Occupational balance during Covid-19 lockdown among occupational therapy academics¹

Abstract

Introduction

The mandatory confinement in response to Covid-19 forced the closure of colleges and universities, leading professors to adapt their teaching strategies to digital media, These changes in teaching processes showed an increase in the workday, greater stress, fatigue, and difficulties in separating work from other occupations, which may compromise the physical and mental health of teachers.

Objective

To describe the occupational balance of occupational therapy teachers at a university in Cali-Colombia, during lockdown due to Covid-19, and to establish the relationship between sociodemographic variables and the presence of symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Method

A cross-sectional study was conducted with 32 occupational therapy professors. The information was collected using Google forms containing a sociodemographic questionnaire, the OBQ-E, PHQ-9 questionnaires, and the GAD-7 scale. Absolute frequency tables and percentages were made for qualitative variables, and quantitative variables were presented as mean and standard deviation. Bivariate analysis was performed using t-student tests, ANOVA, and Pearson's correlations.

Results

75.0% of participants were women. In occupational balance the average was 36.5; meanwhile, 31.3% manifested symptoms of anxiety and 43.8% of depression.

Conclusions

Most of the professors were women, gender that was related to the care of older adults. The scores in occupational balance and the presence of anxiety and depression symptoms reflect the adjustments that the professors assumed during the confinement, in response to the increase in daily activities, the little variety between occupations that they wanted and had to do, and satisfaction with the job, rest and sleep time.

Keywords:
Anxiety; Depression; Occupational Therapy; Activities of Daily Living; COVID-19; Faculty

Resumen

Introducción

El confinamiento obligatorio en respuesta al Covid-19 obligó al cierre de institutos y universidades, haciendo que los docentes adaptarán sus estrategias de enseñanza a medios digitales, experimentando un incremento de la jornada laboral, mayor estrés, fatiga y dificultades para separar el trabajo de otras ocupaciones, lo cual compromete su salud física y mental.

Objetivos

Describir el equilibrio ocupacional de docentes de Terapia ocupacional de una institución universitaria de Cali-Colombia, durante el confinamiento por Covid-19, y establecer la relación con variables sociodemográficas y la presencia de sintomatología de ansiedad y depresión.

Metodo

Estudio observacional de corte transversal con 32 docentes de terapia ocupacional. La información se recopiló mediante un cuestionario sociodemográfico, los cuestionarios OBQ-E, PHQ-9 y la escala GAD-7. Se realizaron tablas de frecuencias y porcentajes para variables cualitativas y las cuantitativas se presentaron en promedio y desviación estándar. El análisis bivariado se hizo mediante análisis de correspondencia múltiple, t-student, ANOVA y correlaciones de Pearson.

Resultados

El 75,0% de participantes eran mujeres. El promedio en el equilibrio ocupacional fue 36,5; el 31,3% manifestó síntomas de ansiedad y 43,8% de depresión.

Conclusiones

La mayoría de docentes eran mujeres, sexo que se relacionó con el cuidado de adultos mayores. Las puntuaciones en equilibrio ocupacional y la presencia de síntomas de ansiedad y depresión reflejan los ajustes que los docentes asumieron durante el confinamiento, en respuesta al aumento de las actividades diarias, la poca variedad entre ocupaciones que querían y que debían hacer y la satisfacción con el tiempo de descanso y sueño.

Palabras-clave:
Ansiedad; Depresión; Terapia Ocupacional; Actividades Cotidianas; COVID-19; Docentes

Resumo

Introdução

No setor de educação, o confinamento obrigatório em resposta ao Covid-19 obrigou ao fechamento de institutos e universidades, fazendo que os professores adaptassem suas estratégias de ensino às mídias digitais, vivenciando aumento da jornada de trabalho, maior estresse, cansaço e dificuldades na separação do trabalho de outras ocupações, o que compromete sua saúde física e mental.

Objetivo

Descrever o equilíbrio ocupacional de professores de terapia ocupacional de uma instituição universitária em Cali-Colômbia, durante o confinamento, e estabelecer a relação com variáveis ​​sociodemográficas e a presença de sintomas de ansiedade e depressão.

Método

Foi realizado um estudo observacional transversal com 32 professores de terapia ocupacional. As informações foram coletadas por meio de formulários Google que continham um questionário sociodemográfico, os questionários OBQ-E, PHQ-9 e a escala GAD-7. Foram elaboradas tabelas de frequências absolutas e percentuais para as variáveis ​​qualitativas, e as variáveis ​​quantitativas foram apresentadas em média e desvio padrão. A análise bivariada foi feita por meio de testes t-student, ANOVA e correlações de Pearson.

