Anxiety Symptoms in a Sample of Iraqi School Teachers

Background: Anxiety at workplace is a learnt response to stress and it differs from generalized anxiety disorder as the symptoms are specifically related to the work environment. Excessive pressure from educational institutions, students and student parents, community attitude, work overload, students’ poor behavior and role conflict make teachers always confused and this predispose to anxiety

Aims of Study:

1. To estimate the prevalence of anxiety symptoms among an Iraqi sample teachers of primary and secondary schools.

2. To determine the socio demographic factors contributing to anxiety among teachers.

Subjects and Method: This is a cross-sectional study involving teachers from 16 primary and secondary schools in Baghdad, Iraq. Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) (Arabic Version) was used to measures anxiety symptoms and determine anxiety levels among school teachers. All teachers of both sexes in selected primary and secondary schools who agreed to participate in the study and responded with data required were included.

Results: Most of teachers showed levels of anxiety symptoms that are higher than normal cut off of anxiety according to BAI. There was significant higher average score for BAI among primary school teachers while no significant difference was found when comparing different categories of levels of anxiety symptoms between the two groups.

Conclusion: Teaching profession is associated with high levels of anxiety in Iraq . Further studies are needed to confirm whether this anxiety is general to all Iraqi population or it is unique to teaching profession.