School teachers: the forgotten frontline workers of Covid-19

Mechanisms Explaining the Longitudinal Effect of Psychosocial Safety Climate on Work Engagement and Emotional Exhaustion among Education and Healthcare Professionals during the COVID-19 Pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the education and healthcare sectors were severely affected. There is a need to investigate the ways in which these workers in at-risk sectors can be protected and through what mechanisms. The aims of this research are, therefore, (1) to assess the mediating role of job demands and resources in the relationship between psychosocial safety climate (PSC) and work engagement and emotional exhaustion, and (2) to test for sector-specific differences among education and healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the study, which employed a longitudinal design including three measurement times, 70 education professionals and 69 healthcare professionals completed a questionnaire measuring PSC, psychological demands, social support, recognition, work engagement, and emotional exhaustion. The results show that PSC was significantly higher among education professionals than among healthcare professionals. When considering both job sectors together, mediation analyses show that social support mediates the PSC-work engagement relationship, while psychological demands mediate the PSC-emotional exhaustion relationship. Moderated mediation analyses show that job sector is a moderator: among education professionals, colleague support and recognition mediate the PSC-work engagement relationship, and psychological demands mediate the PSC-emotional exhaustion relationship. PSC is associated with more balanced job demands and resources, higher work engagement, and lower emotional exhaustion among education and healthcare professionals. The study of these two sectors, which are both vital to society but also more exposed to adverse work conditions, shows the importance that managers and executives must attach to their mental health by improving their respective working conditions.

Who works on the 'frontline'? comparing constructions of 'frontline' work before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

This article provides a comparative analysis of how frontline workers were constructed by the UK media prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK. Both the News on the Web Corpus and the Coronavirus Corpus, as monitor corpora of web-based new articles, were utilised to identify changes in both the frequency and use of the word front*line from 2010 to 2021. Findings show that, following the outbreak of COVID-19, constructions of frontline work were more frequently associated with medical professions and became more figurative in nature. Our findings provide a counterpoint to claims that the COVID-19 pandemic led to an increased awareness of the critical nature of many types of 'low-skilled' work not previously recognised as essential. The study also extends previous research which has traced changes in language and its deployment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Assessing Stress and Anxiety in Firefighters During the Coronavirus Disease-2019 Pandemic: A Comparative Adaptation of the Stress and Anxiety in the Viral Epidemic-9 Items and Stress and Anxiety in the Viral Epidemics-6 Items Scales

OBJECTIVE

This study assessed the reliability and validity of the Stress and Anxiety to Viral Epidemics-9 items (SAVE-9) and Stress and Anxiety to Viral Epidemics-6 items (SAVE-6) scales for measuring viral anxiety among firefighters during the coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic.

METHODS

An online survey was conducted among 304 firefighters assigned in Gyeonggi-do. The SAVE-9 scale, initially developed for healthcare workers, was adapted for firefighters. We compared it with the SAVE-6 scale designed for the general population among the firefighters sample. The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to explore the factor structure of both scales. Internal consistency reliability was checked using Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega. Convergent validity was assessed in accordance with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 scales.

RESULTS

The SAVE-9 scale demonstrated a Cronbach alpha of 0.880, while the SAVE-6 scale yielded an alpha of 0.874. CFA indicated good model fits for both SAVE-9 and SAVE-6 scales among firefighters sample. The SAVE-9 and SAVE-6 comparably measures viral anxiety of firefighters.

CONCLUSION

Both of the SAVE-9 and SAVE-6 scales are reliable and valid instruments for assessing viral anxiety among firefighters during the pandemic.

Occupational stress of elementary school teachers after eased COVID-19 restrictions: a qualitative study from China

Background

On December 7, 2022, China optimized its virus response and significantly shifted its epidemic policy by downgrading COVID management and gradually restoring offline teaching in schools. This shift has brought many impacts on teachers.

Aims

Through qualitative research of thematic analysis, this paper studies the occupational pressure of primary school teachers in China after the shift in epidemic policy.

