An Investigation of Teachers’ Mental Well-Being Levels

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to determine the levels of mental well-being of preschool and primary school teachers working in state schools in Northern Cyprus according to various variables. A survey model was employed to examine the mental well-being levels of teachers according to various variables (gender, age, marital status, field of study, years of seniority). The study group consists of preschool and primary school teachers working in state kindergartens and primary schools in the 2023/2024 academic year in Northern Cyprus. For data collection, the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale Short Form (WEMWBS-SF), which was adapted into Turkish by Demirtaş and Baytemir (2019) from the scale developed by Tennant et al. (2007), was used. In addition, a form consisting of questions determined by the researchers was used to determine socio-demographic variables. The obtained data were analyzed using SPSS 22 program. Independent samples t-test was used for comparing two groups, and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used for comparing more than two groups. It was found that teachers' levels of mental well-being were moderate. It was determined that male teachers and primary school teachers had higher levels of well-being compared to female teachers and preschool teachers, respectively. There was no significant differentiation between teachers' marital statuses and their levels of mental well-being. It was concluded that there was a negative relationship between teachers' ages and years of seniority and their levels of mental well-being, indicating that mental well-being levels decreased as ages and years of seniority increased.