The COVID-19 pandemic and its prevention measures had distinctive implications for the education sector globally. For school teachers, it meant adapting to new teaching modalities and shifting to virtual platforms with little prior experience or training. Teachers faced challenges in maintaining student engagement, adjusting to unfamiliar digital tools, and managing the blurred boundaries between work and home environments. Additionally, the emotional toll of navigating their own anxieties while supporting students' well-being and learning needs further compounded these challenges. Concerns about health and safety when schools reopened, underscored the multi-faceted pressures teachers encountered. Yet, amidst these challenges, instances of coping and adjustment were evident and this suggests the role of protective factors. This study focuses on further understanding these protective factors by examining the role of resilience in mitigating the effects of perceived vulnerability to disease, loneliness, and anxiety. A convenience sample of South African schoolteachers (N = 355) completed the Perceived Vulnerability to Disease Questionnaire, the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, the University of California Los Angeles Loneliness Scale, and the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Scale. Path analysis revealed a notable inverse relationship between resilience and both loneliness and anxiety, underscoring the health-preserving function of resilience. Furthermore, resilience acted as an intermediary in the relationship between germ aversion, perceived susceptibility to illness, and feelings of loneliness and anxiety. This highlights the pivotal role of resilience in buffering against detrimental mental health outcomes and the need for interventions to bolster this health-sustaining resource.

Authors:
Anita Padmanabhanunni, University of the Western Cape, South Africa
Tyrone Brian Pretorius, University of the Western Cape, South Africa

About the Presenter(s)
Professor Anita Padmanabhanunni is a University Associate Professor/Senior Lecturer at University of the Western Cape in South Africa

See this presentation on the full schedule – Sunday Schedule

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