COVID-19 PANDEMY, MENTAL HEALTH, SOCIAL SUPPORT AND SENSE OF LIFE IN TEACHERS

Abstract

The pandemic caused by the new coronavirus unveiled an incomplacent reality for some professional segments, such as teaching, which required the continuity of education through remote teaching. The question arose, then, whether, in fact, teachers would have conditions of access to resources and the ability to use, train and provide an environment conducive to the home office. Likewise, it raised the question about the implication in the teacher's mental health, and which strategies to cope with the illness were being used. Thus, the study aimed to investigate the perception of teachers about the impacts of the pandemic on mental health linked to work, the meaning of life and social support. A survey was carried out, with 23 teachers, who answered a sociodemographic questionnaire and a semi-structured interview, containing 21 questions. The textual analysis was performed by IRaMuTeQ through the Descending Hierarchical Classification. The results were organized into five classes that portray factors related to teaching, mental health and psychosocial resources experienced by the teacher during this period. It is concluded that the pandemic and the conditioned ways of working had a considerable impact on the teacher's mental health, causing mental illness. Possibly, the psychological constructs of social support and meaning of life are manifested as psychosocial resources for coping with illness.