Pandemic-related threats and well-being: A longitudinal study of preschool teachers in Germany during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Working conditions in the field of early childhood education and care (ECEC) changed significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. To understand how these changes affected preschool teachers, a longitudinal study was conducted in Germany from September 2020 to February 2022, a period that covers different phases of the global health crisis. Multilevel models were used to observe phase-specific changes and to test whether preschool teachers’ emotion regulation strategies moderated relationships between COVID-19 infection threat, economic threat, affective well-being, and COVID-19 related mental strain. A total of 388 preschool teachers (M = 37.54 years) participated in the online survey study (M=4.78 out of max. 16 participations). Results highlighted phases of higher and lower COVID-19 related threat perception and showed associations between perceived infection and economic threat and affective well-being and mental strain. Findings indicated that the extent of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression moderated the associations between COVID-19 infection threat and positive affect, as well as the association between economic threat and mental strain. Phase-specific changes and differences in change rates were discussed in the context of potential prevention and intervention measures.