Difficulties for the emotional regulation of Chilean teachers in times of SARS-CoV-2

INTRODUCTION. The educational context has undergone several changes as a result of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. These changes have forced all sectors to reinvent themselves, causing a rapid adoption of teaching-learning strategies developed under different modalities and denominations. This process of adaptation to teleworking has caused education professionals to have difficulties in emotional regulation, derived from their experiences of isolation or social distance and from the work overload caused by online work activities. METHOD. This educational research has a quantitative, non-experimental and cross-sectional approach. The sample was non-probabilistic and intentional, composed of 1,307 teachers divided into 1,040 women (79.6%) and 267 men (20.4%). The instrument for data collection consisted of the 'Escala de Dificultades de Regulacion Emocional' (Emotional Regulation Difficulties Scale) in its version adapted to Spanish and validated in the Chilean population. RESULTS. The data indicate a reliability of 0.942 according to Cronbach.s Alpha test. In the scale applied there is an average of 2.484, which indicates the existence of emotional dysregulation in male and female teachers. Likewise, emotional dysregulation in the female group (n = 1040 M = 678.58) presents a higher average than the male group (n = 267 M = 558.25) which was statistically significant (p =.000). DISCUSSION. In order for teachers to play a role in the emotional formation of their students must be able to transmit values, be an example to follow and be a mediating figure between the knowledge he/she imparts and the knowledge assimilated by his/her students. CONCLUSIONS. The research highlights that emotional regulation has a relevant role in child development and that teachers play an irreplaceable role, as they have an impact on learning