Methods

Two recruitment methods are adopted for this study. One was to email the principals of several primary schools in Zhejiang Province to introduce the research project and indicate the idea of recruiting participants. With their help, we have found teachers who volunteer to participate. The second was to release recruitment information in the network forum (e.g., online teacher forums) to find volunteer participants. Through semi-structured interviews and diaries, 18 primary school teachers from different regions and schools in Zhejiang Province were interviewed. All responses in the interviews were transcribed anonymously. Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis was used to analyze the participants' responses.

Results

Eighteen participants took part in the research project. Forty-five final codes, generated from 89 codes initially obtained from the dataset, are classified into five final themes: uncertainty, overburdened, neglected, worry about students, and influence, which reflect the professional stress of primary school teachers following the epidemic prevention policies relaxed.

Conclusion

Five themes were identified in the research. The problems described by the participants include burdensome offline activities, being disturbed out of hours, and appearing understaffed for the infection. These problems harmed the participants' mental health, including anxiety, fatigue, stress, and other adverse psychological conditions. Awareness and attention to the psychological situation of primary school teachers after the eased COVID control are crucial. We believe protecting teachers' mental health is necessary, especially in this particular period.

Teaching the Arts in testing times: A Western Australian perspective on COVID impacts

Expert secondary Arts teachers are highly trained specialists well versed in face-to-face individual and group teaching pedagogies. Given the highly personalised nature of Arts teaching practice, the shift to online teaching resulting from COVID-19 lockdowns presented many with challenges for which they had little or no formal training. Many teachers felt stressed, isolated and unsure about where to turn for help. As there are demonstrated links between stress and attrition, it is important to reflect upon the experiences of these teachers with the aim of developing future mitigation strategies. The research reported here synthesises the online teaching experiences of 15 expert Arts specialists in Western Australia and revealed that being a digital native was not in itself sufficient to ameliorate online teaching challenges. Rather, the study found that teachers with deep pedagogical practice knowledge and a reflexive/flexible approach fared better than those with high levels of technology familiarity. The importance of collegiality and mentoring in an online setting, along with a reappraisal of teaching priorities emerged as key findings and serve as a timely reminder of the importance of collaboration, especially in testing times.

Group early intervention eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy as a video-conference psychotherapy with frontline/emergency workers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder and moral injury-An RCT study

Objective

Frontline mental health, emergency, law enforcement, and social workers have faced unprecedented psychological distress in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of the RCT (Randomized Controls Trial) study was to investigate the effectiveness of a Group EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy (Group Traumatic Episode Protocol-GTEP) in the treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Moral Injury. The treatment focus is an early intervention, group trauma treatment, delivered remotely as video-conference psychotherapy (VCP). This early intervention used an intensive treatment delivery of 4x2h sessions over 1-week. Additionally, the group EMDR intervention utilized therapist rotation in treatment delivery.

Methods

The study's design comprised a delayed (1-month) treatment intervention (control) versus an active group. Measurements included the International Trauma Questionnaire (ITQ), Generalized Anxiety Disorder Assessment (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), Moral Injury Events Scale (MIES), and a Quality-of-Life psychometric (EQ-5D), tested at T0, T1: pre-treatment, T2: post-treatment, T3: 1-month follow-up (FU), T4: 3-month FU, and T5: 6-month FU. The Adverse Childhood Experiences - International version (ACEs), Benevolent Childhood Experience (BCEs) was ascertained at pre-treatment only. N = 85 completed the study.

Results

Results highlight a significant treatment effect within both active and control groups. Post Hoc comparisons of the ITQ demonstrated a significant difference between T1 pre (mean 36.8, SD 14.8) and T2 post (21.2, 15.1) (t11.58) = 15.68, p < 0.001). Further changes were also seen related to co-morbid factors. Post Hoc comparisons of the GAD-7 demonstrated significant difference between T1 pre (11.2, 4.91) and T2 post (6.49, 4.73) (t = 6.22) = 4.41, p < 0.001; with significant difference also with the PHQ-9 between T1 pre (11.7, 5.68) and T2 post (6.64, 5.79) (t = 6.30) = 3.95, p < 0.001, d = 0.71. The treatment effect occurred irrespective of either ACEs/BCEs during childhood. However, regarding Moral Injury, the MIES demonstrated no treatment effect between T1 pre and T5 6-month FU. The study's findings discuss the impact of Group EMDR therapy delivered remotely as video-conference psychotherapy (VCP) and the benefits of including a therapist/rotation model as a means of treatment delivery. However, despite promising results suggesting a large treatment effect in the treatment of trauma and adverse memories, including co-morbid symptoms, research results yielded no treatment effect in frontline/emergency workers in addressing moral injury related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Conclusion

