Introduction

Due to the increasing number of cases of Covid-19, the World Health Organization declared this disease a pandemic on March 11 [1]. This affected education systems around the world. Therefore, school professionals had to adapt their teaching and other professional work almost overnight. Their work demands and resources changed drastically, possibly leading to changes in stress levels. Furthermore, schools differed in the amount of support they were able to provide their staff, which could be an important protective factor for experiencing stress in the teaching profession [2]. So far, several studies have investigated the effectiveness of stress coping skills training in reducing perceived stress, increasing mental health and, as a result, improving the job performance of employees [7]. The problem that existed among teachers as a segment of a huge organization of society, namely education, during the Corona pandemic was that they should achieve their tasks and duties without stress by being cheerful. This study was conducted with the aim of analyzing the role of spiritual vitality in relation to job stress and job performance of female teachers in Qom province against the epidemic of covid-19 disease.

Method: In terms of purpose and practical nature, and in terms of data collection, the current research is a descriptive-correlation research of a survey type, which was conducted in the field and using a questionnaire. The statistical population of the present study was formed by all the female teachers of Qom province in 1400, and 150 people were selected as a sample to conduct this research. In order to collect data, three questionnaires were used: Esipo's occupational stress questionnaire, Patterson's occupational performance questionnaire and Afrooz's spiritual vitality questionnaire. The method of data collection was that the questionnaire was prepared online and given to the female teachers of Qom province. Among this community, 150 people answered the questions using available sampling method. In order to analyze the data, descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential (Pearson correlation coefficient and structural equations) methods were used. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 26 statistical software and to fit the conceptual model of Smart PLS software and default alpha at a significance level of 0.05.

Results: According to the results, 28 of the subjects were in the age range of 20 to 30 years, 59 people were in the age range of 31 to 40 years, 56 people were in the age range of 41 to 50 years, and 7 people were over 50 years old. 6 subjects have postgraduate education, 84 subjects have bachelor's education and 60 subjects have master's education and above. 144 subjects exercise during the Corona period, while 6 subjects do not exercise during this period. 34 subjects exercise one session a week, 29 subjects 2 sessions a week, 42 ​​subjects 3 sessions a week, and 39 subjects 4 or more sessions a week. The results of the present study showed that the level of spiritual vitality, job stress and job performance of female teachers in Qom province is the expected level. Also, there is a negative and significant relationship between spiritual vitality and job performance with all aspects of occupational stress, and there is a positive and significant relationship between spiritual vitality and job performance. The results of the structural equation model showed that the research model has a perfect fit and job stress has a mediating role in the relationship between spiritual vitality and job performance. The results of the present study showed that spiritual vitality has an effect on job stress and job performance of female teachers in Qom province.

Conclusion: The results of the present study showed that spiritual vitality is an effective factor in reducing job stress and increasing the job performance of female teachers. The spread and spread of the Covid-19 disease caused many problems in the society and the labor sector of the society. At the same time as the outbreak of the disease, the teachers held their classes online, which caused the interference of family and work problems and, as a result, occupational stress in them. Occupational stress in the workplace has reduced the efficiency and productivity and as a result the job performance of people, and in the meantime, a factor or factors are needed to break this vicious cycle and improve people's performance. Spiritual vitality is one of the factors that has a significant impact on all aspects of life and has the power to prevent problems and increase productivity in the work environment. Therefore, spiritual vitality is among the factors that have a significant impact on increasing the professional performance of teachers.

Research limitations:

Among the limitations of this research is the lack of control over the stressful conditions of the subjects outside of training, the limitedness of the examined sample and as a result the problem of generalizing it to other athletes in different disciplines, the existing research gap in relation to the study of the research variables, the research sample. It was related to the city of Qom.

Keywords: stress, performance, spiritual vitality, Covid-19

Ethical Considerations

Compliance with ethical guidelines

The ethical principles observed in the article, such as the informed consent of the participants, the confidentiality of information, the permission of the participants to cancel their participation in the research. Ethical approval was obtained from the Research Ethics Committee of the University of Qom.

Funding

This study was extracted from the MSc thesis of Zahra Bairami at Department of Physical Education, University of Qom.

Authors' contribution

All authors contributed equally to the conceptualization of the article and writing of the original and subsequent drafts.

Conflict of interest

The authors declared no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all participants of the present study.