Teaching Profession What the Research Says

Pandemic Anxiety Was Higher for Teachers Than for Health-Care Workers

By Sarah D. Sparks — November 15, 2022 4 min read
Illustration of a man carrying a jumbled, tangled group of lines shaped like a sphere on his back. Surrounded by virus pathogens
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

The return to class has not meant a return to normal for many teachers. Students need more help to recover both academically and emotionally from pandemic disruptions. Staffing shortages mean more teachers are overworked and overwhelmed. And many still come to school at risk of illness from COVID-19.

All those stressors take a toll on teachers’ mental health. Regardless of whether they taught in person or online, teachers have experienced significantly higher rates of anxiety during the pandemic—even more than health-care workers, according to a new study, published this morning in Educational Researcher, a journal of the American Educational Research Association. It’s based on a survey of millions of American workers conducted over seven months in 2020 and 2021.

The challenge of remote instruction did affect teachers’ mental health. Remote teachers were 60 percent more likely to report feeling socially isolated than their colleagues who were back in the classroom, and remote teachers also showed more symptoms of depression than in-person teachers.

See also

Photo of teacher working at desk.
vgajic/Getty

However, the study found that nearly 18 percent of both remote and in-person teachers showed significant anxiety symptoms during the pandemic—such as trouble sleeping or panic attacks—suggesting severe stresses that are less likely to relax as schools return to pre-pandemic instruction.

Teachers in the study were 40 percent more likely to report symptoms of anxiety than health-care workers, 30 percent more likely than those in military or farming professions, and 20 percent more likely than office workers.

“I think an argument can be made that healthcare workers know how to act in these high-stress situations. They’ve dealt with extreme scenarios before and it’s a part of their training,” said Joseph Kush, an assistant psychology professor at James Madison University and co-author of the study. “Unfortunately now, teachers are being exposed to that as well.”

Kush said he had been expecting older teachers would be “COVID cautious” and have higher rates of anxiety as a result of health concerns, but the study showed teachers under 30 were more likely to show anxiety and depression than those over 50.

“You know, someone who is fresh out of college in their first years of teaching, it’s all new. It might be very overwhelming. They might not have gone through a global pandemic,” Kush said. “So I think, older teachers may have been in the profession and dealt with emergencies, so they’re just kind of all-around better equipped” to deal with ongoing stress, even though the pandemic was new to them as well.

Researchers analyzed survey data from nearly 3 million U.S. employees—including 130,000 pre-K-12 teachers—who participated in the COVID-19 Trends and Impact Survey from September 2020 through March 2021. That survey, conducted by Carnegie Mellon University’s Delphi Group and Facebook, asked workers about their symptoms of anxiety, depression, and isolation during the prior seven days.

Kush said the study did not distinguish mental health symptoms for teachers of different racial or ethnic backgrounds, grade levels, or subject areas. However, it did find that women teachers and other workers had much higher symptoms of mental health problems than their male peers. They were 20 percent more likely to feel isolated, 40 percent more likely to show depression, and nearly twice as likely to show symptoms of anxiety.

Studies mount on teachers’ stress

The study is just the latest and most nationally comprehensive of a slew of new research on the pandemic’s effects on teachers’ mental health. Earlier this summer, the RAND Corp. found nearly 60 percent of teachers report they are burned out, compared to 44 percent of other workers. The National Education Association, the nation’s largest teachers’ union, reported that more than half of their teachers in 2021 said they were more likely to quit or retire early because of ongoing job stress.

Even before the pandemic, studies have shown teachers to report higher stress than those in other professions. But high anxiety is different and can be more damaging to teachers’ relationships with students and their likelihood to continue teaching. Students of highly anxious teachers can both perform worse academically—particularly in subjects like math—and have more negative feelings and behavior.

In a separate survey this summer, more than 40 percent of teachers surveyed told the EdWeek Research Centerthey feel less effective in their job as a result of stress. Teachers also reported more trouble sleeping and enjoying downtime with friends as a result of stress.

While many school districts are expanding mental health services and counseling for students, Kush said, “teachers’ voices need to be included” in both the mental health services offered and ongoing decisions about when to remain in-person or go to remote instruction during future outbreaks.

See also

Woman working at computer.
Getty

A version of this article appeared in the December 14, 2022 edition of Education Week as Pandemic Anxiety Was Higher for Teachers Than for Health-Care Workers

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Classroom Technology Webinar
How to Leverage Virtual Learning: Preparing Students for the Future
Hear from an expert panel how best to leverage virtual learning in your district to achieve your goals.
Content provided by Class
English-Language Learners Webinar AI and English Learners: What Teachers Need to Know
Explore the role of AI in multilingual education and its potential limitations.
Education Webinar The K-12 Leader: Data and Insights Every Marketer Needs to Know
Which topics are capturing the attention of district and school leaders? Discover how to align your content with the topics your target audience cares about most. 

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Teaching Profession Teachers Work 50-Plus Hours a Week—And Other Findings From a New Survey on Teacher Pay
Planning, preparation, and other duties stretch teachers' working hours long past what's in their contracts.
5 min read
Elementary teacher, working at her desk in an empty classroom.
martinedoucet/E+
Teaching Profession From Our Research Center How Many Teachers Work in Their Hometown? Here's the Latest Data
New survey data shows that many teachers stay close to home, but do they want to?
1 min read
Illustration of a 3D map with arrows going all over the states.
iStock/Getty
Teaching Profession In Their Own Words 'I Was Not Done': How Politics Drove This Teacher of the Year Out of the Classroom
Karen Lauritzen was accused of being a pro-LGBTQ+ activist. The consequences derailed her career.
6 min read
Karen Lauritzen stands for a portrait on the Millikin University Campus in Decatur, Ill., on August 30, 2023. Idaho’s Teacher of the Year moved to Illinois for a new job due to right-wing harassment over her support of the LGBTQ+ community and Black Lives Matter.
Karen Lauritzen stands for a portrait on the Millikin University Campus in Decatur, Ill., on August 30, 2023. Laurizen, Idaho’s 2023 Teacher of the Year, moved to Illinois for a new job due to harassment over her support of the LGBTQ+ community and Black Lives Matter.
Neeta R. Satam for Education Week
Teaching Profession Reported Essay Public Schools Rely on Underpaid Female Labor. It’s Not Sustainable
Women now have more career options. Is that why they are leaving the teaching profession?
9 min read
Illustration of contemporary teacher looking at a line-up of mostly female teachers through the history of public education in the United States.
Traci Debarko for Education Week