Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has led teachers to an unpredictable scenario where the lockdown situation has accelerated the shift from traditional to online educational methods, and relationships have been altered by the avoidance of direct contact with the others, with implications for their mental health. Physical activity seemed to be a factor that could prevent mental disorders such as anxiety or depression in this peculiar situation. Therefore, the aims of this study were to explore how teachers have been affected by the lockdown with respect to their mental health and their relationships in three main fields: work, family, and social relationships, and to know which is the role of physical activity in the mentioned variables. For that purpose, an online survey was designed to collect quantitative and qualitative data. Results showed that indoor physical activity acts as preventive in lockdown situations, whereas the level of activity does not affect mental health. Also, teachers have experienced higher levels of distress due to the workload generated during the lockdown. In conclusion, to prevent health problems among teachers in future similar situations, it would be important to facilitate the practice of physical activity at home. Furthermore, teacher training in blended or online educational methods would be crucial for their favorable work development.
Highlights
The global expansion of the COVID-19 pandemic disease has carried out many consequences that may affect people’s general health
Teacher’s Physical Activity & Mental Health the preventive measures applied by the government such as confinement or lockdown (Liu et al, 2020)
The results suggest that the best regression model is the one including the time of physical activity at home and the hours dedicated to teaching work (BF10 = 11.07) compared to the null model
Summary
The global expansion of the COVID-19 pandemic disease has carried out many consequences that may affect people’s general health. The virus itself creates personal situations in which, in addition to the disease’s symptoms, human emotions such as fear (Asmundson and Taylor, 2020), worry, panic, anxiety, or depression-related distress (Bao et al, 2020) can appear more commonly among people. In recent studies about the psychological impact of this pandemic disease on the general population, an increase in depression and stress levels between the first days and the third week of the lockdown has been found (Ozamiz-Etxebarria et al, 2020; Rodríguez-Rey et al, 2020). Broader and more specific research of the impact on mental health is still needed (Mahase, 2020)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