Resultados

75% das participantes eram mulheres. No saldo ocupacional, a média foi de 36,5; 31,3% manifestaram sintomas de ansiedade e 43,8% de depressão.

Conclusões

A maioria dos professores era do sexo feminino, sexo que estava relacionado ao cuidado de idosos. As pontuações no equilíbrio ocupacional e a presença de sintomas de ansiedade e depressão refletem os ajustes que os professores fizeram durante o confinamento, em resposta ao aumento das atividades diárias, a pouca variedade entre as ocupações que desejavam e as que tinham que fazer e a satisfação com o tempo de descanso e sono.

Palavras-chave:
Ansiedade; Depressão; Terapia Ocupacional; Atividades Cotidianas; COVID-19; Docentes

Introduction

In December 2019, China reported the presence and unusual increase in people with a respiratory infection, which was identified as a new type of coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19). A month later, its high transmissibility between humans was validated and on March 11, 2020, the WHO declared a Covid-19 pandemic (Pérez et al., 2020). Based on this, to reduce the risk of contagion, mandatory sanitary measures were taken, such as the permanent use of masks, constant hand hygiene, social distancing, isolation, quarantine, and confinement (Sánchez -Villena & De La Fuente-Figuerola, 2020). The experiences of confinements generated a global crisis in the different economic, social, educational, and labor sectors, among others.

Confinement is defined as an emergency measure in which the closure of establishments related to tourist, leisure, and/or cultural spaces is decreed and also, the restriction in the displacement of the population to movements of welfare, labor, emergency, or supply of food and pharmaceutical products (España, 2020). This measure was adopted in different countries to contain the spread and prevent the collapse of health centers, having repercussions in the educational sector by closing schools, institutes, and universities, and facing the challenges of virtual education (Yao et al., 2020).

The closure of educational centers in Spain (schools and universities) directly affected teachers, who, in addition to presenting an increase in states of stress and anxiety, showed effects on nutrition (Seyahi et al., 2020). About 70% of teachers claimed to have difficulties falling asleep due to the pandemic, 60% indicated that the working day was long and the use of teleworking was exhausting, 50% said they had felt a headache and mood swings to a lesser extent, and 25% had difficulty separating their work life from home and household activities (Bao et al., 2020).

On the other hand, in Latin America, specifically in Paraguay, the Covid-19 pandemic caused a strong psychological impact on the educational community and society in general. The closure of educational centers, the need for physical distancing, the anguish at the possible loss of loved ones, and the deprivation of conventional teaching and learning methods generated stress, pressure, and anxiety among teachers. This occupation was cataloged as the one that presented the highest psychological risk and low levels of job satisfaction compared to the general population (Seyahi et al., 2020). Likewise, Morfín & Velázquez (2021) have reported that in Mexico, academic work at home, workspaces, work and leisure hours, family activities, physical and emotional health issues, and their affective life, in general, became the main emotional challenges for teachers.

Meanwhile, in Colombia, Herrera (2020), states that the percentage of teachers who taught face-to-face classes went from 76% to 1%, and those who practiced their profession only remotely went from 4% to 94%, before the arrival of Covid-19. Teachers reported long working hours associated with the development of new management systems for teaching and learning processes under the remote virtual modality. Thus, more than 46% of university professors registered a compromise in their physical health status and 56% expressed that their physical activity suffered a decline. In mental health, 47% of teachers reported a greater feeling of tiredness, 26% reported an increased feeling of loneliness and 24% increased irritability.

Also, confinement has had an impact on the mental health of teachers. However, the panorama of affectation is broader given that the presumed work overload and other situations associated with deprivation and occupational modification, exceeded the capacity of the teacher (Domingo & Sánchez, 2020). In this order of ideas, studies such as the one by Flores Águila et al. (2020), González-Bernal et al. (2020), and Kamalakannan & Chakraborty (2020), mention the commitment to the daily patterns of execution during the time of confinement in the general population and they refer to specific alterations in processes of adaptation/occupational satisfaction, occupational balance/dissatisfaction or absence of wellness. The confinement implied changes and adjustments, specifically in the routines; the sudden change in the labor field, the new demands, and the increase in activities to be carried out affected the patterns of use of daily time, which led to modifying the lifestyle (Hossain et al., 2020), adopting risk behaviors, triggering negative psychoemotional effects associated with high levels of anxiety and depression (Jiao et al., 2020).

