Abstract
The current threat of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to the transition to distance (online) education in all educational institutions of the country, including universities. A sudden forced change in the form and structure of education has psychological consequences for all the participants in the educational process. The objective of the study presented was to examine the severity of anxiety, career maladjustment, stress levels, and coping strategies among university teachers during the transition to distance (online) education. The sample comprised 169 individual participants (95 women, 74 men) aged 25 to 70 years: 119 university teachers of the Rostov region (mean age = 45 years) and 40 sales specialists as the control group (mean age = 35 years). The study was conducted online from 04.24.2020 to 06.15.2020. The results indicate a general tendency to increasing stress levels and severity of career maladjustment. university teachers have a higher level of professional motivation and less often complain of feeling unwell and of a decrease in cognitive functions. Less adaptive in terms of stable personality parameters respondents are more likely to experience stress and more prone to manifest unmotivated anxiety. They demonstrate a higher level of career maladjustment and subjective discomfort when using the Internet. The preferred coping strategy is to openly complain about work or general negative feelings. Changes in the dynamic personality characteristics of university teachers during distance education are determined by their stable personality characteristics rather than by their age, which is often mentioned as the main factor for adaptation difficulties.
Highlights
With technological advancements, the digital environment has become an important part of the life context
The aim of this study is to investigate the severity of anxiety, career maladjustment, stress levels, and coping strategies among university teachers during the transition to distance education provoked by the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic
The result presented below show a general tendency to increasing stress levels and severity of career maladjustment. 48% of respondents showed moderate to high levels of stress
Summary
The digital environment has become an important part of the life context. Education mediated by computer technology cannot be treated as a completely new phenomenon. There is an extensive range of papers on the pros and cons of implementing online (distant, remote) technologies at various levels of education [1-4]. Such a sudden change, on the one hand, is accompanied by growing public anxiety in relation to the disease itself, and the uncertainty of the future, on the other. For many teachers it was necessary to master the technical aspects of using the appropriate platforms, and to deal singlehandedly with the unexpected technical difficulties that arise in the process
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