article · Discover Public Health
Secondary school teachers play a vital role in student development and education, yet occupational pressures can severely impact their mental health. An investigation in Kano, Nigeria, assessed the prevalence of anxiety and depression among 432 public and private secondary school teachers using standardised screening tools. The findings revealed that 46.5 percent of participants experienced anxiety symptoms, while 70.8 percent reported depressive symptoms, with varying levels of severity. Years of teaching experience proved to be significantly linked to anxiety, as educators with six to ten years of service exhibited lower odds of experiencing anxiety than those in their first five years. Other demographic factors, including age, gender, education level, marital status, and income, showed no significant relationship with either condition. These results demonstrate a substantial burden of mental health difficulties among educators in the region, pointing to an urgent requirement for focused intervention strategies.
Educator wellbeing directly influences teaching quality and student outcomes. Documenting the high rates of anxiety and depression among secondary school teachers in Northern Nigeria provides baseline evidence of occupational distress. This information assists policymakers, education authorities, and school managers in recognising the scale of the issue and designing tailored support services to improve staff retention, performance, and general mental health.
The abstract does not indicate a commercial application pathway. As early-stage observational research, the findings provide baseline epidemiological data that could inform educational authorities and occupational health providers in designing workplace mental health support programmes and intervention services.
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Teachers are pivotal to the development of educational systems and student well-being. However, they are frequently exposed to occupational stressors that may predispose them to mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression. In Northern Nigeria, where economic challenges such as the removal of subsidies from some crude oil products and the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic have worsened mental health conditions.The burden of these conditions among secondary school teachers remains under-researched, despite the region’s unique socio-economic and political challenges. The present study aimed to determine the prevalence and socio-demographic correlate of anxiety and depression among Secondary School Teachers in Kano, Nigeria. This cross-sectional study included 432 teachers (275 males, 157 females) selected through a systematic random sampling technique from various public and private secondary schools in Kano state Nigeria. Data were collected using a structured, self-administered questionnaire comprising socio-demographic variables, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) scale, and the Patient Health Questionnaire 9-item (PHQ-9) scale. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square tests, ANOVA and logistic regression with IBM SPSS version 27.0. The results revealed a high prevalence of symptoms of anxiety (46.5%), with 31.9% experiencing mild, 11.6% moderate, and 3.0% severe anxiety. Depressive symptoms were even more prevalent (70.8%), with 33.8% mild, 26.4% moderate, 7.2% moderately severe, and 3.5% severe cases. Teaching experience was independently associated with anxiety, with teachers having 6–10 years of experience showing lower odds compared with those with 1–5 years (aOR = 0.35, 95% CI 0.16–0.79, p = 0.01. Age, Gender, education level, marital status, and income were not significantly associated with either anxiety or depressive symptoms. The findings highlight the substantial mental health burden among secondary school teachers in Kano, Nigeria, underscoring the need for targeted interventions to address anxiety and depression in this critical professional group.
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DOI: 10.1186/s12982-026-02663-x
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