Greek teachers' resilience levels during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and its association with attitudes towards emergency remote teaching and perceived stress

The impact of self-efficacy on the well-being of primary school teachers: a Greek-Cypriot study

Introduction

This research was conducted to examine the extent to which teachers' self-efficacy affects their well-being following the COVID-19 pandemic. The originality of the research lies in the fact that there are not enough studies that simultaneously examine the relationship between well-being and self-efficacy in primary school teachers in Greece and Cyprus.

Methods

A total of 258 primary school teacher participants took part in this study, aged 23-62. The Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale and the PERMA Profiler questionnaire were used to study the relationship between teachers' well-being and self-efficacy.

Results

Results show that after the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers' well-being is moderate to high. Moreover, teachers' self- efficacy is also high and related to their well-being.

Discussion

An important finding from the current research is that teachers' self-efficacy in promoting student engagement was the most important predictor for teachers' well-being. The implications of the results are discussed, and recommendations are made.

Sociodemographic and work-related differences in teachers' attitude towards and perceived stress from emergency remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic

The aim was to investigate the attitude towards and perceived stress from emergency remote teaching (ERT) among teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. A Germany-wide online survey was conducted among teachers from all school types in March 2021. Data from 31,089 teachers entered analysis. ANOVAs or Welch's t-tests with post-hoc analyses were performed to determine sociodemographic and work-related group differences in teachers' attitude towards and perceived stress from ERT. The mean attitude towards ERT was 3.47 (± .84) out of 5 and the mean perceived stress was 5.03 (± .62) out of 6. Regarding the attitude towards ERT, we revealed significant differences for gender, age groups, number of children, occupational group, school management membership, and employment status (p < .05). Regarding perceived stress, significant differences were obtained for gender, age groups, and employment status (p < .05). A more positive attitude towards ERT seems to be associated with lower stress levels. Being female, a higher age, a higher number of children living in the own household as well as working full-time might hinder an effective implementation of remote teaching in school settings in Germany. Policy-makers and schools should think of strategies to improve the attitude towards and decrease perceived stress from remote teaching. This could include subgroup-specific training on the use of digital media, adapted to the work environment.

The Relationship between Quality of Life and Physical Exercise with Depression and Perceived Stress during the Second COVID-19 Lockdown in Greece

Anxiety, depression, and psychological stress were the most common mental health issues that surfaced during and after the COVID-19 lockdowns. The aim of this paper is to investigate the psychological impact of the second COVID-19 lockdown on the Greek population. A cross-sectional anonymous study was designed, which measured perceived stress, depression symptoms, physical activity, and quality of life. The sample was collected during the period of the second lockdown and consisted of 330 adult individuals (219 females and 111 males) with a mean age of 34.3 years, who were located in Greece. Four scales were applied to measure the constructs, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-14), Beck’s Depression Inventory (BDI), Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF), and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). The main findings suggest that depression and perceived stress were more prevalent during the second lockdown compared to previous time periods. The psychological impact was elevated for women and younger individuals. Unemployed people dealt with more stress compared to full-time working individuals. The two quality-of-life domains, physical and psychological health, were negatively correlated with perceived stress and depression. We suggest targeted interventions in order to support the most vulnerable groups and enhance their well-being.

Resilience in Teachers: Validation of the Spanish Version of the CD-RISC10© Scale in Early Childhood, Primary and Special Education Teachers

Schools are a fundamental context for processes of promotion and generation of resilience, since they focus not only on aspects of academic development, but also of personal and social development. Resilience in the teacher has a dual function. On the one hand, as resilient professionals, teachers can foster the development of resilience in their students; on the other hand, teaching resilience facilitates their own personal and professional well-being. Despite research highlighting the benefits of resilience in education, there is scarce research focused on assessing resilience in teachers. Thus, the aim of this paper is to analyze the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of Connor and Davidson's 10-item resilience scale (CD-RISC 10©) in a sample of 290 teachers. A confirmatory factorial analysis (CFA) is performed, which shows that the 10 items on the CD-RISC 10© Resilience Scale form a one-dimensional structure, with high reliability, McDonald's Omega coefficient (ω = 0.80) and Cronbach's alpha coefficient (α = 0.87). The results obtained in this work support the use of the scale for the assessment of resilience in teachers of Infant, Primary and Special Education, which is considered very useful, not only to know their degree of resilience, but also to assess the effectiveness of training programs.