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

Abstract

<b>Background:</b> 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. <b>Methods:</b> 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. <b>Results:</b> 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, <i>p</i> = 0.034), participating in epidemic prevention and control (OR = 1.413, 95% CI:1.070-1.867, <i>p</i> = 0.015), thinking prolonged school closure have bad effect (OR = 1.385, 95% CI:1.017-1.885, <i>p</i> = 0.038), sleep duration/day of <6 h (OR = 1.814, 95% CI:1.240-2.655, <i>p</i> < 0.001), physical exercise duration/day of <30 min (OR = 1.619, 95% CI:1.247-2.103, <i>p</i> < 0.001), spending less time with family (OR = 1.729, 95% CI: 1.063-2.655, <i>p</i> = 0.002), being concerned about COVID-19 (OR = 0.609, 95% CI:0.434-0.856, <i>p</i> = 0.004), having poor mental resilience (OR = 6.570, 95% CI:3.533-12.22, <i>p</i> < 0.001) and higher PSS-10 scores (OR = 9.058, 95% CI:3.817-21.50, <i>p</i> < 0.001) were independently associated with depression. <b>Conclusion:</b> 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.