Cyberbullying Against Teachers in Latin America During the Pandemic: The Negative Effects on Their Levels of Well-Being Through Burnout

Abstract

During the Pandemic teachers switch from in-person classes to online platforms during 2021–22. This context enabled cyberbullying against teachers from students, which negatively impact their well-being. Previous studies have focused on school violence against teachers, but less is known about cyberbullying against teachers while considering teacher burnout dimensions. We used a sample of 1,387 teachers (M = 42.2, SD = 10.1; female, 79.1%) from Chile, Peru, Argentina, Colombia, and Ecuador. Using structural equation modeling, we found that higher levels of cyberbullying are associated with lower levels of teachers’ well-being and mediated by psychological exhaustion but not by enthusiasm toward the job scale. Our results confirm the adverse effects of cyberbullying on teachers’ well-being. We highlight two burnout dimensions as possible underlying mechanics to better understand this relationship. Therefore, prevention programs can include skills and teacher resources to deal with cyberbullying and burnout to moderate the negative impact on their well-being.