| dc.description.abstract | Background In March 2019, the COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, leading to lockdowns in nearly all countries. As a result, everything, including school classes, became virtual. This confinement caused distress among the global population, including teachers. While many studies have been carried out focusing on students' mental health, little attention has been given to schoolteachers in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the mental health status of schoolteachers in Dhaka, Bangladesh during the pandemic. Methods To achieve this, 507 teachers from 31 schools were recruited using the snowball sampling method. Data were collected on their sociodemographic background as well as depression and anxiety-related symptoms using the Patient Health Questionnaire and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to present the socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents, estimate the prevalence of depression and generalized anxiety. To identify factors that were associated with severity of depression and anxiety, generalized ordered logistic regression models were used after checking the proportionality odds assumption. Results Out of all the 507 respondents, the majority (70.41%) were female. The largest percentage of respondents (54%) were in the age group 35 to 54 years, followed by the 18 to 34 years age group (39.6%) while the smallest percentage was in the 55+ age group. Almost 49% of the participants reported mild to severe depression, and 44.4% reported mild to severe anxiety. Moreover, 35.1% reported experiencing both depression and anxiety, while 42.3% reported neither. Further, 13.4% and 9.3% exclusively reported depression and anxiety respectively. Depression: The study results indicated that teachers who did not contract COVID-19 were more likely to experience mild to severe depression compared to those who contracted the virus [OR (95% CI): 2.13 (1.41, 3.23)], (P<0.01). Additionally, teachers who taught classes in grades 9 to 12 had a lower likelihood of experiencing mild to severe depression compared to those who taught kindergarten, with a significant odds ratio of [OR (95% CI): 0.4 (0.20, 0.82)], (P=0.012). Moreover, teachers who received training for conducting online classes had a lower likelihood of experiencing mild to severe depression compared to those who did not receive such training, [OR (95% CI): 0.51 (0.34, 0.76)], (P<0.01). Lastly, teachers from Bengali medium schools were less likely to experience severe depression compared to teachers from English medium schools, (95% CI): 0.41 (0.27, 0.63)], (P<0.01). Anxiety: Teachers aged between 35 and 54 were 1.63 times more likely to experience mild to severe anxiety compared to teachers under the age of 34 [OR (95% CI): 1.63 (1.08, 2.48)], (P=0.02). Teachers aged over 55 were 2.37 times more likely to experience mild to severe anxiety than teachers under 34 years old [OR (95% CI): 2.37 (1.02, 5.47)], (P=0.04). Those who did not experience the loss of a family member or close friend due to COVID-19 were more likely to have mild to severe anxiety compared to those who did [OR (95% CI): 1.67(1.13, 2.45)], (P=0.01). Teachers with more than four family members were 81% less likely to have mild to moderate anxiety compared to teachers with only two family members [OR (95% CI): 0.19 (0.05,0.68)], (P=0.01). Teachers from Bengali medium schools were 48% less likely to have mild to severe anxiety compared to those from English medium schools [OR (95% CI): 0.52(0.35, 0.80)], (P<0.01). Teachers who taught classes 9 to 12 were 61% less likely to have mild to severe anxiety compared to teachers who taught kindergarten [OR (95% CI): 0.39(0.20, 0.79)], (P<0.01). Discussion and Conclusion According to the findings of this study, teachers were significantly depressed and anxious during the COVID-19 pandemic, a result that is consistent with findings from studies conducted in Asia, Europe, and North America. Teaching involves focus, self-control, and the ability to engage students, which can be challenging to achieve in an online setting. Despite the short notice of transiting to online classes, teachers made their best efforts to adapt without impacting much on their mental health. | eng |