Growth through adversity: A mixed methods study of teachers' mental health in the aftermath of COVID-19

ABSTRACT

The importance of teacher mental health as a critical focus of educational research and school improvement efforts has taken on additional urgency due to the long-term and sustained impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on schools and teachers. It is critical that research efforts explore the impact of COVID-19 on teachers and what is needed to function and grow in the face of unprecedented challenges. This mixed methods study explored the experiences of teachers in response to the trauma of the COVID-19 pandemic, seeking to understand the factors that teachers attributed to influencing their quality of mental health and posttraumatic growth. Quantitative and qualitative methods were combined to give a representation of a picture of trauma responses and growth outcomes among teachers. Mental health symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress, and posttraumatic growth outcomes, and the relationship between teachers' mental health and posttraumatic growth experiences in response to COVID-19 were examined among elementary and high school teachers. Significant differences in mental health symptoms were identified between female and male. Significant positive correlations were discovered between symptoms of depression and stress and posttraumatic growth. Interviews were conducted in the qualitative phase to further explore the mental health and posttraumatic growth experiences of the teachers, including the factors teachers associated with mental health and growth outcomes revealed in six essential themes loss and gain, personality, conflicted concern, relationships, self-efficacy, and role and purpose. Integration of quantitative and qualitative data revealed teachers' experience of COVID-19 as a lived paradox, including a struggle with loss and gain, personality and experience, relationships and isolation, relief and concern, strength and weakness, and role and purpose. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)