In the context of the increasing digitization of education, online teachers’ competence and the affective factors of digital competence, psychological resilience, and self-efficacy have become prominent areas of academic inquiry. However, there is a dearth of extant research addressing the interactions between these variables in an online teaching Chinese as a foreign language (TCFL) environment. This study investigated the relationships among the digital competence, psychological resilience, and self-efficacy of online TCFL teachers via quantitative research methods. The questionnaires were administered to 610 online TCFL teachers, and the data were analyzed via structural equation modeling. The results indicate that digital competence and psychological resilience can significantly predict online teachers’ self-efficacy, and that the relationship between psychological resilience and self-efficacy can be significantly moderated by digital competence. This finding not only provides novel perspectives and insights for enhancing online teaching effectiveness, particularly in the domain of online foreign language instruction, but also complements and extends self-efficacy theory from the perspective of social cognitive theory.

As online K-12 language teaching grows, teachers’ self-efficacy is critical but its factors in digital settings remain unclear. This study addresses this gap by examining the self-efficacy levels and influencing factors among online K-12 Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) teachers. Using a mixed-methods approach with data from 610 questionnaires and 13 interviews, results indicated generally high teachers’ self-efficacy. Key internal factors include gender, age, educational background, major, and teaching experience, while external environmental factors such as class size, platform support, training, and parental involvement also play a significant role. However, job status and weekly class hours did not show a significant impact. This study extends self-efficacy theory into the online CFL context and offers practical implications for digital pedagogy, platform design, and teacher training.