Stress among Secondary School Teachers in Ebonyi State, Nigeria: Suggested Interventions in the Worksite Milieu

Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine the level of stress experienced by secondary school teachers in Ebonyi State. The dimensions of stress studied included physical stress, mental stress, emotional stress and social stress. The study adopted the cross-sectional survey design using a sample of 660 (male 259, female 401) teachers randomly drawn from 33 secondary schools in Ebonyi State. The secondary schools were selected from two (Abakaliki and Afikpo) out of three education zones in Ebonyi State. In each school 20 teachers were randomly selected using systematic random sampling technique. A self-developed instrument titled: Teacher Stress Questionnaire (TSQ) was used to collect data for the study. Five experts in Health Education and Psychology were used for validating the TSQ. Data collected from 30 secondary school teachers yielded an overall reliability coefficient of r = 0.72. The researchers personally collected the data which were analysed using mean, standard deviation, t-Test, Pearson’s correlation and Stepwise Multiple Regression. Six hundred and fourteen copies (male 232, female 382) of the questionnaire, representing about 93% return rate, were used for analysis. The results showed that the secondary school teachers had a high level of stress and the difference in the level of stress reported by male and female teachers was significant with male teachers reporting higher level of stress than female teachers. Each dimension of stress contributed significantly to the overall level of stress experienced by the secondary school teachers. Interventions, such as stress management, can be carried out to reduce stress in the worksite.

Keywords: Stress, Secondary school teachers, Interventions, Worksite milieu