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Article

Predictors of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms in Teachers from 19 Latin American Countries and Spain Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic

by
Sofia Catalina Arango-Lasprilla
1,
Natalia Albaladejo-Blázquez
2,
Bryan R. Christ
3,
Oswaldo A. Moreno
4,
Juan Carlos Restrepo Botero
5,
Paul B. Perrin
6,* and
Rosario Ferrer-Cascales
2
1
University of Alicante, 03690 Alicante, Spain
2
Department of Health Psychology, University of Alicante, 03690 Alicante, Spain
3
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA
4
Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23284, USA
5
Tecnológico de Antioquia-Institución Universitaria, Medellín 7CH8+XP, Colombia
6
School of Data Science and Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Psychol. Int. 2025, 7(2), 33; https://doi.org/10.3390/psycholint7020033
Submission received: 5 February 2025 / Revised: 7 March 2025 / Accepted: 9 March 2025 / Published: 7 April 2025
Versions Notes

Abstract

:
Background: The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic profoundly impacted education, causing uncertainty and constant changes for teachers, including new teaching modalities, increased workloads, and limited rest periods. Global studies have reported mental health issues such as anxiety and depression among educators during and after the pandemic, primarily in Asia, Europe, and North America. However, these existing studies often show increased anxiety and depression rather than considering school-based predictors that may contribute to increasing rates. Aims: Despite these global findings, there are few investigations of the impact of COVID-19 on teachers in Latin America and Spain. To address these notable global and regional research gaps, this study examined the prevalence and predictors of depression and anxiety symptoms among teachers in Latin America and Spain. Method: An online survey collected data on demographics, work-related characteristics, COVID-19 experiences, and measures of mental health from teachers in 19 Latin American countries and Spain using a snowball sampling approach. The sample comprised 2004 teachers, with 81.8% female participants and a mean age of 44.46 years (SD = 9.8). Descriptive statistics and hierarchical multiple linear regressions were conducted with depression and anxiety as outcome variables. Results: Consistent predictors of increased anxiety and depression symptomology included being female or transgender, being younger, having lower socioeconomic status, having pre-existing mental health conditions or chronic illness, having increased workload during the pandemic, being dissatisfied with teaching resources, and having negative changes in relationships with students, parents, or colleagues. The predictors collectively explained 16.4% of the variance in depression and 17.5% of the variance in anxiety symptoms. Conclusions: The significant mental health needs of teachers in Latin America and Spain during the COVID-19 pandemic highlight the pressing necessity of prioritizing the mental health needs of educators to improve their psychological health and children’s educational environments. These results also suggest the practical need to provide teachers with additional school-based supports and resources for future transitions to online learning or disruptions to traditional instruction.

