COVID-19 PHOBIA OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND SPORTS TEACHERS IN THE PANDEMIC PROCESS AND THE RELATIONSHIP WITH THEIR LIFE ENGAGEMENT

Abstract

This cross-sectional study aims to evaluate Coronavirus (Covid-19) phobia situations of Physical Education and Sports Teachers during the pandemic process and to examine the relationship with their life engagements. The scope of the study consists of 395 Physical Education and Sports Teachers working in Battalgazi and Yeşilyurt central districts of Malatya province in 2021. 141 people included in sample were reached by Simple Random Sampling Method. The Personal Information Form, the Coronavirus-19 Phobia, and Life Engagement Scale was used as a data collection tool. Independent Samples T, One-way ANOVA and Pearson Correlation test were used in Statistical analysis. 56% of the participants are female, 51.1% of them are married and 78.7% of them are undergraduate graduates. The average of Coronavirus-19 phobia is 52.66, and the average of life commitment is 25.37. Considering the coronavirus-19 phobia by gender, the average of women (56.47) is higher than men (47.81). Female Physical Education and Sports Teachers experience Coronavirus-19 phobia significantly more than males. In addition, Coronavirus-19 is significantly higher in teachers who are worried about the increase in the number of cases. The average life engagement of the participants is high while their Coronavirus-19 scores are moderate. There is no significant relationship between increased life engagement and Coronavirus-19 phobia. In conclusion, the increase in the life engagement of Physical Education and Sports Teachers during the pandemic process decreases the phobia of Coronavirus-19, albeit slightly. However, this is not a significant decrease. Anxiety about Covid-19 increases the phobia and female teachers have more phobias. The fact that women are more interested in news, comments and statistics about Covid-19 disease increases their phobias. Life engagement can have positive effects on people's mental structures. Directing the individuals with high Covid-19 phobia to the activities that will increase their life engagement may contribute to reducing their phobias.