Anxiety in the workplace: A comprehensive occupational health evaluation of anxiety disorder in public school teachers

The purpose of the study was to systematically assess demographic, occupational, and psychosocial factors associated with Anxiety Disorder in public school teachers. A sample of 3,361 public school teachers was given an online questionnaire, including questions about demographic, occupational, and psychosocial factors. Anxiety Disorder was based on the Patient Health Questionnaire. Univariate analyses and a hierarchical logistic regression were used to determine the key demographic, occupational, and psychosocial factors associated with Anxiety Disorder. Individuals with Anxiety Disorder were significantly more likely to report absenteeism and higher intent to quit (p < .001). The hierarchical logistic regression showed that the factors most associated with the Anxiety Disorder included being Hispanic (p < .01), taught fewer years (p < .05), teaching elementary school (p < .01), higher job involvement (p < .01), higher perceived stress (p < .01), lower physical quality of life (p < .01), major depression (p < .001), and somatization disorder (p < .01). The results from this study identify specific demographic, occupational, and psychosocial factors associated with the presence of anxiety disorder in public school teachers. Future research should examine how implementing changes in the workplace may improve occupational factors such as job control, satisfaction, absenteeism, and intent to quit, which, in turn, may be associated with a reduction in the presence of anxiety disorders.