Personality and socio-demographic variables in teacher burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic: a latent profile analysis.

Although it is well-known that teaching is one of the most stressful jobs, teacher burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic has not been thoroughly investigated. The main aims of this study were to identify distinct teacher burnout profiles and examine their association with HEXACO personality factors and sociodemographic variables. Data were collected from 522 teachers (77% women; Mage = 37.45 years, SD = 9.28) in November 2021. Latent profile analysis (LPA) identified five latent profiles: "No burnout risk" (41.3%), "Low burnout risk" (21.9%), "Cynics" (7.7%), "Exhausted and cynics" (16.1%), and "High burnout risk" (13%). Our results showed a significant correlation between all six HEXACO personality traits and teacher burnout based on the variable-centered method, but the LPA highlighted that only the emotionality trait was antecedent of profile membership. In terms of sociodemographic variables, gender and rural/urban teaching environment did not have significant impact on teacher burnout profiles, but professional experience did. This study is the first to explore teacher burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to dispositional traits based on the HEXACO model using a person-centered approach. Our results can inform specialists about the role of emotionality in the occurrence of teacher burnout and the greater vulnerability of experienced teachers in the context of remote learning. Tailored programs of intervention are necessary.

Emotional Reaction to the First Dose of COVID-19 Vaccine: Postvaccination Decline in Anxiety and Stress among Anxious Individuals and Increase among Individuals with Normal Prevaccination Anxiety Levels.

Although vaccination has been adopted by the WHO to limit worldwide transmission of COVID-19, people's worries about COVID-19 vaccines may suppress their desire for vaccination despite vaccine availability. This study aimed to investigate anxiety and stress symptoms among 250 Jordanians (mean age = 43.18 ± 6.34 years, 72% females) who received their first vaccine dose. The respondents completed the anxiety and stress subscales of the Depression Anxiety and Stress scale 21 (DASS-21) before and after vaccination. The respondents expressed more moderate-severe levels of stress before than after vaccination (20.8% and 13.2%, respectively). Meanwhile, 37.2% and 45.2% of the respondents expressed moderate-severe anxiety before and after vaccination, respectively. Wilcoxon signed-rank test revealed that the drop in the level of stress from before- (median (IQR) = 5 (1-8)) to after vaccination (median (IQR) = 3 (1-7)) was statistically significant (z = -3.81, p = 0.001, r = 0.17) while the increase in anxiety was not. Anxiety significantly dropped postvaccination among individuals experiencing mild to severe anxiety before vaccination. Similarly, stress and anxiety significantly increased among individuals expressing normal anxiety before vaccination (z = -3.57 and -8.24, p values = 0.001, r = 0.16 and 0.37, respectively). Age positively correlated with postvaccination anxiety among respondents with mild prevaccination anxiety, and it negatively correlated with the prevaccination level of stress in the normal-anxiety group. Gender, marital status, respondents' level of education, and history of COVID-19 infection had no significant correlation with anxiety or stress at either point of measurement. Overcoming their hesitancy to receive COVID-19 vaccines, individuals with normal levels of anxiety experienced a rise in their distress symptoms following immunization. On the contrary, vaccination seemed to desensitize anxious individuals. Policymakers need to formulate a population-specific plan to increase vaccine preparedness and promote psychological well-being over all during the pandemic.

The Arabic Version of the Impact of Event Scale-Revised: Psychometric Evaluation among Psychiatric Patients and the General Public within the Context of COVID-19 Outbreak and Quarantine as Collective Traumatic Events.

The Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic has provoked the development of negative emotions in almost all societies since it first broke out in late 2019. The Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) is widely used to capture emotions, thoughts, and behaviors evoked by traumatic events, including COVID-19 as a collective and persistent traumatic event. However, there is less agreement on the structure of the IES-R, signifying a need for further investigation. This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the IES-R among individuals in Saudi quarantine settings, psychiatric patients, and the general public during the COVID-19 outbreak. Exploratory factor analysis revealed that the items of the IES-R present five factors with eigenvalues > 1. Examination of several competing models through confirmatory factor analysis resulted in a best fit for a six-factor structure, which comprises avoidance, intrusion, numbing, hyperarousal, sleep problems, and irritability/dysphoria. Multigroup analysis supported the configural, metric, and scalar invariance of this model across groups of gender, age, and marital status. The IES-R significantly correlated with the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-8, perceived health status, and perceived vulnerability to COVID-19, denoting good criterion validity. HTMT ratios of all the subscales were below 0.85, denoting good discriminant validity. The values of coefficient alpha in the three samples ranged between 0.90 and 0.93. In path analysis, correlated intrusion and hyperarousal had direct positive effects on avoidance, numbing, sleep, and irritability. Numbing and irritability mediated the indirect effects of intrusion and hyperarousal on sleep and avoidance. This result signifies that cognitive activation is the main factor driving the dynamics underlying the behavioral, emotional, and sleep symptoms of collective COVID-19 trauma. The findings support the robust validity of the Arabic IES-R, indicating it as a sound measure that can be applied to a wide range of traumatic experiences.

The Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale Validity in a Romanian Sample Using Item Response Theory and Network Analysis.