The NICE (2018) guidance on PTSD highlighted the paucity of EMDR therapy research used as an early intervention. The primary rationale for this study was to address this critical issue. In summary, treatment results for group EMDR, delivered virtually, intensively, using therapist rotation are tentatively promising, however, the moral dimensions of trauma need consideration for future research, intervention development, and potential for further scalability. The data contributes to the emerging literature on early trauma interventions.Clinical Trial Registration:Clinicaltrials.gov, ISRCTN16933691.

Intervention Programs Targeting the Mental Health, Professional Burnout, and/or Wellbeing of School Teachers: Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses

This paper outlines a systematic review and meta-analyses to identify, describe, and evaluate randomised and non-randomised controlled trials of psychological programs targeting the mental health, professional burnout, and/or wellbeing of school classroom teachers. Eighty-eight unique studies were identified for inclusion in the review, and of those 46 were included in the meta-analyses (23 randomised controlled trials). In randomised controlled trials, the programs examined had large effects on stress (g=0.93), and moderate effects on anxiety (g=0.65), depression (g=0.51), professional burnout (g=0.57), and wellbeing (g=0.56) at post. In non-randomised controlled trials, programs had moderate effects on stress (g=0.50), and small effects on anxiety (g=0.38) and wellbeing (g=0.38) at post. Studies were heterogeneous in design and methodological quality was generally poor, particularly in non-randomised controlled trials. There was an inadequate number of comparisons to perform sub-group analyses, meta-regression, or publication bias analyses. Most of the programs examined required significant time, effort, and resources to deliver and complete. These programs may not translate well outside of research trials to real-world contexts due to teachers being time-poor. Priorities for research include using methodologically rigorous designs, developing programs for teachers with teachers (i.e. co-design), and considering implementation factors to ensure feasibility, acceptability, and uptake. Systematic Review Registration Number: PROPSERO - CRD42020159805.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10648-023-09720-w.

"I couldn't do what I needed to do for my own family": Teacher-parents during COVID-19 lockdowns

This article draws data from a wider research project that focused on New Zealand and Australian schools' experiences of delivering education during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this article, we share the stories of 21 classroom teachers as they navigated teaching during the pandemic. We include a subset of teachers who were also parents of school-aged children and explore how they managed their dual role. The findings highlight the toll that teaching during this time took on teachers, personally and professionally, especially, those who were simultaneously balancing work and family demands. We use work-family border theory to explain the role conflict experienced by teachers, and teacher-parents, in particular.

Job Satisfaction Goes a Long Way: The Mediating Role of Teaching Satisfaction in the Relationship between Role Stress and Indices of Psychological Well-Being in the Time of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic and its containment measures has resulted in drastic changes in the educational landscape. Teachers had to rapidly adapt to shifts in their work-related roles and responsibilities. This situation likely led to role stress and affected the levels of job satisfaction, mental health and general life satisfaction. In this study, we examined the role of teachers' job satisfaction in the relationship between role stress and indices of psychological well-being. The participants were South African school teachers (N = 355) who completed the Role Orientation Questionnaire, the Teaching Satisfaction Scale, the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, the trait scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Satisfaction with Life Scale. In addition to descriptive statistics and correlations, path analysis was performed to determine the mediating role of teaching satisfaction. Increased levels of teaching satisfaction were associated with decreased levels of depression and anxiety and increased levels of life satisfaction. Teaching satisfaction also mediated the relationship between role conflict, as well as role ambiguity and anxiety. The results indicated that teaching satisfaction is a critical protective factor for teachers. Thus, improving task significance and enhancing the meaning associated with the teaching profession may help promote the adaptive functioning of teachers.

