COVID-19, Mental Health, Technology Use, and Job Satisfaction Among School Psychology Trainers

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic threatens to exacerbate the school psychology personnel crisis. There is a dearth of knowledge regarding how the pandemic has impacted school psychology trainers and course delivery. In this national study, 92 school psychology trainers completed an online questionnaire regarding technological instructional changes, job satisfaction, and their own mental health well-being during the pandemic. Findings suggest that during the portion of the pandemic assessed most trainers reported that they: (a) switched from in-person instruction to primarily online instruction, (b) were mostly satisfied with their jobs, and (c) generally experienced a positive sense of well-being. Furthermore, a sizable portion of those that switched to a mixture of hybrid and online instruction during the pandemic endorsed that they are likely to continue to use these modalities after the pandemic subsides. Unfortunately, although school psychology trainers presented as generally resilient workforce during the pandemic, almost 20% participants screened positive for possible depression.

The level of depression, anxiety and job satisfaction among young Contact Centre employees during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…For many people, the sense of threat to their own health and that of their loved ones presented by the pandemic could have intensified feelings of distress, as well as depression and anxiety symptoms [27,28], with young adults being particularly vulnerable [29]. Prolonged exposure to a strong stressor, as in the initial phases of the pandemic, was found to intensify negative emotions such as fear, worry, shame, guilt and nervousness [30,31], particularly in young adults, and this phenomenon has been increasingly studied [32][33][34]. The psychological consequences of the pandemic may well persist for many years in this group, who did not manage to acquire adaptive coping strategies before the outbreak [35,36].…”

Editorial: The March 2024 Issue: Insights for School-Associated COVID-19 Recovery

“…Similarly, among a sample of teachers, Metrailer and Clark (2022) reported elevated levels of occupational stress and stress associated with COVID-19-related social distancing behaviors were associated with decreases in perceptions of school climate. Finally, Bocanegra et al (2023) reported that, like their k-12 counterparts, school psychology training programs underwent significant changes as they moved from in-person to remote, online instruction. Among their sample of trainers of school psychologists, the accompanying stressors associated with such swift and profound organizational changes were associated with reports of decreased job satisfaction.…”