An empirical study of digital competence, technostress, and job satisfaction among college physical education teachers in China.

With the continuous deepening of the digital transformation of higher education, college physical education teachers in China are increasingly integrating digital technologies into their teaching practice. However, the explanatory pathways through which digital competence is associated with job satisfaction in digitally mediated work contexts remain insufficiently understood. This study, grounded in the job demands-resources (JD-R) model, examines how facilitating conditions, behavioral intention, teaching self-efficacy, and technostress are linked to job satisfaction through the mediation of digital competence. Using cross-sectional survey data from 523 physical education teachers across 10 Chinese universities, the hypothesized relationships were tested through partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results indicate that facilitating conditions, behavioral intention, and teaching self-efficacy positively predict digital competence and job satisfaction, while digital competence mediates their relationships with job satisfaction. Technostress, in contrast, negatively predicts job satisfaction and weakens the positive effect of digital competence on job satisfaction. The findings suggest that digital competence plays an important role in shaping job satisfaction among college physical education teachers, while technostress acts as a constraining factor in this process. This study offers theoretical and practical insights into the digital transformation of college physical education teachers.