Adjustments in time use and changes in routines can lead to modifications in occupational balance (EB), which is defined by Wagman & Håkansson (2018) as a subjective experience of the individual of a sufficient number of occupations, the correct variation of these and their relationship with the time spent in each one, without implying the same amount of time in carrying out the different activities. The balance is dynamic because it can vary in different circumstances and changes throughout the life course so that the person is constantly adapting even in complex situations (Gómez Lillo, 2021). In turn, this requires personal sense and the person's ability to manage it, which is why it has been positively related to health and well-being (Eklund et al., 2017).

Based on the above, and recognizing the atypical situation of confinement and isolation due to Covid-19 and its possible effect on the occupational balance of people, it is a priority to investigate this phenomenon in the teaching population. The relevance of this work lies then, in the value, meaning, and social importance of teaching as an occupation. Understanding the perception of the occupational balance of teachers during the time of confinement will allow an approach to the situation experienced, even in the development of psychopathologies such as diagnostic conditions or with the appearance of symptoms that lead to psychosocial discomfort.

On the other hand, the data analyzed from this research become relevant today, because the teaching population may require the implementation of strategies to organize their work activities gradually, as well as include activities that generate gratification, mental health, and balance, so that they can reconfigure their occupations, which is why this research aimed to describe the occupational balance of Occupational Therapy teachers at a university institution in Cali, Colombia during the time of confinement by Covid-19, and establish the relationship with sociodemographic variables and the presence of symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Methodology

This is an observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study, carried out through the application of structured questionnaires to teachers of an Occupational Therapy program of a public university institution in Cali, Colombia, which offers undergraduate academic programs and specialization in health and rehabilitation, sport, and administration. The application of the instruments was made between the end of May and the beginning of June 2020, a period in which the country was in mandatory confinement due to Covid-19.

In the ethical aspect, the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki were considered and the endorsement of the Human Ethics Committee of the National Sports School Institution was endorsed by document number 126.01.05.01.11. Following resolution 008430 of 1993 of the Ministry of Health, it was classified as research with minimal risk, and to mitigate them, the anonymity and confidentiality of the data of the participants were guaranteed. We obtained the informed consent term to join the study, and each participant was free to withdraw at the desired time.

Participants

This study was carried out in a university institution in the city of Cali, which at the time of the investigation had 32 professors assigned to the Occupational Therapy program, of which 17 were full-time, 11 part-time, and 4 lecture hours. Of the total number of teachers, 1 had a doctorate level of training, 17 Master's level, 7 Specialists, and 7 undergraduates. The population was obtained by convenience and all the teachers of the program participated and were contacted through email and phone.

Instruments used and procedure for data collection

The collection of information was carried out from the design of tools for online use. A survey was carried out in Google Forms to capture data on sociodemographic variables, occupational balance, and symptoms of anxiety and depression. The team responsible for sending and collecting data from project participants was trained. Subsequently, tests of the use of the surveys were made to verify the level of understanding of the questions. Once the clarity of the questions was confirmed, the surveys were sent to the mail of each of the participants. Upon receipt of the completed instruments, their completeness was verified.

The assessment of occupational balance used the Occupational Balance Questionnaire in its Spanish version (OBQ-E). This tool was designed by Wagman & Håkansson in 2014 and has been adapted and validated in Spanish by Peral (2017). The OBQ-E (Wagman & Håkansson, 2014) focuses on evaluating satisfaction with the quantity and variation of occupations, as well as with the time spent in them, through the degree of agreement with 13 statements. Each question is scored from 0 (completely disagree) to 5 (completely agree) and the overall score is obtained by adding up all the questions. The total score range is from 0 to 65, with a higher score indicating a higher EB.

The verification of depression symptoms took into account the use of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), a 9-item self-administered instrument to identify the presence of depressive symptoms in the last two weeks. Each question is rated from 0 (none of the days) to 3 (almost every day). The total score ranges from 0 to 27 and has 5 degrees of severity of depressive symptomatology: no symptoms (0-4 points), mild (5-9 points), moderate (10-14 points), moderately severe (15-19 points) and severe (20-27 points) (Cassiani-Miranda et al., 2017; Huarcaya-Victoria et al., 2020). Also, it presents an internal consistency with a Cronbach's Alpha of 0.83 (Cassiani-Miranda et al., 2017).