The validation of the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS) in different cultural contexts is contributory in adding to the extant research body on psychometric qualities of the scale. The main purpose of this study was to examine the validity of the BSMAS, based on classical test theory and advanced psychometric testing, namely item response theory (IRT) and network analysis in a Romanian sample of 705 participants (39% males, aged 18-54 years, M = 30.24, SD ± 9.15). Composite reliability and McDonald's omega proved the very good internal consistency of the BSMAS-RO. The CFA highlighted the unifactorial model fitted well and measurement invariance across gender was revealed. Females obtained significantly higher scores on social media addiction (SMA) than males. As for concurrent validity, SMA correlated with social media intensity use, anxious attachment, social anxiety, need to belong, self-esteem, and happiness. IRT analysis proved adequate discrimination and difficulty parameters for all items. The highest discrimination was registered by salience criterion and the highest difficulty by conflict, withdrawal, and mood modification criteria. Relapse criterion had the lowest values of both parameters. Network analysis revealed that salience and withdrawal criteria had the highest indicators of centrality and relapse the lowest. Our findings revealed that the most relevant criteria to the diagnosis of SMA in Romanian people are salience, conflict, withdrawal, and mood modification. The robust psychometric properties of the BSMAS-RO provide health professionals a valid instrument for assessing SMA. Programs to prevent SMA must focus on dispositional traits as AATT, social anxiety, respectively unsatisfied need to belong, and promoting the ability to initiate and maintain rewarding social relationships.

Fear of COVID-19 in Romania: Validation of the Romanian Version of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale Using Graded Response Model Analysis.

One of the basic emotions generated by the COVID-19 pandemic is the fear of contacting this disease. The main aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Romanian version of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S), based on classical test theory and item response theory, namely, graded response model. The FCV-19S was translated into Romanian following a forward-backward translation procedure. The reliability and validity of the instrument were assessed in a sample of 809 adults (34.6% males; M age = 32.61; SD ±11.25; age range from 18 to 68 years). Results showed that the Romanian FCV-19S had very good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = .88; McDonald's omega = .89; composite reliability = .89). The confirmatory factor analysis for one-factor FCV-19S based on the maximum likelihood estimation method with Satorra-Bentler correction for non-normality proved that the model fitted well (CFI = .99, TLI = .97, RMSEA = .06, 90% CI [.05, .09], SRMR = .01). As for criterion-related validity, the fear of COVID-19 score correlated with depression (r = .25, p < .01), stress (r = .45, p < .01), resilience (r = - .22, p < .01) and happiness (r = -.33, p < .01). The heterotrait-monotrait criteria less than .85 certified the discriminant validity of the FCV-19S-RO. The GRM analysis highlighted robust psychometric properties of the scale and measurement invariance across gender. These findings emphasized validity for the use of Romanian version of FCV-19S and expanding the existing body of research on the fear of COVID-19. Overall, the current research contributes to the literature not only by validating the FCV-19S-RO but also by considering the positive psychology approach in the study of fear of COVID-19, emphasizing a negative relationship among resilience, happiness and fear in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Adaptability to Online Teaching during Covid-19 Pandemic: A Multiple Mediation Analysis Based on Kolb's Theory.

The process of transferring to online teaching during the pandemic COVID-19 lockdown has been a core issue for teachers around the globe. The main aim of this paper was to investigate the direct and indirect effects of emotional intelligence (EI) and general self-efficacy on the adaptability to online teaching (AOT). A multiple-mediation model was proposed, including the mediating effect via the teacher's Facilitator role and teacher's concrete experience learning style (CE-LS), as defined in experiential learning theory (ELT). METHODS: Data were collected from a sample of 330 preschool and primary school teachers (84 males, Mage = 38.3, SD = 9.14). Path analysis was performed based on maximum likelihood estimation with the resampling method. RESULTS: The findings showed that the proposed model fit the data well. A serial mediation path between EI and AOT via the teacher's Facilitator role and CE-LS was obtained. In addition, CE-LS mediated the relationship between general self-efficacy and AOT. CONCLUSION: To date, this is the first study to analyse the direct and indirect effects of dispositional traits, such as EI and general self-efficacy, on AOT in the framework of Kolb's ELT. Our results highlight the mediating mechanisms of this relationship, that is, the teacher's Facilitator role and CE-LS. The current research provides an empirical body based on which new instructional strategies will be developed to improve the quality of online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Post-Lockdown Effects on Students' Mental Health in Romania: Perceived Stress, Missing Daily Social Interactions, and Boredom Proneness.