The Relationship between Demographics and Knowledge Risk Perception of High School Teachers: Training as a Mediator

As a knowledge-based career, teachers can be exposed to knowledge risks. Since risk perception is the product of the experiences, values, memories and ideologies of individuals, the ways of perceiving knowledge risks could be useful for setting up prevention and mitigation strategies for these kinds of risks. The present paper aimed at analyzing the relationship between the demographics and the knowledge risk perception of high school teachers. The role of a teacher’s training as a mediator of said relationship was analyzed as well. Using a sample of high school teachers working in Italian schools, a questionnaire was administered to gather data, and structural equation modeling analysis was employed to test the hypotheses. The results showed that demographics had a significant effect on teachers’ knowledge risk perception and that training mediated this relationship. The study could be helpful for educational institutions that want to train their teachers to be prepared to face risky events related to knowledge management.

Forgotten frontline workers in higher education: Aiding Ghana in the COVID-19 recovery process

The sudden emergence of the COVID-19 triggered a chain of events in the global education system; suspended onsite instruction; migration to online learning; adoption of mobile technologies for mobile learning, and diverse technological innovations. All this was done with the objective of adhering to COVID-19 lockdown protocols to speed global recovery from the disruptive effect of the COVID-19 crisis. In many countries, online learning became the only legal means to achieve lifelong and progressive education for over 91% of the world's student population whose education was at risk. Stakeholders in higher education (parents, students, teachers, and administrators) across the globe also became "frontline workers" in a collective effort to combat the spread of the virus. The study explores the integral role of these frontline workers in curbing the virus. The researchers draw from qualitative interviews involving twenty (20) tertiary students in Ghana who experienced a physical resumption of school in 2021. Findings suggest that a policy shift by school leaders led to the adoption of a multi-track year-round education (MT-YRE) system to promote social distancing. Students were provided with personal protective equipment (PPEs), teachers educated students on COVID-19 prevention and fostered good relationships with their students. Students adhered to institutional protocols to study. Parents also provided psychological and financial support. Policymakers in education should provide clear guidelines, resources, funds, and recognition to school stakeholders as they collectively tackle the virus to ensure economic, health, and education recovery post-COVID-19. Future studies should focus on how to establish a crisis-management framework for higher education.

Personality and socio-demographic variables in teacher burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic: a latent profile analysis

Although it is well-known that teaching is one of the most stressful jobs, teacher burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic has not been thoroughly investigated. The main aims of this study were to identify distinct teacher burnout profiles and examine their association with HEXACO personality factors and sociodemographic variables. Data were collected from 522 teachers (77% women; M_age = 37.45 years, SD = 9.28) in November 2021. Latent profile analysis (LPA) identified five latent profiles: "No burnout risk" (41.3%), "Low burnout risk" (21.9%), "Cynics" (7.7%), "Exhausted and cynics" (16.1%), and "High burnout risk" (13%). Our results showed a significant correlation between all six HEXACO personality traits and teacher burnout based on the variable-centered method, but the LPA highlighted that only the emotionality trait was antecedent of profile membership. In terms of sociodemographic variables, gender and rural/urban teaching environment did not have significant impact on teacher burnout profiles, but professional experience did. This study is the first to explore teacher burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to dispositional traits based on the HEXACO model using a person-centered approach. Our results can inform specialists about the role of emotionality in the occurrence of teacher burnout and the greater vulnerability of experienced teachers in the context of remote learning. Tailored programs of intervention are necessary.

Examining COVID-19 related occupational stress in teachers in Ireland through a qualitative study using a thematic analysis approach

BACKGROUND

The teaching profession was dramatically affected by COVID-19 with school closures and ultimately the move to online learning. COVID-19 brought additional stress to an already demanding profession with the introduction of online teaching, teachers experiencing fear of infection and additional workloads accompanying the pandemic.

AIM

To examine COVID-19 related occupational stress in teachers in Ireland through a qualitative study using a thematic analysis approach.

METHOD

This study implemented two recruitment strategies for participants; email invitations to all members of ILSA and INTO, and email invitations with study information to school principals. A study specific questionnaire was devised with three questions offering free text responses. All responses were anonymous and analysed collectively. The Braun and Clarke thematic analysis method was employed to analyse participants' responses.