Anxiety was assessed using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), a 7-item self-administered questionnaire that allows identifying the presence of anxiety in the last two weeks. The score for each question ranges from 0 (no days) to 3 (almost every day) and the total score is between 0 and 21 points, with categories according to the presence of symptoms in normal (0 to 5 points), mild (5 to 9 points), moderate (10 to 14 points) and severe (15 to 21 points) (Bártolo et al., 2017). The instrument has good internal consistency, with a Cronbach's Alpha of 0.92 (Camargo et al., 2021).

Data analysis

The information obtained from the questionnaires was exported in a Microsoft® Office® Excel® 2010 database and the variables were coded, to later be analyzed in the Stata V.16 statistical program.

It began with an exploratory analysis in which we observed the presence of missing data, and atypical values, being necessary in case of inconsistencies to contact the study participants to corroborate and adjust the information. Next, the univariate analysis was made using absolute and relative frequency tables for the qualitative variables, and for the quantitative data, normality tests were first carried out with the Shapiro-Wilk statistical test for samples of less than 50 individuals, the data was presented as an average and standard deviation. Additionally, a multiple correspondence analysis was performed to identify grouping profiles between the sociodemographic variables.

Regarding the bivariate analysis, the relationship between the mean of the occupational balance scale and the sociodemographic variables was explored, in which the t-student and ANOVA statistical tests were used for dichotomous and polytomous variables, respectively. Pearson's correlation test was carried out between the occupational balance score and the total scores of the anxiety and depression questionnaires. A statistically significant relationship was considered at p<0.05 values.

Results

Regarding the sociodemographic characteristics of the teachers (Table 1), we found that 75.0% of the total number of respondents were women, and the most frequent marital status was single (43.8%), followed by married (34.4%). The average age was 35.3 years old (SD±7) and the most frequent age group was 30 to 39 years old (50.0%). Most of the teachers (96.9%) live in the city of Cali. The socioeconomic stratum that prevailed was the middle with 71.9%. During confinement, we observed that 34.4% had children under 7 years old in their care, while 28.1% had older adults in their care and 18.8% had an adult with a chronic pathology.

Table 1
Sociodemographic characterization of the participants.

Variable	Frequency	Percentage
Gender
Man	8	25.00
Woman	24	75.00
Marital Status
Married	11	34.38
Single	14	43.75
Common-law marriage	7	21.88
Age
20 to 29 years old	8	25.00
30 to 39 years old	16	50.00
40 to 49 years old	7	21.88
50 years old or more	1	3.13
City
Cali	31	96.88
Yumbo	1	3.13
Socioeconomic status
Low	3	9.38
Average	23	71.88
High	6	18.75
Time linked to the institution
Less than 1 year	7	21.88
1 to 3 years	13	40.63
More than 3 and up to 5 years	6	18.75
More than 5 years	6	18.75
Caring for children during quarantine
No	21	65.63
Yes	11	34.38
Taking care of older adults during quarantine
No	23	71.88
Yes	9	28.13
Taking care of adults with chronic pathologies during quarantine
No	26	81.25
Yes	6	18.75

Compared to the Multiple Correspondence Analysis of the sociodemographic variables, the total variance explained by the variables gender, care of children under 7 years old, care of older adults and chronic patients, and the time of attachment to the institution was 97.9%. The age variable was excluded from this analysis since it had no significant relationship and was not decisive in observing correspondences between the other variables (Figure 1).

Figure 1
Multiple Correspondence Analysis.

In this order of ideas, the first axis explained 69.4% of the total variance and grouped, mainly, teachers according to the care of chronic patients and care of the older adults in charge, variables that presented a statistically significant relationship (p= 0.003). We also observed that it was mostly women who cared for these people during mandatory preventive isolation.

The second axis explained 28.5% of the total variance, with the care of children under 7 years old variable being the one that contributed the most to this axis, a function that was more frequent in teachers with a shorter employment relationship with the institution (36 .4%) while in those who did not have children in their care, there was a tendency to take a longer relationship and the majority were men. However, this relationship was not statistically significant.

Regarding the occupational balance of teachers (Table 2), we found that the mean score of the OBQ-E was 36.5 with one standard deviation (SD: ±12.5). Taking into consideration that a higher score indicates a greater occupational balance, we observed that the mean scores of the items were between 2.25 and 4.34, corresponding to response values “somewhat disagree” (2) and “strongly agree” (4).