The rapid spread of COVID-19 worldwide was accompanied by intense fears, confusion, worries, anger, and stress threatening people's mental health. Unprecedented measures to slow down and prevent the transmission of COVID-19 have had various impacts on the population's health behaviour and mental health. The main purpose of the present study is to investigate the lockdown's effects on university students' mental health in Romania. Based on a cross-sectional design, the survey data were collected from a sample of 722 participants (247 males; M = 21.1 years; SD ± 1.73). A path analysis was performed to verify the hypothesised direct and indirect effects included in the multiple mediation model. The findings showed a positive association between stress and boredom proneness, missing daily social interactions, spending more time on phone conversations, and the increasing interest in following news about the pandemic. The path analysis revealed an excellent fit between the proposed multiple mediation model and the sample data. Boredom proneness and missing daily social interactions both affected stress, directly and indirectly, through more time spent on phone conversations. In addition, it was found that the increased interest in following news about the pandemic mediated the relationship between boredom proneness and perceived stress. In terms of gender differences, our findings revealed that female students experienced significantly higher stress levels than male students, perceived to a greater extent the lack of daily social interactions, and spent more time on phone conversations. Overall, the findings further extend the empirical evidence on university students' mental health in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, universities need to organise support programmes focused on developing university students' coping strategies to maintain their mental health even in adverse contexts.

Parental burnout in Romania: Validity of the Romanian version of the parental burnout assessment (PBA-RO).

The concept of parental burnout only recently gained the attention of researchers, mainly through the International Investigation of Parental Burnout (IIPB), a 40-country study of the prevalence of PB around the world. Based on the current gold-standard instrument to evaluate parental burnout, that is the Parental Burnout Assessment (PBA), the present research investigates the psychometric properties of the Romanian version of the PBA (PBA-RO) in a sample of 650 Romanian parents (418 mothers), whose age ranged from 18 to 65 (Mage = 36.60, SD = 5.73). First, we examined internal consistency and construct validity. The results displayed good reliability and the confirmatory factor analyses replicated both expected first- and second-order four-factor models. Second, the positive association between parental burnout and perfectionism, as well as the negative relation between parental burnout and both life satisfaction and resilience, confirmed the PBA-RO's concurrent validity. Third, we replicated the low correlations with sociodemographic characteristics (i.e., age, educational level, family type, number of children, children's age, number of women in the household, number of men in the household, hours spent with children, having a paid professional activity, and neighborhood). The results were discussed according to the Romanian cultural context of parenting. Given the good psychometric properties of the PBA-RO, we concluded that it can successfully assess parental burnout for this population.

Cultural universality and specificity of student engagement in school: The results of an international study from 12 countries.

BACKGROUND: A comprehensive understanding of the contextual factors that are linked to student engagement requires research that includes cross-cultural perspectives. AIMS: This study investigated how student engagement in school is associated with grade, gender, and contextual factors across 12 countries. It also investigated whether these associations vary across countries with different levels of individualism and socio-economic development. SAMPLES: The participants were 3,420 7th, 8th, and 9th grade students from Austria, Canada, China, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Malta, Portugal, Romania, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States. METHODS: The participants completed a questionnaire to report their engagement in school, the instructional practices they experienced, and the support they received from teachers, peers, and parents. Hierarchical linear modelling was used to examine the effects at both student and country levels. RESULTS: The results across countries revealed a decline in student engagement from Grade 7 to Grade 9, with girls reporting higher engagement than boys. These trends did not vary across the 12 countries according to the Human Development Index and Hofstede's Individualism Index. Most of the contextual factors (instructional practices, teacher support, and parent support) were positively associated with student engagement. With the exception that parent support had a stronger association with student engagement in countries with higher collectivism, most of the associations between the contextual factors and student engagement did not vary across countries. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate both cultural universality and specificity regarding contextual factors associated with student engagement in school. They illustrate the advantages of integrating etic and emic approaches in cross-cultural investigations.

Understanding and measuring student engagement in school: the results of an international study from 12 countries.

The objective of the present study was to develop a scale that is appropriate for use internationally to measure affective, behavioral, and cognitive dimensions of student engagement. Psychometric properties of this scale were examined with data of 3,420 students (7th, 8th, and 9th grade) from 12 countries (Austria, Canada, China, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Malta, Portugal, Romania, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States). The intraclass correlation of the full-scale scores of student engagement between countries revealed that it was appropriate to aggregate the data from the 12 countries for further analyses. Coefficient alphas revealed good internal consistency. Test-retest reliability coefficients were also acceptable. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the data fit well to a second-order model with affective, behavioral, and cognitive engagement as the first-order factors and student engagement as the second-order factor. The results support the use of this scale to measure student engagement as a metaconstruct. Furthermore, the significant correlations of the scale with instructional practices, teacher support, peer support, parent support, emotions, academic performance, and school conduct indicated good concurrent validity of the scale. Considerations and implications regarding the international use of this student engagement in school measure are discussed.

Do girls and boys perceive themselves as equally engaged in school? The results of an international study from 12 countries.

This study examined gender differences in student engagement and academic performance in school. Participants included 3420 students (7th, 8th, and 9th graders) from Austria, Canada, China, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Malta, Portugal, Romania, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The results indicated that, compared to boys, girls reported higher levels of engagement in school and were rated higher by their teachers in academic performance. Student engagement accounted for gender differences in academic performance, but gender did not moderate the associations among student engagement, academic performance, or contextual supports. Analysis of multiple-group structural equation modeling revealed that perceptions of teacher support and parent support, but not peer support, were related indirectly to academic performance through student engagement. This partial mediation model was invariant across gender. The findings from this study enhance the understanding about the contextual and personal factors associated with girls' and boys' academic performance around the world.