Psychological well-being and coping strategies among secondary school teachers

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Educators, academicians, and teachers are responsible for the development of the nation's human capital. Teacher coping methods are becoming more widely recognized as a key factor in determining teacher effectiveness. The aim of this study was to identify the various coping strategies adopted by high school teachers in Southern India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in government, aided, and unaided schools of Udupi, a coastal district in Southern India. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data from 460 high school teachers chosen based on convenience sampling. The coping strategies were identified using a modified version of Brief COPE(Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced) Inventory (Carver, 1997). Data were entered using SPSS version 15 and descriptive statistics was performed. RESULTS: The study found that teachers had moderate level of coping skills in all domains. The most popular coping techniques used by secondary school teachers were positive reframing, active coping, and planning; nevertheless, substance use was recognized as the least popular coping strategy. CONCLUSION: Positive reframing, active coping, and preparation were the most commonly used coping strategies by the teachers in the survey. Teachers are a vital resource who have received less attention than they deserve for their psychological well-being. A customized intervention program based on their perceived needs could be a good place to start.

Exploring Stress Factors and Coping Strategies in Italian Teachers after COVID-19: Evidence from Qualitative Data

“…Moreover, no one mentioned negative coping strategies. Although this may be due to social desirability bias, previous research has suggested that most teachers usually adopt positive rather than negative coping strategies in their professional life [54,55], again, especially if their levels of stress are low or moderate [36,56]. Future research may investigate coping strategies more deeply and monitor them over time to understand if and how they change in parallel with stress levels.…”

“…Research on teachers has shown that these professionals mostly adopt functional (i.e., approach) coping strategies in their vocation, such as acceptance, positive reframing, planning, and active coping, whereas negative strategies are usually avoided (e.g., selfblame, denial, and the use of alcohol or drugs) [54,55]. However, the quality of the coping strategies that they adopt may depend on their levels of stress and burnout.…”

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“…These subscales can be categorized into three higher-order dimensions: problem-focused coping; emotion-focused coping; and avoidant coping. The methodology is tested and valid, and actively used in modern research (Baghoori et al, 2022;Rajesh et al, 2022;Van Gils, 2022;Weeratunga et al, 2022, Abdul Rahman et al, 2021, Mackay et al, 2021. Internal reliability for subscales ranges from α = 0.57 to α = 0.90 (Carver, 1997).…”

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“…Until such a reckoning, teaching and learning in secondary schools may continue to be affected. Teachers are vital resources who have received less attention than they deserve for their Psychological well-being and yet teachers' stress has been shown to have an impact on their performance all over the world (Rajesh et al, 2022).…”