Instructor-Student Communication about Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Exploring Differences in Instructors’ Professional and Personal Outcomes

ABSTRACT This study sought to better understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on college instructors’ professional and personal well-being. Specifically, this study explored whether new communicative roles emerged in instructor-student communication about mental health. Additionally, it investigated associations among instructors’ communicative roles and their experiences of burnout, teaching satisfaction, and mental health indicators (i.e., depression, anxiety, and stress). Results of independent-samples t-tests (N = 140) suggest that instructors identifying as empathic listeners experience higher rates of depression, anxiety, and stress than instructors identifying as a referral source for students expressing mental health concerns. The implications of these findings are discussed.