1. Introduction

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) came from an extensive family of viruses that can cause diseases in both animals and humans (Ndwandwe & Wiysonge, 2021; OMS, n.d.). In humans, they cause respiratory infections ranging from the common cold to more severe illnesses (Ramírez González et al., 2021). The first reports of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) emerged in the city of Wuhan, China, in December 2019 (OMS, 2020), and gradually the virus began to spread worldwide, causing 118,000 cases of infection in 114 countries and 4291 deaths (OPS, 2020). Due to its rapid spread and lethality, on 11 March 2020, the WHO declared this disease a global pandemic (OMS, 2020). During the pandemic declaration, the OMS (2020) established states of emergency, lockdowns, and social distancing as some of the main measures to stop the spread of the virus. Countries like China, France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Turkey, among others, chose to implement quarantine to reduce contagion, and this measure gradually spread to other countries around the world (Real Decreto 463, 2020; AS, 2020; Parlamento Andino, 2022).
Up to that point, the impact of these measures on the physical and mental health of individuals at the population level was unknown. As the quarantine progressed and social isolation was prolonged, reports began to emerge worldwide about the impact that this was having on different groups of people (Balluerka Lasa et al., 2020), including healthcare personnel (Dosil Santamaría et al., 2021; Tolsa & Malas, 2021; Camargo et al., 2023), children and youth (Erades & Morales, 2020; Ezpeleta et al., 2020; Loades et al., 2020; Acosta Torres et al., 2020; Achdut & Refaeli, 2020), older adults (Cosio, 2021; Molina Martínez et al., 2021; Granda Oblitas et al., 2022; Callís Fernández et al., 2021; Mera Posligua & Márquez Fernández, 2021), and teachers (Wong et al., 2021; D. F. O. Silva et al., 2021).
The COVID-19 pandemic profoundly impacted all aspects of life, including education (Jiménez-Sánchez, 2020; CEPAL & UNESCO, 2020). Teachers were on the front line having to face uncertainty and constant changes due to new teaching modalities, connectivity issues when delivering their classes (Burke & Dempsey, 2020), balancing their work life with family life (Palma Herrera et al., 2023), increased workload (Galvis López et al., 2021; López Ortiz et al., 2022), little time to rest (Romero Lara, 2021), high school dropout rates (Alvarez-Rivero et al., 2023; Pachay López & Rodríguez Gámez, 2021), lack or ignorance of technological tools (Trust & Whalen, 2020), limited interaction with parents (Trust & Whalen, 2020), concerns about teaching effectiveness (Cabrera Morán, 2021), and fear of contagion (Minihana et al., 2022; Dennerlein et al., 2020; Hidalgo Andrade et al., 2021). All these changes led to this population developing a high risk of mental health problems (Ribeiro et al., 2020).
Different studies worldwide reported that during the quarantine, many teachers experienced anxiety (D. F. O. Silva et al., 2021; Soto Vento & Gabino Atala, 2021; Santamaría et al., 2021; Ma et al., 2022; Mora et al., 2021; N. S. S. Silva et al., 2021), depression (D. F. O. Silva et al., 2021), stress (D. F. O. Silva et al., 2021; Aperribai et al., 2020; Dosil Santamaría et al., 2021), and burnout (Sánchez Pujalte et al., 2021; Cheptea et al., 2021; Zhen et al., 2022). These problems may have led to increased alcohol consumption (N. S. S. Silva et al., 2021), sleep problems (Dosil Santamaría et al., 2021; Sisniegas Vergara et al., 2023; N. S. S. Silva et al., 2021), pessimism or negative emotions (Gavotto Nogales & Castellanos Pierra, 2022), fatigue or exhaustion (Buchner et al., 2020; Lizana et al., 2021; Sokal et al., 2020), social isolation (Ribeiro et al., 2020; Expósito & Marsollier, 2021), family and work conflicts (Santiago et al., 2023; Wang et al., 2023), problems in sexual functioning (Ali et al., 2021), high physical inactivity (Barbosa et al., 2022; Koly et al., 2023), weight gain (Koly et al., 2023; R. R. V. Silva et al., 2021), changes in eating habits (Koly et al., 2023), job dissatisfaction (R. R. V. Silva et al., 2021; Dosil Santamaría et al., 2021), anger (Gavotto Nogales & Castellanos Pierra, 2022), and decreased quality of life (D. F. O. Silva et al., 2021).
Of all the mental health problems, depression and anxiety were the two main problems reported by teachers worldwide (D. F. O. Silva et al., 2021; Santiago et al., 2023). Regarding depression, between 15.9% and 67% experienced this problem (D. F. O. Silva et al., 2021; Ma et al., 2022; Lizana & Lera, 2022; Ozamiz-Etxebarria et al., 2020; Lacomba Trejo et al., 2022; Santiago et al., 2023), and women (Ma et al., 2022; Casimiro Urcos et al., 2020; Lizana & Lera, 2022; Gao et al., 2020; Huang & Zhao, 2020; Lai et al., 2020; Liu et al., 2020; Qiu et al., 2020), people living with children (Cameron et al., 2020; Ribeiro et al., 2020), those with a chronic illness (Santiago et al., 2023), those who experienced the death of a family member or friend due to COVID-19 (Gawrych et al., 2022), older teachers (Ozamiz-Etxebarria et al., 2021a), and teachers with young children in their care (Ozamiz-Etxebarria et al., 2021a; Stachteas & Stachteas, 2020) were at greater risk of depressive symptoms.
Different studies found that between 10% and 73% of teachers experienced anxiety problems (D. F. O. Silva et al., 2021; Ma et al., 2022; Ozamiz-Etxebarria et al., 2020; Lizana & Lera, 2022) and that women (Ozamiz-Etxebarria et al., 2021b; Li et al., 2020; D. F. O. Silva et al., 2021; Solomou & Constantinidou, 2020), older teachers (Ozamiz-Etxebarria et al., 2021b), those who did not engage in regular physical exercise (Çifçi & Demir, 2020; Ma et al., 2022), those who were married (Alhazmi et al., 2022), those working in primary schools (Ozamiz-Etxebarria et al., 2021b), those in charge of lower educational levels (e.g., preschool) (Nagasawa & Tarrant, 2020; Souto-Manning & Melvin, 2022; Hong et al., 2021), those fearing the consequences of COVID-19 (Gavotto Nogales & Castellanos Pierra, 2022; Gawrych et al., 2022; Cheng & Lam, 2021), those with problems balancing family life (Lizana & Lera, 2022), and teachers with a history of health problems (physical or mental) (Lacomba Trejo et al., 2022; Applegate & Ouslander, 2020; Dong et al., 2020; Ozamiz-Etxebarria et al., 2020) were most at risk of anxiety.
Most of these studies on anxiety and depression problems have been carried out in teachers from Asian, European, and North American countries (D. F. O. Silva et al., 2021; Wakui et al., 2021), and few studies have been conducted in Latin American or Spanish-speaking countries. For example, N. S. S. Silva et al. (2021b) conducted a study with 15,641 teachers to describe the working conditions, lifestyles, and mental health of public school teachers in Brazil during the COVID-19 pandemic. These authors found that 82.3% of teachers had mental health problems associated with increased alcohol consumption, sleep problems, use of psychotropic medications, decreased quality of life, and fear of COVID-19 consequences.
In Chile, Lizana et al. (2021) evaluated changes in the quality of life of 63 teachers before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Compared to before the pandemic, teachers had worse quality of life, especially women and people under age 45. In another study, Lizana and Lera (2022) analyzed the levels of depression, anxiety, and stress in a group of Chilean teachers during the second wave of COVID-19 and the sociodemographic and personal factors associated with the presentation of these problems. Prevalences of 67% for depression symptoms, 73% for anxiety symptoms, and 86% for stress symptoms were found, identifying higher percentages among women and teachers under 35 years old, as well as factors associated with job instability and the use of educational technologies. Lacomba Trejo et al. (2022) studied the emotional impact of COVID-19 and the mediating and protective factors for the onset of these problems in 614 Chilean teachers. Teachers with a history of health problems (physical or mental) experienced higher emotional problems (depression, anxiety, and stress), as well as lower life satisfaction, emotional balance, and resilience. They also reported being more concerned about COVID-19 and its consequences than healthy teachers. A study by Mora et al. (2021) in Ecuador investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on teachers, finding that burnout, anxiety, and depression in this population were related to factors such as emotional exhaustion (47.73%) and the economic and labor situation (62.12%).
The few studies that were conducted in Latin America have a number of limitations: (a) they were conducted with teachers in a single country or specific regions within a country; (b) mental health problems were studied only during the quarantine period; (c) the studies had small samples; (d) the studies omitted predictors of mental health problems; (e) the studies were mostly of university teachers. Therefore, the current study aims to investigate the rates of depression and anxiety in teachers from Latin America and Spain post-pandemic and to determine the predictors of these problems.