Table 2
Occupational balance of teachers.

Variable	Average (EB)
Balance between the things I do for myself and others	2.53 (1.27)
The activities I do every day make sense to me	4.06 (0.95)
I make sure I do the things I want to do	3.40 (0.91)
I maintain a balance between the different activities of my daily life	2.41 (1.32)
I have variety between what I do alone and what I do with others	2.75 (1.59)
I have enough things to do in a regular week	4.34 (0.90)
I have enough time to do the things I have to do	2.43 (1.27)
I maintain a balance between physical, social, and intellectual activities and rest	2.25 (1.27)
I am satisfied with the time I dedicate to the activities I do	2.44 (1.19)
I am satisfied with the number of activities that I do in a typical week	2.66 (1.31)
I have variety between the things I should do and the things I want to do	2.63 (1.34)
I have a balance between the activities that give and those that take away energy	2.34 (1.12)
I am satisfied with the time dedicated to rest and sleep	2.28 (1.37)
Mean score of the occupational balance scale	36.53 (12.45)

The highest average values were presented in item 2 (the activities I do daily make sense to me) and item 6 (I have enough things to do in a regular week) whose values were 4.06 and 4.34, respectively. On the other hand, the other items obtained scores below 3, except for question 3, whose mean score was 3.40.

Regarding the presence of anxiety symptoms, we found that 31.3% of the teachers surveyed presented mild anxiety symptoms, with a mean scale score of 3.2 (SD: ±2.6) (Table 3). It is highlighted that more than half of the participants (53.1%) consider that they worry too much for different reasons for several days, 56.3% have difficulty relaxing and half of the teachers are easily annoyed or irritated (50.0%) (Data not included in the tables).

Table 3
Presence of symptoms of anxiety and depression in teachers.

Variable	Frequency	Percentage
Global classification of anxiety level
Anxiety is not observed	22	68.75
Symptoms of mild anxiety are seen	10	31.25
Mean anxiety scale score*	3.22 (2.56)
Global classification of the depression scale
No presence of depression	18	56.25
Mild symptoms	12	37.50
Moderate symptoms	2	6.25
Depression Scale Mean Score *	4.38 (2.80)

• ^*
  Average (Standard deviation).

Regarding depression (Table 3), the results indicate that 37.5% of teachers show mild symptoms, with a mean scale score of 4.4 (SD: ±2.8). Similarly, most teachers revealed feeling tired or low energy (78.1%), having difficulty sleeping (68.8%), showing little interest in doing some activities (59.4%), and feeling no appetite or overeating (53.1%).

Regarding the occupational balance and its connection with the sociodemographic variables, as well as with the global score of the anxiety and depression scales, a statistically significant relationship with the socioeconomic stratum was evidenced (p=0.02). The other variables did not show an association (Table 4).

Table 4
Occupational balance and its relationship with sociodemographic variables and anxiety and depression score.

Variable	n	Average	(SD)	p-Value
Gender
Man	8	37.88	(15.82)	0.73
Woman	24	36.08	(11.49)
Marital Status
Married	14	34.50	(12.25)	0.32
Single	11	35.09	(10.94)
Common-law marriage	7	42.86	(14.74)
Age
20 to 29 years old	8	32.00	(11.10)	0.18
30 to 39 years old	16	36.44	(13.47)
40 to 49 years old	7	38.57	(8.96)
50 years old or more	1	60.00	-
Socioeconomic status
Low	3	35.33	(9.24)	0.02
Average	23	33.57	(12.11)
High	6	48.50	(8.34)
Time linked to the institution
Less than 1 year	7	38.57	(11.04)	0.60
1 to 3 years	13	36.38	(10.83)
More than 3 and up to 5 years	6	30.83	(16.71)
More than 5 years	6	40.17	(13.93)
Caring for children during quarantine
No	21	35.62	(11.29)	0.57
Yes	11	38.27	(14.87)
Taking care of older adults during quarantine
No	23	35.04	(11.70)	0.28
Yes	9	40.33	(14.21)
Taking care of adults with chronic pathologies during quarantine
No	26	36.23	(12.61)	0.78
Yes	6	37.83	(12.83)
Anxiety scale score	32	0.042		0.82
Depression scale score +	32	-0.047		0.80

• ⁺
  Pearson correlation coefficient

Discussion

In this investigation, there is evidence of a predominance of the female gender and a higher percentage of teachers with a period of connection with the institution equal to or less than 3 years (62.51%). The connection condition is related to the time of the creation of the academic program, which began its first cohort in the 2015-2 academic period, and during 2018-1 and 2020-1 had an increase in the hiring of teachers.

