Moderating Effect of Mental Health on the Association between Teachers ' Stress and their Professional Attitude in Tanzania

Abstract

Various reports show that there is an increase in teachers ' stress anda decline in teachers ' professional attitude in Tanzania. Few studieshave examined the reasons for such situation. This study examined themoderating effect of mental health on the association between teachers ' level of stress and their professional attitude. The study used a selectedsample of teachers from 12 randomly selected public primary schoolsof Tanzania (N = 173, Mean Age = 38.10 years, SD = 10.0). Usinghierarchical regression moderation model, a significant association wasfound between teachers ' professional attitude and their level of stress (β= €“ .21, p < .001), which was moderated by mental health (β = €“ .12, p <.029). The findings call for interventions to enhance teachers ' wellbeingincluding the wellbeing of their mental health in order to improve theirorganizational and life performance in the country.Keywords: mental health, professional attitude, teachers ' stress,Tanzania