Wellbeing

Worry about COVID-19 and other extreme events amongst educators in Australia

Publication Date

4-2023

Subjects

worry, wellbeing, educators, teachers, school, preschool, extreme events, COVID-19

Abstract

The significant disruption of COVID-19 on schooling has heightened concerns about its impact on educators’ wellbeing. The current study examined how educators’ worry regarding the COVID-19 pandemic compared to their worry about other extreme events, such as natural disasters and critical incidents (a death or suicide of a child, young person, or colleague). Educators report that they were most worried about COVID-19. Educators working in preschools were more worried about COVID-19 and natural disasters than those in primary and secondary schools. However, worry regarding critical incidents increased with the age of students taught. Worry was influenced by socio-economic advantage (SEIFA), whereby educators working in higher SEIFA communities were less worried about natural disasters and critical incidents but shared similar levels of worry about COVID-19 as educators in lower SEIFA communities. With a better understanding about how different types of worry and levels of worry vary across different educator groups and different contexts, more effective supports can be developed and offered.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

ISSN

2050-5884

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1177/00049441231168447

Geographic Subject

Australia

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