2. Methods

2.1. Participants

A total of 3792 people began the survey. However, 66 did not give informed consent, and 1722 did not complete the entire survey. Thus, the final sample consisted of 2004 teachers from 19 Latin American countries and Spain, of whom 81.8% were female. The mean age was 44.46 (SD = 9.8) years old, and the highest educational level for most of the sample (38.8%) was a bachelor’s degree. The rest of the demographic characteristics can be found in Table 1. Inclusion criteria for participating in the study were (a) being an adult (≥18), (b) working as a primary or secondary education teacher in a Latin American country or Spain, and (c) working as a teacher from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to the present (the time that they answered the survey). All participants provided written informed consent and could withdraw from this study at any time.

2.2. Instruments

The survey consisted of questions gathering the following information: (a) demographic information, (b) work-related characteristics (e.g., workplace, years of experience, etc.), (c) information about COVID-19 (e.g., infection, vaccines, etc.), (d) the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2), (e) Generalized Anxiety Disorder-2 (GAD-2), (g) information related to online teaching (e.g., training in online teaching, use of technology, adaptation of classes), and (h) information related to the return to face-to-face classes (e.g., fear of contagion of COVID-19, workload, educational and psychosocial problems of students). Pre-existing Spanish versions of the PHQ-2 (Gómez-Gómez et al., 2023) and GAD-2 (García-Campayo et al., 2012) were used, and all other items were generated in Spanish. The authors developed some of the questions about the problems with online teaching experienced by teachers and with the return to face-to-face teaching. In contrast, others were adapted from the survey published by Jelińska and Paradowski (2021).

