Occupation-related anxiety symptoms among teachers in Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, South Africa

Abstract

Background: As the prevalence of mental disorders continues to increase, the workplace has been identified as one of the key sources of mental disorders. Over and above anxiety triggers that emerge from the teaching profession itself, societal and behavioural challenges among young people often extend to the school environment, which increases demands on teachers who have to manage such behaviours to make the classroom a place to operate. However, there are limited studies on the mental health status of teachers. Purpose of the study: The purpose was to screen for anxiety symptoms and identify risk factors among teachers in three school districts of Tshwane Municipality.

Methodology: The study used a cross-sectional design survey and the Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) tool to screen for anxiety among teachers in the three districts. A questionnaire was used to collect sociodemographic data, which was analysed descriptively. The Pearson chi-square association test was applied to explore the development of anxiety symptoms and a range of sociodemographic variables, using a p-value of 0.05. The eight variables significantly associated with anxiety development were included in a multivariate logistic regression model.

Results: The sample of 387, consisting of 97 males and 290 females, was drawn from 13 high and three primary schools. The number of teachers per school ranged from 4 to 45, with a mean of 19.45. The majority (n=220, 57.44%) were employed in high schools, and the mean period in the teaching profession was 13.4 years. The majority (56%) were married. The prevalence of anxiety symptoms was 47.55% (n=184). Six variables that were significantly associated with the development of anxiety symptoms were directly linked to the teaching environment.

Conclusion: The high prevalence of anxiety symptoms is directly linked to the teaching environment, which highlights the need to improve the working