On the other hand, the multiple correspondence analysis indicates that the female teachers mainly assumed the care of older adults and adults with chronic pathologies during the period of confinement, which is consistent with the findings of the Inter-American Commission of Women [CIM- Comisión Interamericana de Mujeres] & The Organization of American States [OAS] (2020), and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean [ECLAC- Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (2020); who reports that during the time of confinement the care crisis worsened, increasing the overall workload of women (household chores and virtual work at home), particularly in families with a member suffering from a chronic illness (Organización de los Estados Americanos, 2020). Ausín et al. (2021) and Blaskó et al. (2020) agree that women have historically borne a greater part of the burden of care and during the time of the Covid-19 crisis, they were significantly affected.

Additionally, Rodríguez-Rey et al. (2020) report that during the time of confinement by Covid-19, the population in general, showed that the type and number of occupations were mostly those related to the productive role and care of others and those related to social participation and free time were limited. From an occupational perspective, assuming the role of caregiver implies an increase in occupational demands, skills, and abilities for care and this leads to an occupational imbalance in the caregiver (Mardones, 2020). The foregoing suggests the need to delve into the impact of the caregiver role on EB, both in the general population and in those that are related to high labor demand, such as university teaching.

Regarding occupational balance, the mean OBQ-E score was 36.6, (SD: 12.5). In other studies carried out with OBQ-E in a healthy population, the sample of teachers has a mean below that found in older adults, health professionals (Wagman et al., 2017), university students (Peral, 2017) and the Spanish community, showing that from the occupational perspective, an alteration in the performance patterns was perceived in the teachers during the time of confinement by Covid-19 and this had influences on the participation and satisfaction of the time dedicated to different occupations.

It is important to highlight that teachers perceive an imbalance between work, rest, leisure, and social activities, coinciding with the findings of other investigations (Batool et al., 2020) in which an increase in the time of dedication to work activities. Likewise, the impact on time use patterns significantly influences one's satisfaction with the choices and the possibility of carrying out discretionary occupations during confinement.

On the other hand, the study participants stated that they had enough things to do in the week, also referring that the activities carried out made sense to them. This perception can be related to the value and meaning that the occupational commitment generated in the various activities they choose and that respond to the needs of their work performance represents for teachers. However, it is necessary to mention that the majority of teachers reported disagreeing regarding the variety of activities they wanted to do and those they should do, which implies an increase in formal or mandatory activities. The maintenance of the occupational commitment of the work activity in teachers during the time of the pandemic probably impacted the relative importance of maintaining a balance between the needs of the workplace and the needs of personal life.

Another important finding of the study was the low perceived satisfaction and balance, related to activities that give energy and remove energy and time dedicated to leisure. In line with the findings of this research, Kamalakannan & Chakraborty (2020) observed that people whose most significant occupations were related to leisure activities were the most affected by home confinement, so the occupational balance evidences a permanent relationship between values, interests, goals, the demands of the environment and the immediate environment.

Understanding that occupations are developed in different contexts and that this characteristic influences the socialization processes through them, the fact that the teachers in this study perceive that the balance of those physical, intellectual and social activities was compromised, suggests that participation in some roles had a negative impact since they had to respond to the new structure of the routine and the demands of confinement, such as an increase in the workload and household chores.

However, considering the implications of the university teaching role and with it the labor demands that arise in everyday life, Lemos et al. (2019) state that this community faces the appearance of psychosocial situations that require significant attention, unlike other work activities. The authors state that the massive privatization of education and the consequent change in the role of the student from beneficiary to the client, the current conditions of precarious work, as well as the demands linked to new pedagogical trends, including virtual education and the involvement of personal, affect teacher performance. This performance has had an important behavior in the presence of Covid-19 and its respective mitigation measures, including confinement, since teachers have modified their work activity by teaching classes that went from face-to-face to virtual modality, presenting difficulties for access to the tools or information necessary for teleworking, in turn, they have had challenges with the participation and behavior of students, and have experienced changes in remuneration and hiring (Russo, 2020).