2.3. Procedure

The survey was developed by researchers from Spain, the United States, and Colombia. Following a literature review, an initial survey was created, and a pilot study assessed the appropriateness of the questions. The authors originally developed the items assessing the impact of fears related to COVID-19 and adapted some of the items in the second phase based on feedback from colleagues to make them more aligned with the educational systems in diverse countries. After revision, the final survey was incorporated into the Qualtrics online platform. On the first page, information about this study, such as the objective, criteria for participation, and the voluntary and anonymous nature of this study, was included. Additionally, a preliminary question about acceptance to participate in this study was included, serving as informed consent. This study was approved by the ethics committee of the University of Alicante.
To distribute the survey using a snowball sampling method, we began by reaching out to educators from multiple schools in Colombia and Spain, requesting that they complete the survey and then pass it to their colleagues. To broaden our outreach, we shared the survey across digital platforms, including Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, and Instagram. The survey link was posted in online communities, educator-focused groups, and professional networks catering to teachers in Latin America. Additionally, we collaborated with professional associations in different Latin American countries to further distribute the survey. For instance, in Argentina, we partnered with Asociación Educar, an organization with over a million followers. They supported our study by sending an email to their database of educators. Similarly, in Ecuador, we worked with the Ministry of Education, which assisted in disseminating the survey to teachers nationwide. Across all outreach efforts, participants were encouraged to share the survey link with their professional networks, further amplifying its reach.

2.4. Statistical Analyses

Descriptive statistics were calculated for the outcome variables of depression and anxiety. The main statistical analyses involved two hierarchal stepwise multiple linear regressions with depression and anxiety as the outcome variables. In each regression, Step 1 included the predictors of male sex vs. female or trans, age, pre-pandemic neurological disorder, pre-pandemic mental illness, pre-pandemic chronic illness, partnered vs. not, education level, and socioeconomic status. Step 2 included school characteristics, and Step 3 included positive psychological variables. All analyses were run with SPSS version 29.

3. Results

3.1. Descriptives

The participants’ average depression score on the PHQ-2 was 1.32 (SD = 1.44), and 13.92% of the sample met or surpassed the threshold for clinically significant depression symptoms with a score of 3 or higher. The participants’ mean anxiety score on the GAD-2 was 2.32 (SD = 1.59), and 36.78% of the sample met or surpassed the threshold for clinically significant anxiety with a score of 3 or higher.

3.2. Multiple Regressions

3.2.1. Depression

In the first hierarchical linear regression predicting depression (Table 2), Step 1 was statistically significant, F(8, 1995) = 16.68, R2 = 0.063, p < 0.001. Participants had higher depression scores if they were female or trans (β = −0.12, p < 0.001), younger (β = −0.08, p < 0.001), of lower socioeconomic status (β = −0.07, p = 0.001), and had a pre-pandemic mental illness (β = 0.15, p < 0.001) or chronic illness (β = 0.08, p < 0.001). With the addition of Step 2 school characteristics, the overall model was still statistically significant, F(13, 1990) = 13.91, R2 = 0.083, p < 0.001. Within the model, participants had higher depression scores if they had a higher workload now vs. pre-pandemic (β = 0.14, p < 0.001). After the Step 3 addition of positive psychological variables, the overall model was significant, F(19, 1984) = 20.48, R2 = 0.164, p < 0.001. Within this step, participants had higher depression scores if they were not satisfied with the teaching resources their school provided during the COVID-19 pandemic (β = −0.10, p < 0.001), if they had a lower score on the personal fulfillment subscale of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (β = −0.21, p < 0.001), and if their relationships with students, parents, and/or colleagues did not improve as a result of the pandemic (β = −0.09, p < 0.001). All the previously significant unique predictors remained statistically significant, and now teachers who taught in a public school had lower depression levels (β = −0.05, p = 0.020).

