Educator Perspectives on Stressors and Health: A qualitative study of U.S. K-12 educators in February 2022

Background The teaching profession, already characterized by high stress and burnout, experienced exacerbated challenges during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. While educators faced changing job demands over the course of the pandemic with switches in remote and in-person teaching along with COVID-19 transmission prevention strategies, the demands and resulting impact in the years that follow are still being explored. We sought to understand the stressors and health impacts of U.S. educators in the 2021–2022 school year, 2 years following the acute phase of the pandemic. Methods Thirty-four certified educators based in Connecticut, USA participated in 4 virtual focus groups in February 2022. A semi-structured focus group script, designed by the research team and guided by the job demands-resources model, was administered to understand stress impacts and stressors. Data were transcribed and analyzed using the constant comparative method to identify themes and sub-themes. Themes were summarized by frequency as well as by individuals. Results The majority of respondents reported educator well-being impacts of stress fell into three categories: physical health impacts and behaviors (76%; e.g. poor sleep, physical exhaustion, lack of exercise, unhealthy eating), psychological health impacts (62%; e.g. emotional exhaustion, anxiety, negative self-evaluation); and social well-being impacts and behaviors (68%; e.g. connections with family or friends, connections with others, relationships with coworkers). Sources of reported stressors included the school or district (94%), personal (65%), situational (35%), and to a lesser extent parents (24%), other work factors (15%), community (12%), students (12%), and state or national level (9%) factors. At the school/district level, stressors were related to protocols/expectations (91%, e.g. excessive or increased demands, insufficient or decreased resources) or administrators (38%). Personal level stressors included personal life (41%); other personal factors (20%); and income (17%); situational factors included the pandemic (26%) and safety concerns (9%). Conclusion Focus groups allowed us to assess the health and working conditions of Connecticut’s public education workforce 2 years following the acute phase of the pandemic. Lasting effects are relevant in the post-pandemic era and continue to pose challenges as teacher shortages increase. Targeted interventions are needed to reduce school and district-related demands and to address stress-related educator well-being.