fifth, as participation was voluntary, the possibility of selection bias cannot be excluded. In addition, participants were recruited exclusively from schools in the Setúbal district, Portugal, which may limit the external validity and generalizability of the findings. Finally, the relatively low explained variance observed in some models suggests that additional organizational and psychosocial factors should be considered in future research [4,7]. Future studies should adopt longitudinal designs, incorporate objective measures of physical activity, include a broader range of occupational and health-related variables, and recruit more geographically diverse samples to strengthen causal inference and improve the explanatory capacity of the models

5. Conclusions

In conclusion, the present study suggests that moderate physical activity is associated with specific burnout-related outcomes in teachers, specifically lower depersonalization and higher personal accomplishment, while no significant association was observed for emotional exhaustion. These findings suggest that physical activity may represent a relevant, although not sufficient factor in promoting occupational well-being among teachers.

In contrast, body image did not emerge as a significant predictor of burnout, suggesting that its role in this context may be limited or indirect, and potentially mediated by other psychosocial factors. The absence of sex differences further indicates that the relationships between physical activity and burnout are consistent across men and women.

Overall, these findings support a multidimensional perspective of teacher well-being, in which individual lifestyle behaviours such as physical activity complement, but do not replace, the influence of structural and organizational determinants. Although these findings should not be interpreted as evidence of causality, promoting moderate physical activity may represent a feasible and accessible strategy to enhance certain aspects of teacher well-being. However, comprehensive interventions that address both individual-level behaviours and workplace-level conditions are likely necessary to effectively reduce burnout in this population. Future research should further explore these relationships using longitudinal designs to better understand causal pathways.