Teachers' occupational well-being is crucial for teacher-student interactions and classroom management. Although research has demonstrated impaired well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic, less is known about its development afterward. Psychological theories such as set-point and conservation-of-resources theory differ on whether well-being should return to pre-pandemic levels or show lasting changes. This study examined teachers’ well-being development after the pandemic, and investigated whether occupational self-regulation and social resources explain interindividual differences in development. Using a longitudinal approach, 356 teachers were surveyed about emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction at four time points before, during, and post-pandemic. Latent change models revealed that the heightened emotional exhaustion decreased over time, but still remained higher than pre-pandemic levels. Job satisfaction did not change significantly. Principal support predicted lower emotional exhaustion post-pandemic. Teachers with more adaptive self-regulation reported lower exhaustion and higher job satisfaction. The results highlight the need for supporting occupational well-being, especially after critical events.
Bunge et al. (2026) studied this question.