Prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress among libyan primary and secondary schoolteachers : a cross-sectional study

Abstract EN

Achievement of high academic performance needs good emotional expression.

Studies have showed that depression, anxiety and stress (DAS) are the most common psychosomatic problems facing teachers worldwide.

Therefore the present study aimed to investigate whether Libyan primary and secondary schoolteachers experience DAS manifestation throughout job programmers.

So a cross-sectional survey was performed at different schools in Tripoli city, from July to October 2014; male and female teachers (n=200) were enrolled in terms of sociodemographic variables.

Data were gathered using DAS scale (DASS-21) questionnaire.

The mean age was 38.7±8.5 years, and the average tough experience was 13.95±0.69 years.

Of 21 possible items, our study showed that 44.5% of teachers reported depressive sensation, 56% stated anxiety and 39.5% described stress mood.

The most frequent reported items were, for depression “I felt down-hearted and blue” by 64%; for anxiety “I was worried about situation in which I might panic and make a fool of myself” by 60.5%, and for stress “I felt that I was using a lot of nervous energy” by 78.5%.

In addition, increasing tea and coffee intake, and being smokers were associated with more symptoms, and increased number of taught experience, among females, resulted in fewer symptoms.

Overall, 27.5% of teachers reported no symptoms, 22% specified one level of mind strife, 27% expressed two symptoms and 23.5% itemized the three DAS disorders.

Furthermore, DAS sub-scales were significantly correlated.

Hence, our findings support the predominance of DAS in tutors.

It also shows that Libyan schoolteachers’ experienced more symptoms than other survey countries; their quality of work possibly be affected by these events