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

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.

Duke Scholars

Author Emily Meredith D'Agostino Orthopaedic Surgery, Occupational Therapy

Author Kanecia Obie Zimmerman Pediatrics, Critical Care Medicine