AUTHOR=Zeng Suizhi , Liu Zhijun , Wang Chao 
  
TITLE=How perceived organizational support is associated with thriving at work: the chain-mediating roles of professional competence and psychological empowerment among mental health teachers
  
JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology
  
VOLUME=Volume 17 - 2026
  
YEAR=2026
  
URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1820283
  
DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1820283
  
ISSN=1664-1078
  
ABSTRACT=PurposeThe research investigated the correlation between perceived organizational support and thriving at work among mental health teachers, emphasizing the mediating effects of professional competence and psychological empowerment.MethodsA cross-sectional design was used to gather data from 323 mental health teachers via the Perceived Organizational Support Questionnaire, the Professional Competence Questionnaire for Mental Health Teachers, the Psychological Empowerment Scale, and the Thriving at Work Scale. Path analysis and the bootstrap method were applied to examine the relationships and mediating effects among the variables.ResultsThe findings demonstrated that perceived organizational support positively predicted thriving at work; additionally, both professional competence and psychological empowerment acted as simple mediators and serially mediated the relationship between perceived organizational support and thriving at work.DiscussionThe study elucidates the internal mechanism by which perceived organizational support is associated with thriving at work, thereby filling a research gap related to mental health teachers, establishing a theoretical and empirical basis for future investigations, and providing actionable recommendations for school administrators to support thriving at work among mental health teachers.