The Prevalence and Correlative Factors of Depression Among Chinese Teachers During the COVID-19 Outbreak

Background: Epidemiological data on outbreak-associated depression of Chinese teachers are not available. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and correlates of depression among teachers during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in mainland China. Methods: A large cross-sectional online survey was conducted during the COVID-19 outbreak. Depression was assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale 25 (CD-RISC 25) and Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS-10) were used to measure the mental resilience and stress of participants. The correlative factors of depression were analyzed. Results: In this study, 1,096 teachers were analyzed with a median (range) age of 41 (20-65) years. Of them, 624 (56.9%) suffered from depression (PHQ-9 total score of >4). The multivariate analyses showed that participants with aged >= 41 years (OR = 0.752, 95% CI:0.578-0.979, p = 0.034), participating in epidemic prevention and control (OR = 1.413, 95% CI:1.070-1.867, p = 0.015), thinking prolonged school closure have bad effect (OR = 1.385, 95% CI:1.017-1.885, p = 0.038), sleep duration/day of <6 h (OR = 1.814, 95% CI:1.240-2.655, p < 0.001), physical exercise duration/day of <30 min (OR = 1.619, 95% CI:1.247-2.103, p < 0.001), spending less time with family (OR = 1.729, 95% CI: 1.063-2.655, p = 0.002), being concerned about COVID-19 (OR = 0.609, 95% CI:0.434-0.856, p = 0.004), having poor mental resilience (OR = 6.570, 95% CI:3.533-12.22, p < 0.001) and higher PSS-10 scores (OR = 9.058, 95% CI:3.817-21.50, p < 0.001) were independently associated with depression. Conclusion: During the COVID-19 outbreak, depression was common among teachers. Age, participating in epidemic prevention and control, opinions toward distant teaching and prolonged school closure, sleep duration/day, physical exercise duration, spending time with family, attitude toward COVID-19, mental resilience and stress represented the independent factors for suffering from depression.

Automated summary

During the COVID-19 outbreak in mainland China, a study found that the prevalence of depression among teachers was high, with factors like age, participation in epidemic prevention and control, opinions on distance teaching and prolonged school closure, sleep duration, physical exercise, time spent with family, attitude towards COVID-19, mental resilience, and stress being independently associated with depression.