3.2.2. Anxiety

In the second hierarchical linear regression predicting anxiety (Table 2), Step 1 was statistically significant, F(8, 1995) = 24.45, R2 = 0.089, p < 0.001. Participants had higher anxiety scores if they were female or trans (β = −0.18, p < 0.001), younger (β = −0.06, p = 0.005), of lower socioeconomic status (β = −0.06, p = 0.004), had less education (β = −0.05, p = 0.014), and had a pre-pandemic chronic illness (β = 0.09, p < 0.001), mental illness (β = 0.17, p < 0.001), or neurological disorder (β = 0.05, p = 0.024). With the addition of Step 2 school characteristics, the overall model was still statistically significant, F(13, 1990) = 20.17, R2 = 0.116, p < 0.001. Within the model, participants had higher anxiety scores if they had a higher workload now vs. pre-pandemic (β = 0.15, p < 0.001), taught in a secondary vs. primary school (β = 0.06, p = 0.004), or taught in a non-public school (β = −0.05, p = 0.014). After the Step 3 addition of positive psychological predictors, the overall model was significant, F(19, 1984) = 22.14, R2 = 0.175, p < 0.001. Within this step, participants had higher anxiety scores if they were not satisfied with the teaching resources their school provided during the COVID-19 pandemic (β = −0.07, p = 0.004), if their school did not take sufficient measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 (β = −0.05, p = 0.035), if they had a lower personal fulfillment score (β = −0.18, p < 0.001), and if their relationships with students, parents, and/or colleagues did not improve as a result of the pandemic (β = −0.08, p < 0.001). Nearly all of the previously significant unique predictors remained statistically significant, with the exception that having a pre-pandemic neurological disorder was no longer significant, and teaching in secondary school vs. primary was associated with increased anxiety (β = 0.04, p = 0.047).

4. Discussion

This study investigated the rates of depression and anxiety in 2004 teachers from Latin America and Spain post-pandemic and determined the predictors of these problems. The depression findings from the current study generally dovetail those found globally that showed that teachers who were female or had pre-existing chronic illnesses had higher depression symptomology during the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g., Ma et al., 2022; Casimiro Urcos et al., 2020; Santiago et al., 2023), though the present study expands this literature by including additional predictors such as school characteristics and resources and personal fulfilment (Ozamiz-Etxebarria et al., 2021a). However, these findings contrast with those found globally by showing that younger, rather than older, teachers experienced heightened depression symptoms during the pandemic in Latin America and Spain. These findings highlight that the experiences of teachers in Latin America and Spain may not fully reflect those in other global regions, suggesting the need to include this region in future educational studies. These findings also support the prior literature suggesting that teachers’ depressive symptoms in Latin America were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic because of burnout, emotional exhaustion, and economic and labor environments (Mora et al., 2021). However, these findings notably expand upon those found in existing studies looking at the impact of COVID-19 on teachers in Latin America by including a broader range of countries and specifically focusing on a wide range of predictors of increased mental health challenges.
These anxiety findings similarly support the global literature suggesting that teachers who were female (Ozamiz-Etxebarria et al., 2021b), had a history of physical or mental health problems (Lacomba Trejo et al., 2022; Applegate & Ouslander, 2020; Dong et al., 2020; Ozamiz-Etxebarria et al., 2020), and feared the consequences of COVID-19 (Gavotto Nogales & Castellanos Pierra, 2022; Gawrych et al., 2022; Cheng & Lam, 2021) had higher levels of anxiety symptomology. However, the current findings diverge from the global literature by suggesting that those who were younger and taught secondary educational years had higher levels of anxiety symptoms in Latin America and Spain, while global studies found that those who were older and taught younger students had higher levels of anxiety symptoms (Ozamiz-Etxebarria et al., 2021b). This further suggests that teaching challenges in Latin America may not be the same as those faced elsewhere, necessitating further studies in this global region. The findings expand the global literature by showing that those with neurological disorders and those who teach in non-public schools had higher levels of anxiety. Relative to studies conducted within Latin America, the present study mirrors findings that teachers with a history of health problems and experiencing symptoms of burnout had higher levels of anxiety (Lacomba Trejo et al., 2022; Mora et al., 2021), although, as mentioned above, the present sample is more diverse in terms of countries studied and predictors included.

4.1. Theoretical Implications

This study highlights how the teachers who experienced elevated symptoms of depression and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic held marginalized social statuses or were from groups that were more at risk for mental health problems. These findings continue to suggest that during the COVID-19 pandemic, pre-existing health disparities significantly increased (Boden et al., 2021), highlighting the socioeconomic and systemic inequalities that place more vulnerable groups at risk of mental health disparities including educators. In the context of this sample, socioeconomic status, women/gender minority status, and pre-existing health conditions may all interact to further increase the health disparities experienced by teachers in Latin America and Spain. Future research should continue to find ways to mitigate these existing health disparities.

