Workplace Stress and Mental Wellbeing Among Educational Psychologists in Nigerian Federal Universities

This study investigates workplace stress and mental wellbeing among educational and developmental psychologists working in federal universities across Nigeria. The professional community of educational psychologists in Nigerian higher education faces increasing service demands, large student caseloads, inadequate remuneration, and limited professional peer support, creating conditions conducive to occupational stress and burnout. This research employed a descriptive cross-sectional survey design involving 185 educational psychologists from 20 federal universities across five geopolitical zones, selected through total population sampling. Workplace stress was assessed using the Occupational Stress Indicator, mental wellbeing with the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale, and professional burnout using the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey. ANOVA by geopolitical zone and multiple regression analyses were applied. Results indicate that 38 percent of respondents reported high emotional exhaustion, with workload and role ambiguity as the strongest occupational stress predictors. Psychologists in universities with fewer than two counsellors per 5,000 students showed significantly higher burnout scores. Mental wellbeing scores were positively predicted by supervisor support, professional development opportunities, and peer consultation access. The study recommends that the National Universities Commission establish mandatory staffing ratios for psychological services in federal universities and that professional bodies develop structured peer supervision frameworks for practitioners. Keywords: workplace stress, mental wellbeing, educational psychologists, federal universities, burnout.