Positive Psychology Applied to Education in Practicing Teachers during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Personal Resources, Well-Being, and Teacher Training

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

 

A very detailed introduction that maps the subject area and effectively sets out the argument for the research. The methods and statistical analysis are well-described and have been implemented in an appropriate fashion.

The paper reports some moderate positive changes in the psychological constructs. The discussion comments that “A very interesting result of the study was the decrease in symptoms of anxiety or depression that the sample of teachers perceived during the last four weeks.” The research is quantitative and it would have added interest if there were some qualitative elements to report that investigated perceived changes in the participants.

 [References do need checking for format consistency.]

 

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

We are writing relating to manuscript “Positive Psychology Applied to Education in Practicing Teachers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Personal Resources, Well-Being, and Teacher Training”. Authors: Diego García-Álvarez, María José Soler, Rubia Cobo-Rendón and Juan Hernández-Lalinde.

Thank you very much for the recommendations to enhance the paper. We have improved the references according to the format. In the future research section, we recommend considering the analysis of qualitative elements in this type of research

Reviewer 2 Report

The design of the research needs to be better described and justified the choice of a limited number of teachers without particular profiling.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

We are writing relating to manuscript “Positive Psychology Applied to Education in Practicing Teachers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Personal Resources, Well-Being, and Teacher Training”. Authors: Diego García-Álvarez, María José Soler, Rubia Cobo-Rendón and Juan Hernández-Lalinde.

In the procedure section, we describe in greater detail how we carried out the process for obtaining the participants. In this case, it was an open call, an aspect that limited the number and characteristics of the participating teachers. Finally, the limitations, we indicate the possible considerations due to the number of participants obtained in the study. 

 

Reviewer 3 Report

This study tried to assess the effectiveness of a program that aimed at promoting psychological well-being, optimism, self-efficacy, and self-esteem as well as at reducing psychological distress in teachers.

While I appreciate the approach to promote positive psychological resources such as self-efficacy or character strengths, I think the research design is innappropriate. With only one small sample (N=24) and no control group the effectiveness of the program can't be reliably examined, since, time effects, maturation effects or measurement effects cannot be ruled out.

 

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

We are writing relating to manuscript “Positive Psychology Applied to Education in Practicing Teachers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Personal Resources, Well-Being, and Teacher Training”. Authors: Diego García-Álvarez, María José Soler, Rubia Cobo-Rendón and Juan Hernández-Lalinde.

Thank you very much for your evaluation of the paper. We believe it is important to emphasize that the study's strength is the focus on promoting resources from positive psychology in teaching, the ideas related to the weaknesses of the reported research design and sample were explained in the procedure and limitations of the study.  

Reviewer 4 Report

Dear authors,

They present us with an interesting work, well elaborated and structured. Some modifications are recommended to increase the final quality:

1)Well described and structured quantitative methodology, although:

- It is recommended to make the questions and objectives more explicit.

2) The results chapter is relevant, but it would be recommended that the topics / categories in which the analysis and interpretation are structured be justified as they emerge, either in this results section, or preferably in the method section as indicated in the previous comment.

3) It's necessary to include conclusions. The authors should point out the main results of the study, the limitations, and some ideas for future research.

 

Best regards.

 

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

We are writing relating to manuscript “Positive Psychology Applied to Education in Practicing Teachers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Personal Resources, Well-Being, and Teacher Training”. Authors: Diego García-Álvarez, María José Soler, Rubia Cobo-Rendón and Juan Hernández-Lalinde

 Thank you very much for the recommendations to improve the paper. We have improved item 1, including the research questions. The results are adjusted based on the research questions. We also added the conclusions section with their respective ideas.  

Reviewer 5 Report

The topic of positive psychology is of current interest.

The correlation between the variables (Well-being, optimism, Self-efficacy, Self-esteem) shows a complex research approach. However, the number of participants is very small.

The statistical analysis using the ANCOVA test is correct.

A section with the main conclusions from the theoretical part and from the research is necessary.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

We are writing relating to manuscript “Positive Psychology Applied to Education in Practicing Teachers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Personal Resources, Well-Being, and Teacher Training”. Authors: Diego García-Álvarez, María José Soler, Rubia Cobo-Rendón and Juan Hernández-Lalinde

Thank you very much for your evaluation of the paper. We have added the conclusions section according to your recommendation.