Perceived work-related stress and its associated factors among public secondary school teachers in Gondar city: a cross-sectional study from Ethiopia

Gebisa Guyasa Kabito,Sintayehu Daba Wami

doi:10.1186/s13104-020-4901-0

Abstract

ObjectiveWe conducted a cross-sectional study to assess perceived work-related stress and associated factors among public secondary school teachers in Gondar city, northwest Ethiopia. A self-completed questionnaire was used for data collection. Data was entered into Epi-info version 7.1 and analyzed by SPSS version 20 software. The associations between dependent and independent variables were assessed using a multivariate binary logistic regression analysis based on the adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) and p values < 0.05.ResultsThe response rate was 96.4%. The overall prevalence of perceived work-related stress was 58.2%. Teaching experience < 5 years (AOR 2.03, 95% CI (1.10, 3.73), education level BSC/BED (AOR 1.66, 95% CI (1.07, 3.17), high job demand (AOR 1.61, 95% CI (1.29, 3.74), and poor relationships (AOR 1.88, 95% CI (1.07, 3.31) were significantly associated with work-related stress. In conclusion, the findings showed a high proportion of stress among participants. Therefore, we suggested a need to take action to balance job demand and teaching experience, offering the opportunity to upgrade their educational level and establish good relationships to ease the burden of stress factors related to work.

Highlights

Stress has been under study since the 1920s [1]
Teaching experience < 5 years (AOR 2.03, 95% confidence intervals (CI) (1.10, 3.73), education level Bachelors of Science or Bachelors of Education (BSC/BED) (AOR 1.66, 95% CI (1.07, 3.17), high job demand (AOR 1.61, 95% CI (1.29, 3.74), and poor relationships (AOR 1.88, 95% CI (1.07, 3.31) were significantly associated with work-related stress
We suggested a need to take action to balance job demand and teaching experience, offering the opportunity to upgrade their educational level and establish good relationships to ease the burden of stress factors related to work

Summary

Introduction

Stress has been under study since the 1920s [1]. Numerous studies have shown teaching is a highly stressful profession worldwide [4, 5]. Research in Canada has shown nearly three-fourths of teachers were stressed [8] and with 22%. The research in Ethiopia found that nearly two thirds of teachers planned to leave the profession [14]. This pattern is even more apparent as we move west, Canadian study reported a 40% attrition rate in the first 5 years of teaching due to stress [15]

Results

Discussion

Conclusion