Corona Disease Anxiety in Teachers: The Role of Existential Thinking and Meaning in Life

Background and Objectives: The unprecedented Coronavirus disease (COVID-۱۹) has outstandingly challenged all aspects of individual lives, especially their sources of a meaningful life and spiritual well-being. Hence, we set out to investigate the role of existential thinking and meaning in life in predicting Corona disease anxiety in teachers. Methods: This was a correlational-descriptive study carried out on two hundred sixty-nine volunteers from primary school teachers who were working in ۲۰۲۲ in Kermanshah Province, Iran. Participants were selected by the multi-stage cluster sampling method, and they were measured by questionnaires created in Google Form, including Alipour et al.’s (۲۰۲۰) corona disease anxiety scale, Scherr (۲۰۰۶) existential thinking questionnaire, and Steger et al.’s (۲۰۰۶) meaning in life questionnaire. Finally, the data were analyzed by IBM SPSS software, version ۲۷ using Pearson correlation coefficients and multiple regression analysis. Results: The results showed that existential thinking (r=-۰.۶۴۰, P<۰.۰۱), as well as, meaning in life (r=-۰.۶۶۸, P<۰.۰۱) had an inverse and significant correlation with corona disease anxiety. Based on regression analysis, existential thinking (β=-۰.۱۵۲) and, meaning in life (β=-۰.۳۲۹) negatively and significantly predicted corona disease anxiety. Conclusion: Based on the findings, it can be concluded that corona disease anxiety has a significant negative correlation with existential thinking and meaning in life. In addition, the findings of this study support the role of predictor variables in the prediction of teachers’ Corona disease anxiety. Generally, ۴۱% of the total variance of corona disease anxiety is predicted by existential thinking and meaning in life.

کلیدواژه ها:

Anxiety ، Coronavirus ، COVID-۱۹ ، Existentialism ، Meaning in life ، School teachers ، اضطراب ، کرونا ویروس ، تفکر وجودی ، معنا در زندگی ، معلمان