The exposed panorama pays tribute to the presence of psychosocial modifications and discomforts, which are visible in the present study since the teachers who are the subjects of the research reveal mild symptoms of anxiety, which do not require a psychopathological diagnosis but do demonstrate psychogenic implications. The symptomatology found has to do with worrying too much for different reasons for several days, presenting difficulties in relaxing, and easily getting annoyed or irritated, which is in line with what was found by Herrera (2020) who specifies that in mental health, teachers show a greater feeling of tiredness, an increase in the feeling of loneliness and an increase in irritability.

In the face of the depressive signs of the teachers studied in this research, we found that a significant percentage show that they feel low in energy and interest, have difficulty sleeping, and present variations in their appetite because of the confinement and the strategies used to adjust to new labor demands. In correspondence with what was stated, Wang et al. (2020), date the affectation in the state of mind in the face of confinement at home, as a protective scenario since it prevents the uptake of the virus, but it is also a risk factor since limiting it as an exclusive space can lead to the presence of barriers to social participation, interaction, and communication, increasing the predisposition to depressive symptoms.

Although the findings of this study do not show a significant relationship between Occupational Balance with states of depression and anxiety or sociodemographic variables such as gender, Casimiro Urcos et al. (2020) agree that during covid-19, the radical changes in habits and routines in teachers, and the lack of time and resources, have generated anxiety, in a population where women prevailed, as evidenced by Wang et al. to the. (2020) who reveal the female group as the most affected population, since they present ruminations, concerns, and constant interference when undergoing changes and diffuse but necessary labor demands during confinement. Finally, the study by Lizana & Vega-Fernadez (2021) mentions that teachers show that the balance between work and family in the context of teleworking affected their quality of life, with women reporting lower scores in the physical and mental domains.

A limitation of the study is that the sample size is small, so there was not enough statistical power to find significant relationships, so the findings may not be generalizable to other populations. Variables such as the number of hours of employment with the institution or other universities could contribute to the understanding of the results in terms of occupational balance.

On the other hand, we consider it pertinent to inquire for future research, in detail, about the other occupations carried out by teachers and the time they invest in them, so that it is possible to understand the repercussions that the demands generated by emergencies may have in different occupational areas. In addition, we observed the need to collect information on variables that may influence the relationship between occupational balance and symptoms of anxiety and depression, such as workload or the presence of health effects such as sleep disturbances, physical problems, or psychosocial disturbances. We suggest carrying out longitudinal research that allows monitoring the occupations of teachers throughout the semester, considering that the periods of evaluations and delivery of grades can lead to a greater workload and stress.

Regarding the above, it is worth mentioning that the pandemic can generate short, medium, and long-term impacts on societies, particularly on individuals and groups in a situation of special vulnerability. Thus, occupational therapists have training that provides them with skills and knowledge to work with those people or population groups that, due to some health, social or contextual condition, may experience limitations in their participation.

Conclusions

In this study, we identified that a large part of the program's teachers were women, a gender that was related to the care of older adults and adults with chronic pathologies during the period of preventive isolation. Also, we observed that the time of employment with the institution for most of the teachers was less than 3 years.

The teachers recognized that they had enough things to do throughout the week and found meaning in the activities they carried out. However, an increase in daily activities was identified, little variety between the occupations they wanted and those they had to do, and low satisfaction with rest and sleep time.

Finally, the scores obtained in occupational balance and the presence of symptoms of anxiety and depression in about a third of the participants, reveal the changes and adjustments that teachers have assumed in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic and the measures that were taken to mitigate contagion, including confinement.

• 1
  This article is part of a research project which followed the ethical principles for its development and it had the approval of the Human Ethic Committee of the University Institution National School of Sports in Cali, Colombia.
• How to cite: Calvo-Paz, M., Guevara-Ramírez, J., Zapata-López, J. S., & Realpe-Martinez, D. L. (2022). Occupational balance during Covid-19 lockdown among occupational therapy academics. Cadernos Brasileiros de Terapia Ocupacional, 30, e3242. https://doi.org/10.1590/2526-8910.ctoAO247832423

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Edited by

Section editor

Prof. Dr. Milton Carlos Mariotti

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  04 Nov 2022
• Date of issue
  2022

History

• Received
  19 Jan 2022
• Reviewed
  08 Feb 2022
• Reviewed
  11 Apr 2022
• Accepted
  02 Aug 2022