School Teachers’ Self-Reported Fear and Risk Perception during the COVID-19 Pandemic—A Nationwide Survey in Germany

  1. Stefanie Weinert
  2. Anja Thronicke
  3. Maximilian Hinse
  4. Friedemann Schad
  5. Harald Matthes

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Abstract

With the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases peaking and health systems reaching their limits in winter 2020/21, schools remained closed in many countries. To better understand teachers’ risk perception, we conducted a survey in Germany. Participants were recruited through various associations and invited to take part in a cross-sectional COVID-19-specific online survey. Descriptive statistical analysis was performed. Factors associated with teachers’ fears of contracting the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) were evaluated with an adjusted multivariable regression analysis. The median age of the 6753 participating teachers was 43 years, and 77% were female. Most teachers worked in high schools (29%) and elementary schools (26%). The majority of participants (73%) feared contracting SARS-CoV-2 at school, while 77% intended to receive their COVID-19 vaccination. Ninety-eight percent considered students to pose the greatest risk. Female and younger teachers were significantly more anxious to get infected and teachers who opposed the re-opening of schools had significantly higher odds of being more anxious (p < 0.001). To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to describe teachers’ risk perception of COVID-19 and their attitudes towards vaccinations in a nationwide survey. The anxiety correlates with the COVID-19 protection measures demanded and appears to be a driving factor rather than rational logic.

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  1. Version published to 10.3390/ijerph18179218
  2. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.06.17.21258956: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    EthicsConsent: Written informed consent has been obtained from all the participants prior study enrolment.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    REDCap is a secure web application for building and managing online surveys and databases (11).
    REDCap
    suggested: (REDCap, RRID:SCR_003445)
    Univariate data was analyzed using MS Excel 2000 and GraphPad Prism version 9.0.0.
    GraphPad Prism
    suggested: (GraphPad Prism, RRID:SCR_002798)
    , R Development Core Team, Vienna, Austria). p-values < 0.05 were considered to be significant.
    R Development Core
    suggested: (R Project for Statistical Computing, RRID:SCR_001905)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    Our study had limitations. Most of the participating teachers were recruited via a news magazine and teachers’ associations. Teachers who were neither members of the associations nor visit the webpage of News4teachers could therefore not be included in the study. Furthermore, teachers from vocational schools were not included. Their fear and risk perception may differ as they teach adolescents and young adults. At last, our survey was conducted from March-April 2021. During this dynamic time, Germany faced the second and third COVID-19 waves, vaccination plans changed, schools re-opened and closed depending on the state, and the government relaxed and tightened lockdown measures depending on the numbers of new cases having possibly an impact on teachers’ fear and risk perception. The proportion of female teachers in our study reflects the national gender proportion of teachers. The external validity is therefore given. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to describe teachers fear and risk perception of COVID-19 and their attitude towards vaccinations in a nationwide survey. In conclusion, this study shows a strong fear and risk perception among teachers in Germany which results in an above average vaccination intention. Further studies are needed to evaluate whether new virus variants may change infection events also in adolescents and students.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    Results from scite Reference Check: We found no unreliable references.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  3. Version published to 10.1101/2021.06.17.21258956v1 on medRxiv