4.2. Practical Implications

Practically, these findings underscore the critical need to address mental health symptoms for educators in Latin America and Spain. Although the literature highlights challenges faced by teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic (Boden et al., 2021; Lizana & Lera, 2022; Mora et al., 2021), these findings suggest the vital need to address mental health problems through multifaceted means involving teacher-level interventions and school-wide and system-level policies. Specifically, school administrators can implement educational programs that promote the psychological health of teachers, including dissemination of mental health resources, program implementation for teacher stress management and proactive coping mechanisms, and fostering a supportive academic and occupational environment, especially for teachers of interacting marginalized statuses. Additionally, school-wide policies can address systemic strategies that contribute to teachers’ mental health needs, such as evaluating and cultivating a learning environment that nurtures job security, positive workload quality, and resource distribution through mental health equity frameworks (e.g., providing more for teachers who are more at risk for mental health needs). Further, in future pandemics or crises that cause disruption to traditional learning, schools should provide more support for teachers for the transition to online learning and focus on providing safety measures that help teachers to feel comfortable and safe.

5. Limitations and Future Direction

Although this study identified contextual and demographic factors associated with elated depressive and anxiety symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic, several limitations are important to consider. The sample was extremely large and represented 19 Latin American countries and Spain, but the methodology was cross-sectional self-report, and the sample comprised primarily female participants. Further, the heavy social media emphasis on participant recruitment, as well as the snowball sampling approach, likely generated a biased sample that did not fully represent teachers in Latin America and Spain. As a result, these findings may have limited generalizability to men and teachers who are not actively engaged with social media. Further, there may be inherent biases due to self-report, such as common method bias. Because participants reported on both their own mental health and their perspectives of school support and environments, those predictors could have influenced mental health, or participants’ mental health could have influenced their perceptions. Future research could use a larger and more diverse representative sample of teachers and aim to use objective clinical measures of mental health. Future research could also use a longitudinal design to understand the impact of COVID-19 on teachers in Latin America and Spain over time, particularly employing cross-lagged panel techniques to infer causality in the cross-sectional associations found in this study.

6. Conclusions

Overall, the significant mental health needs faced by teachers in Latin America and Spain during the COVID-19 pandemic highlight the pressing necessity of prioritizing the mental health needs of educators. Specifically, understanding and addressing teachers’ increased mental health needs and the main mechanisms driving these mental health needs is critical for their psychological health and children’s educational environments during crises like pandemics. For example, schools and communities can provide more mental health resources to teachers and focus on mitigating the key stressors causing increases in depression and anxiety symptomology during times of crisis such as increased work load, lack of support for changing educational modalities, lack of sufficient school safety resources, and increased challenges maintaining positive relationships with students, parents, and colleagues. In these ways, the educational system and health professionals can create a more sustainable educational environment in Latin America and Spain by understanding and addressing the roles that demographics, school characteristics, and teaching resources play in increasing teachers’ mental health problems to promote better mental health for teachers in these regions.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, S.C.A.-L., N.A.-B., O.A.M., P.B.P. and R.F.-C.; methodology, S.C.A.-L., N.A.-B., O.A.M., P.B.P. and R.F.-C.; formal analysis, S.C.A.-L., B.R.C. and P.B.P.; investigation, S.C.A.-L., N.A.-B., J.C.R.B., P.B.P. and R.F.-C.; data curation, S.C.A.-L. and J.C.R.B.; writing—original draft preparation, S.C.A.-L., N.A.-B., B.R.C., O.A.M., J.C.R.B., P.B.P. and R.F.-C.; writing—review and editing, S.C.A.-L., N.A.-B., B.R.C., O.A.M., J.C.R.B., P.B.P. and R.F.-C.; supervision, N.A.-B., P.B.P. and R.F.-C.; project administration S.C.A.-L., N.A.-B., B.R.C., O.A.M., J.C.R.B., P.B.P. and R.F.-C. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of this manuscript.

Funding

This research received no external funding.

Institutional Review Board Statement

This study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the Institutional Review Board (or Ethics Committee) of the University of Alicante (protocol code UA2022-05-22 and date of approval: 31 May 2022).

Informed Consent Statement

Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in this study.

