Mental health indicators and job-related factors in primary, secondary and higher institution teachers in the Douala III municipality, Cameroon: a cross-sectional school-based study

Abstract

• A great proportion of teachers suffer from poor mental health. • Poor mental health is linked to poor perception of job, social and interpersonal relationships. • Job, social and interpersonal perceptions vary with level of teaching. • Primary and secondary school teachers perceive their work more poorly. Teachers are a high-risk group of work-related stress which can negatively impact their mental health. There is limited data on teachers’ mental health in Cameroon. We aimed at determining the prevalence and associated factors of common mental health indicators among primary, secondary and higher institution teachers in the Douala III Municipality. This school-based cross-sectional study involved 367 teachers age 20-67 enrolled November 2022 to June 2023. Structured and standard questionnaires of MBI-ES, GHQ-12, GAD-7 and PHQ-9 were used to measure mental health status of teachers. Job-related factors were categorized and scores compared using Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests where appropriate. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to identify factors associated. In our sample, 64% had burnout syndrome (BS), 34.9% emotional exhaustion (EE), 9% depersonalization (DP), 39.2% reduced personal accomplishment (PA), 93.5% psychological distress (PD), 28.4% anxiety and 28.8% depressive symptoms. Primary and secondary school teachers were more burdened; EE (H = 19.27, P < 0.001), anxiety (H = 13.69, P = 0.001), poor job perception (p < 0.05) than higher institution teachers. Females were more anxious (W = 14354.5, P = 0.036). Poor job, interpersonal and social perceptions were independently associated with mental health indicators indicating work influence. BS, PD, anxiety and depression are high among teachers in the Douala III Municipality. Poor job, interpersonal and social perceptions negatively affect their mental health especially primary and secondary school teachers. Causal studies and intervention strategies by stakeholders become imperative to ameliorate teachers’ mental health and productivity. Mental health indicators and job-related factors in primary, secondary and higher institution teachers in the Douala III municipality, Cameroon: a cross-sectional school-based study.