Irrational Beliefs and Mental Health among Malaysian Secondary School Teachers

Authors

  • Teo Shui Xian Department of Psychology, School of Human Resource Development and Psychology, Faculty of Social Science and Humanities, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, UTM Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia. Author
  • Siti Aisyah Panatik Department of Psychology, School of Human Resource Development and Psychology, Faculty of Social Science and Humanities, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, UTM Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia. Author
  • Mastura Mahfar Department of Psychology, School of Human Resource Development and Psychology, Faculty of Social Science and Humanities, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, UTM Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia. Author
  • Wan Mohd Azam Wan Mohd Yunus Department of Psychology, School of Human Resource Development and Psychology, Faculty of Social Science and Humanities, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, UTM Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.61841/4ater654

Keywords:

Irrational Beliefs, Mental Health, Depression, Anxiety, Stress, School Teachers

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the association between irrational beliefs and mental health among secondary school teachers in Malaysia. A total of 82 secondary school teachers have participated in this study. Descriptive analysis and correlation analysis (r) were applied in this research. The Teachers Irrational Beliefs Scale (TIBS) was used to determine the level of irrational beliefs, while the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales (DASS-21) was utilized to identify the level of depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms among the secondary school teachers. The findings showed that the level of irrational beliefs among the secondary school teachers was moderate, the level of depression and stress was normal, whereas the level of anxiety was moderate. The results showed that there was a weak, positive, significant relationship between irrational beliefs and depression, anxiety, and stress among the secondary school teachers. 

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

[1] Aris, T. B., & LeeAnn, T. (2017). National Health & Morbidity Survey 2017. Retrieved from

http://iku.moh.gov.my/images/IKU/Document/REPORT/NHMS2017/MHSReportNHMS2017.pdf

[2] Bauer, J., Unterbrink, T., Hack, A., Pfeifer, R., Griebaber, V. R., Helmut, W., Frommhold, M., Seibt, R.,

Scheuch, K., Muller, U., & Wirschong, M. (2007). Working conditions, adverse events and mental health

problems in a sample of 949 German teachers. International Archives of Occupational Health, 80, 442-449.

[3] Bermejo-Toro, L., & Prieto-Ursúa, M. (2006). Teachers' irrational beliefs and their relationship to distress

in the profession. Psychology in Spain(10(1)), 88-96.

[4] Bernard, M. E. (1990). Taking the stress out of teaching: Collins Dove.

[5] Bernard, M. E. (2016). Teacher beliefs and stress. Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive-Behavior

Therapy, 34(3), 209-224.

[6] Bernard, M. E., & Ellis, A. (1983). Rational-emotive approaches to the problems of childhood: Springer.

[7] Bora, C., Bernard, M. E., Trip, S., Decsei-Radu, A., & Chereji, S. (2009). Teacher irrational belief scalepreliminary norms for Romanian population. Journal of Evidence-Based Psychotherapies, 9(2), 211.

[8] Bora, C., Vernon, A., & Trip, S. (2013). Effectiveness of a rational emotive behavior education program in

reducing teachers' emotional distress. Journal of Cognitive & Behavioral Psychotherapies, 13.

[9] Bridges, K. R., & Harnish, R. J. (2010). Role of irrational beliefs in depression and anxiety: a review.

Health, 2(08), 862.

[10] Crawford, J. R., & Henry, J. D. (2003). The depression anxiety stress scales (DASS): Normative data and

latent structure in a large non‐clinical sample. British journal of clinical psychology, 42(2), 111-131.

[11] Da Rocha, L. M., Behlau, M., & De Mattos Souza, L. D. (2015). Behavioral dysphonia and depression in

elementary school teachers. Journal of Voice, 29(6), 712-717.

[12] David, D., Montgomery, G. H., Macavie, B., & Bovbjerg, D. H. (2005). An empirical investigation of

Albert Ellis’s Binary Model of Distress. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 61(4), 499-516.

[13] Dryden, W., & Branch, R. (2008). Fundamentals of rational emotive behaviour therapy: A training

handbook: John Wiley & Sons.

[14] Dyrbye, L. N., Szydlo, D. W., Downing, S. M., Sloan, J. A., & Shanafelt, T. D. (2010). Development and

preliminary psychometric properties of a well-being index for medical students. BMC medical education,

10(1), 8.

[15] Ellis, A. (1994). Reason and emotion in psychotherapy: Revised and updated. New York: Birch Lane.

[16] Ellis, A. (2000). Rational emotive behavior therapy. Current psychotherapies, 6, 168-204.

[17] Ellis, A. (2002). Overcoming resistance: A rational emotive behavior therapy integrated approach: Springer

Publishing Company.

[18] Ellis, A., & Harper, R. (1997). A guide to rational living. North Hollywood. Calif.: Wilshire Book Co.

[19] Felman, A., & Browne, D. (2018). What to know about anxiety. Retrieved from

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323454.php

[20] Gardner, S. (2010). Stress among prospective teachers: A review of the literature. Australian Journal of

Teacher Education, 35(8), 2.

[21] Green, G. R. (2014). Study to investigate self-reported teacher absenteeism and desire to leave teaching as

they relate to teacher-reported teaching satisfaction, job-related stress, symptoms of depression, irrational

beliefs, and self-efficacy.

[22] Health and Safety Executive. (2000). Stress at Work: Who is Affected Most? [Press release]

[23] Hindman, A. H., & Bustamante, A. S. (2018). Teacher depression as a dynamic variable: Exploring the

nature and predictors of change over the head start year. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology.