Data Availability Statement

Due to privacy issues, data are available from the corresponding author upon request.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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Table 1. Demographic information.
Table 1. Demographic information.
FrequencyPercentage
Marital status
 Single (never married)50525.2
 Married87443.6
 Widowed422.1
 Divorced1798.9
 Separated824.1
 Free union (I am not married but I live with my partner)32216.1
Country of origin
 Antigua and Barbuda10.0
 Argentina102851.3
 Barbados10.0
 Bolivia160.8
 Colombia28214.1
 Costa Rica90.4
 Chile1155.7
 Ecuador20210.1
 El Salvador10.0
 Guatemala110.5
 Honduras20.1
 Mexico914.5
 Nicaragua10.0
 Panama70.3
 Paraguay291.4
 Peru391.9
 Dominican Republic20.1
 Uruguay984.9
 Venezuela70.3
 Spain623.1
Area of residence
 Urban area183791.7
 Rural area1678.3
Highest level of education
 Non-university studies (e.g., vocational training, early childhood education technician)49724.8
 Diploma26413.2
 Bachelor degree77838.8
 Master40720.3
 PhD542.7
 Postdoc40.2
Family’s socioeconomic class
 Low lower class331.6
 Upper lower class1075.3
 Medium lower class110355.0
 Upper middle class73536.7
 Lower upper class231.1
 Upper upper class30.1
Table 2. Depression and anxiety multiple regressions with standardized β-weights.
Table 2. Depression and anxiety multiple regressions with standardized β-weights.
DepressionAnxiety
Predictor Variableβp-Valueβp-Value
Step 1
 Male sex vs. female or trans−0.11<0.001−0.16<0.001
 Age−0.060.003−0.050.015
 Partnered vs. not−0.010.7380.040.071
 Socioeconomic status−0.050.013−0.050.016
 Education level−0.010.645−0.07<0.001
 Pre-pandemic chronic illness0.07<0.0010.08<0.001
 Pre-pandemic mental illness0.13<0.0010.14<0.001
 Pre-pandemic neurological disorder0.020.2590.040.055
Step 2
 Rural vs. urban−0.010.8150.000.922
 Secondary vs. primary teacher0.010.5300.040.047
 Public school teacher vs. other−0.050.020−0.08<0.001
 Workload now vs. pre-pandemic0.10<0.0010.11<0.001
 Number of months teaching online due to the pandemic0.010.806−0.010.819
Step 3
 Satisfaction with teaching resources provided during the pandemic−0.10<0.001−0.070.004
 Amount of training for online teaching0.030.1610.040.072
 School took sufficient measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19−0.050.063−0.050.035
 Relationships with students, parents, and/or colleagues improved due to the pandemic−0.09<0.001−0.08<0.001
 Teacher saw benefits of online teaching−0.010.5020.020.306
 Personal fulfillment score−0.21<0.001−0.18<0.001
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MDPI and ACS Style

Arango-Lasprilla, S.C.; Albaladejo-Blázquez, N.; Christ, B.R.; Moreno, O.A.; Restrepo Botero, J.C.; Perrin, P.B.; Ferrer-Cascales, R. Predictors of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms in Teachers from 19 Latin American Countries and Spain Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Psychol. Int. 2025, 7, 33. https://doi.org/10.3390/psycholint7020033

AMA Style

Arango-Lasprilla SC, Albaladejo-Blázquez N, Christ BR, Moreno OA, Restrepo Botero JC, Perrin PB, Ferrer-Cascales R. Predictors of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms in Teachers from 19 Latin American Countries and Spain Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Psychology International. 2025; 7(2):33. https://doi.org/10.3390/psycholint7020033

Chicago/Turabian Style

Arango-Lasprilla, Sofia Catalina, Natalia Albaladejo-Blázquez, Bryan R. Christ, Oswaldo A. Moreno, Juan Carlos Restrepo Botero, Paul B. Perrin, and Rosario Ferrer-Cascales. 2025. "Predictors of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms in Teachers from 19 Latin American Countries and Spain Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic" Psychology International 7, no. 2: 33. https://doi.org/10.3390/psycholint7020033

APA Style

Arango-Lasprilla, S. C., Albaladejo-Blázquez, N., Christ, B. R., Moreno, O. A., Restrepo Botero, J. C., Perrin, P. B., & Ferrer-Cascales, R. (2025). Predictors of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms in Teachers from 19 Latin American Countries and Spain Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Psychology International, 7(2), 33. https://doi.org/10.3390/psycholint7020033

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