RESULTS

224 participants responded to the survey, however not all participants completed all three questions. Initially 98 codes were generated from the data set, and subsequently reduced to 41 final codes. The codes were arranged into three final themes; Overburdened, Abandoned, and Consequences, representing occupational stress in teachers during COVID-19.

CONCLUSION

In the form of the three themes identified, participants described issues such as large class sizes, high workload, and out of work hours contact, among others. These issues contributed negatively to participants' mental health and wellbeing with descriptions of being exhausted, isolated, stressed and experiencing burnout. Ensuring adequate awareness of, and paying attention to, teacher wellbeing is essential, such that optimisation of school environment can occur in light of additional burden associated with COVID-19.

Preschool Teachers' Psychological Distress and Work Engagement during COVID-19 Outbreak: The Protective Role of Mindfulness and Emotion Regulation

COVID-19 has dramatically affected the mental health and work environment of the educational sector. Our primary aim was to investigate preschool teachers’ psychological distress and work engagement during the COVID-19 outbreak, while examining the possible protective role of participating in a mindfulness-based intervention geared to foster compassion (Call2Care-Israel for Teachers; C2C-IT) and emotion regulation. The prevalence of emotional distress, work engagement, and COVID-19 concerns were evaluated in 165 preschool teachers in the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak in Israel through questionnaires. The findings showed that preschool teachers experienced increased emotional distress. Teachers who had participated in the C2C-IT intervention six months before the pandemic outbreak (N = 41) reported lower emotional distress, higher use of adaptive emotion regulation strategies, and higher work engagement, compared to their counterparts that had not participated in the intervention (N = 124). Emotion regulation strategies mediated the link between participating in CTC-IT intervention and emotional distress and work engagement. Teaching is a highly demanding occupation, especially during a pandemic, thus making it important to invest resources in empowering this population. The findings here suggest that the implementation of a mindfulness-based intervention during the school year can enhance teachers’ well-being, even during stressful events such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Examining the Associations between COVID-19-Related Psychological Distress, Social Media Addiction, COVID-19-Related Burnout, and Depression among School Principals and Teachers through Structural Equation Modeling

This study aims to investigate the relationships between COVID-19-related psychological distress, social media addiction, COVID-19-related burnout, and depression. The research, which was designed according to the relational survey model, was conducted with the participation of 332 school principals and teachers who received graduate education in the field of educational administration. Research data were collected through online surveys and then structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test and analyze the proposed hypotheses. The study’s findings revealed that COVID-19-related psychological distress strongly predicted COVID-19-related burnout. In this context, as the psychological distress associated with COVID-19 increased, the sense of burnout associated with COVID-19 also increased. However, it was found that burnout associated with COVID-19 significantly and positively predicted depression. SEM results revealed that COVID-19-related psychological distress directly affected COVID-19-related burnout, depression, and social media addiction. In addition, it was determined that an indirect effect of COVID-19-related burnout and social media addiction exists in the relationship between COVID-19-related psychological distress and depression.

Teachers’ Satisfaction, Role, and Digital Literacy during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has unexpectedly affected the educational process worldwide, forcing teachers and students to transfer to an online teaching and learning format. Compared with the traditional face-to-face teaching methods, teachers’ professional role, career satisfaction level, and digital literacy have been challenged in the COVID-19 health crisis. To conduct a systematic review, we use critical appraisal tools from the University of the West of England Framework We removed the irrelevant and lower-quality results to refine the results and scored each selected paper to get high-quality studies with STARLITE. The number of finally included studies is 21. We used the PICO mnemonic to structure the four components of a clinical question, i.e., the relevant patients or population groups, the intervention (exposure or diagnostic procedure) of interest, as well as against whom the intervention is being compared and considered appropriate (outcomes). We formulated five research questions regarding teachers’ professional role, satisfaction, digital literacy, higher educational practice, and sustainable education. The study found that teachers’ professional roles changed complicatedly. Moreover, they were assigned more tasks during the online teaching process, which also implicated a decline in teachers’ satisfaction. After the COVID-19 pandemic, it is necessary to conduct a blended teaching model in educational institutes. Teachers should have adequate digital literacy to meet the new needs of the currently innovative educational model in the future. In addition, the study reveals that teachers’ digital literacy level, career satisfaction, and professional role are significantly correlated. We measured to what degree the three factors affected the online teaching and learning process. Ultimately, the study may provide some suggestions for methodological and educational strategies.

