Promoting teaching and non-teaching school staff resilience post-COVID pandemic

Abstract

Objective

School-based professional development interventions are hopeful mechanisms for promoting teacher/staff mental health and resilience. This study aimed to examine changes in key contributors to mental health and resilience of North Carolina (United States) teaching and non-teaching staff working in school districts that volunteered to participate in the Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education (CARE) professional development program.

Methods

This prospective cohort study assessed school staff resilience before, one week after, and 2 months after the CARE program, using the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale, Maslach Burnout Inventory, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7; Patient Health Questionnaire 8; Perceived Stress Scale, and Experiences with the CARE for Teachers and Staff Professional Development Program.

Results

Fifty-three participants were included (70 % teachers, 79 % female, 77 % White, 47 % high school, 47 % elementary school). Across all participants, improvements were observed at one week and two months post-intervention in overall sense of efficacy (mean difference [MD] 0.92; 95 % CI, 0.50–1.38 and MD 0.78; 95 % CI, 0.32–1.26, respectively); emotional exhaustion (MD -5.84; 95 % CI, -10.93 to -0.72 and MD -6.59; 95 % CI, -11.79 to -0.29, respectively); anxiety (MD -3.59; 95 % CI, -6.21 to -0.76 and MD -3.27; 95 % CI, -5.83 to -0.71, respectively); and depression (MD -3.64; 95 % CI, -6.17 to -0.78 and MD -3.19; 95 % CI, -5.73 to -0.63, respectively). Teachers’ perceived stress was lower at one week post-intervention (MD -1.59; 95 % CI, -3.03 to -0.12.)

Conclusion

Findings demonstrate improvements in participants’ sense of self-efficacy, anxiety, depression, stress, with more pronounced improvements in teaching compared with non-teaching staff.