Effects of COVID-19 school closure on schoolteachers’ well-being: an explorative study from the AVATAR study

Background: Teachers are very often reported to be at higher risk for co-occurring mental disorders than other professional categories. Aim of this study was to assess well-being perception of school teachers and the indirect psychological effects of the COVID-19 emergency. Methods: : We collected data in April 2021, during COVID-19 lockdown from 838 teachers at public schools. Participants reported their perception of quality of life, by filling out a battery of psychological questionnaires through a multimedia platform. Results: : Having a family member with COVID in the last month increases anxiety (BAI, p<0.05), reduces the perception of physical health (PWBI, p<0.05) and vitality (PWBI, p<0.05). In particular, anxiety (BAI, p<0.001), depression (BDI-II, p<0.03) and stress-related insomnia (FIRST, p<0.000) increased significantly in women. In the male population, on the contrary, evaluation of well-being showed an increase in health perception (p<0.001) and vitality (p<0.001), also confirmed in the total score (p<0.001). Conclusions: : The psychological difficulties of school teachers during COVID-19 underline the need to invest in prevention programs and promotion of well-being in this professional category, as the school remains the environment that allows teachers to provide structured learning opportunities to students.