The Mediating Role of Teacher Identification in the Relationship Between Psychological Distress and Teacher Satisfaction During COVID-19

The current study examines the potential mediating role of professional identification of school teachers in the relationship between psychological distress and teaching satisfaction. Professional identification is the extent to which an individual identifies with a professional group, including the values, beliefs, and commitment the individual has in relation to the professional group. Professional identification has been linked to negative work outcomes, such as job performance and turnover intentions, as well as to adverse mental health outcomes. In the context of education, professional identification is the extent to which teachers identify with the teaching profession. Participants (N = 355) were school teachers in South Africa who completed the Center for Epidemiological Depression Scale, the Beck Hopelessness Scale, the Professional Identification Scale, and the Teaching Satisfaction Scale. Structural equation analysis showed that professional identification plays a fully mediational role in the relationship between psychological distress and teaching satisfaction. Interventions that strengthen teachers' identification with the teaching profession should be considered a priority.

"I Teach, Therefore I Am": The Serial Relationship between Perceived Vulnerability to Disease, Fear of COVID-19, Teacher Identification and Teacher Satisfaction

In early 2020, school closures were implemented globally to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. In South Africa, emergency remote teaching was not sustainable, and conventional teaching resumed in the context of the second and third waves of the pandemic, heightening fear and anxiety about infection among teachers. The pandemic necessitated shifts in the scope of a teacher’s job, potentially impacting their professional identity and job satisfaction. This study investigated the interrelationship between teaching identification, teaching satisfaction, fear of COVID-19 and perceived vulnerability to disease among a sample of South African school teachers (n = 355). A serial mediation analysis supported the hypotheses that teaching identification mediated both the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and teacher satisfaction and the association between perceived vulnerability to disease, fear of COVID-19 and teacher satisfaction. The findings suggest that teacher identification is a potential protective factor, and strengthening professional identification can potentially assist teachers as they negotiate the uncertainty and stress associated with the current pandemic.

The Schoolteachers' Version of the Stress and Anxiety to Viral Epidemics-9 (SAVE-9) Scale for Assessing Stress and Anxiety During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study aimed to validate the schoolteachers' version of the Stress and Anxiety to Viral Epidemics-9 (SAVE-9) scale. This scale assessed the work-related stress and anxiety response of schoolteachers to the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 400 schoolteachers participated in an online survey between March 4 and 15, 2021. The survey questionnaire included the schoolteachers' version of the SAVE-9, Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and Generalized Anxiety Disorders-7 (GAD-7) scales. A scree test and parallel analysis suggested a single-factor structure model for the schoolteachers' version of the SAVE-9 scale (real-data eigenvalue = 68.89, 95th percentile of the random eigenvalues = 27.56). The SAVE-9 scale showed good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.853) and good convergent validity with GAD-7 (rho = 0.545, p < 0.001) and PHQ-9 (rho = 0.434, p < 0.001) scale scores. This, schoolteachers' version of the SAVE-9 scale is a reliable and valid rating scale that can be applied to teachers in a pandemic situation.

Occupational Commitment of Chinese Kindergarten Teachers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Predictions of Anti-Epidemic Action, Income Reduction, and Career Confidence

This study highlights a survey on 5783 kindergarten teachers' occupational commitment and its influencing factors in the socioeconomic context of China during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected through the WenJuanXing public online platform. Quantitative analysis results showed that kindergarten teachers' occupational commitment was optimistic on the whole during this period, among which the affective commitment and the normative commitment were satisfactory, but the continuing commitment needed to be strengthened. The type of kindergartens, the personnel affiliation, the educational background, and the professional post of kindergarten teachers had significant impacts on their occupational commitment. The income reduction was negatively correlated with and predictive of kindergarten teachers' occupational commitment. Anti-epidemic action and career confidence were positively correlated with and predictive of kindergarten teachers' occupational commitment. Furthermore, anti-epidemic action, income reduction, and career confidence had joint predictive effects on kindergarten teachers' occupational commitment. More related backgrounds and suggestions have been discussed.