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. 2022 Apr 24;19(9):5160.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph19095160.

The Health-Sustaining, Moderating, and Mediating Roles of Sense of Coherence in the Relationship between Fear of COVID-19 and Burnout among South African Teachers

Anita Padmanabhanunni  1 , Tyrone Brian Pretorius  1 , Ashraf Kagee  2
Affiliations

The Health-Sustaining, Moderating, and Mediating Roles of Sense of Coherence in the Relationship between Fear of COVID-19 and Burnout among South African Teachers

Anita Padmanabhanunni et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

The current study focuses on the interrelationship between fear of COVID-19, sense of coherence, and burnout. Participants (n = 355) were school teachers from across all provinces in South Africa who completed the Fear of COVID-19 Scale, the Sense of Coherence Scale, and the Maslach Burnout Inventory. It was hypothesized that the dimensions of sense of coherence would be directly associated with burnout and would also mediate or moderate the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and burnout. The results of the path and moderation analyses conducted confirmed this hypothesis. In particular, the health-sustaining role of sense of coherence was demonstrated through the significant direct associations between comprehensibility and manageability on one hand and emotional exhaustion, as well as depersonalization, on the other hand. In addition, meaningfulness had significant direct associations with emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment. Meaningfulness mediated the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and all burnout subscales, while comprehensibility and manageability only mediated the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and both emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. However, comprehensibility and manageability played a moderating role in the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and personal accomplishment. These findings confirm the crucial role of protective factors, such as sense of coherence, and highlights the need for interventions that could strengthen these resources within teachers.

Keywords: comprehensibility; depersonalization; emotional exhaustion; fear of COVID-19; manageability; meaningfulness; personal accomplishment.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Structural equation model of the interrelationship between variables. Note. Regression weights are standardized *** p < 0.001, ** p < 0.01, * p < 0.05.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The relationship between fear of COVID-19 and personal accomplishment for three different groups in terms of manageability and comprehensibility. Note. Manageability: −4.45 = low (solid line), 0.00 = moderate (dash line), 4.45 = high (dotted line). Comprehensibility: −5.42 = low (solid line), 0.00 = moderate (dash line), 5.42 = high (dotted line).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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