[24] Jalil, N. I. A., & Mahfar, M. (2016). The validity and reliability of rational emotive behavioural therapy

module development for university support staff. Asian Soc Sci, 12, 129.

[25] Jeanne Segal, M. S., Robert Segal, and Lawrence Robinson. (2018). Stress Symptoms, Signs, and Causes:

Improving Your Ability to Handle Stress.

[26] Khoo, H. X. (2015). Irrational Beliefs as Mediator in the Relationship Between Activating Event and Stress

Among Secondary School Teachers. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.

[27] Kyriacou, C. (2001). Teacher stress: Directions for future research. Educational review, 53(1), 27-35.

[28] Leung, S. S. K., Chiang, V. C. L., Chui, Y. Y., Mak, Y. W., & Wong, D. F. K. (2011). A Brief Cognitivebehavioral Stress Management Program for Secondary School Teachers. Journal of Occupational Health,

53(1), 23-35. doi:10.1539/joh.L10037

[29] Long, N. J. (2010). Why competent persons have MELTDOWNS working with troubled students.

Reclaiming children and youth, 18(4), 40.

[30] Lovibond, S. H., & Lovibond, P. F. (1996). Manual for the depression anxiety stress scales: Psychology

Foundation of Australia.

[31] Maag, J. W. (2008). Rational—emotive therapy to help teachers control their emotions and behavior when

dealing with disagreeable students. Intervention in School and Clinic, 44(1), 52-57.

[32] Mahan, P. L., Mahan, M. P., Park, N.-J., Shelton, C., Brown, K. C., & Weaver, M. T. (2010). Work

environment stressors, social support, anxiety, and depression among secondary school teachers. AAOHN

Journal, 58(5), 197-205.

[33] Mahfar, M., Aslan, A. S., Noah, S. M., Ahmad, J., & Jaafar, W. M. W. (2014). Effects of Rational Emotive

Education Module on Irrational Beliefs and Stress among Fully Residential School Students in Malaysia.

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 114, 239-243.

[34] McCarthy, C. J., Lambert, R. G., O'Donnell, M., & Melendres, L. T. (2009). The relation of elementary

teachers' experience, stress, and coping resources to burnout symptoms. The Elementary School Journal,

109(3), 282-300.

[35] Mental Illness Awareness and Support Association (MIASA). (2017). Overview of MIASA. Retrieved

from http://www.hati.my/health/mental-illness-awareness-support-association-miasa/

[36] Mukundan, J., & Khandehroo, K. (2010). Burnout among English Language Teachers in Malaysia.

Contemporary issues in education research, 3(1), 71-76.

[37] Musa, R., Fadzil, M. A., & Zain, Z. (2007). Translation, validation and psychometric properties of Bahasa

Malaysia version of the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS). ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry, 8(2),

82-89.

[38] Nakada, A., Iwasaki, S., Kanchika, M., Nakao, T., Deguchi, Y., Konishi, A., . . . Inoue, K. (2016).

Relationship between depressive symptoms and perceived individual level occupational stress among

Japanese schoolteachers. Industrial health, 54(5), 396-402.

[39] Nurul Iza. (2013). Kepercayaan Tidak Rasional Sebagai Perantara antara Perisitwa Tekanan dan Tahap

Tekanan dalam Kalangan Guru Sekolah Berasrama Penuh di Johor, Malaysia. . (Ijazah Sarjana

Pendidikan), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai.

[40] Osman, A., Wong, J. L., Bagge, C. L., Freedenthal, S., Gutierrez, P. M., & Lozano, G. (2012). The

depression anxiety stress Scales—21 (DASS‐21): Further examination of dimensions, scale reliability, and

correlates. Journal of clinical psychology, 68(12), 1322-1338.

[41] Popov, S., Popov, B., & Damjanović, R. (2015). The role of stressors at work and irrational beliefs in the

prediction of teachers’ stress. Primenjena psihologija, 8(1), 5-23.

[42] Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D scale: a self-report depression scale for research in the general

population. Applied psychological measurement, 1(3), 385-401.

[43] Rohaidah. (2015). Relationship Burnout Job Satisfaction Among Living Skills Subject Teachers In

Secondary Schools At Batu Pahat., University Of Tun Hussein Onn, Malaysia.

[44] Rooney, B. J., & Evans, A. N. (2018). Methods in psychological research: Sage Publications.

[45] Schonfeld, I. S. (1992). A longitudinal study of occupational stressors and depressive symptoms in firstyear female teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education, 8(2), 151-158.

[46] Shen, X., Yang, Y.-L., Wang, Y., Liu, L., Wang, S., & Wang, L. (2014). The association between occupational stress and depressive symptoms and the mediating role of psychological capital among Chinese university teachers: a cross-sectional study. BMC psychiatry, 14(1), 329.

[47] Sheng, C. Y. (2017). The Influence Of Big Five Personality Traits On Irrational Beliefs Among Primary School Teachers In Muar, Johor. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.

[48] Spielberger, C. D. (1983). Manual for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory STAI (form Y) ("self-evaluation

questionnaire").

[49] Steinhardt, M. A., Smith Jaggars, S. E., Faulk, K. E., & Gloria, C. T. (2011). Chronic work stress and

depressive symptoms: Assessing the mediating role of teacher burnout. Stress and Health, 27(5), 420-429.

[50] Tanhan, F. (2014). An analysis of factors affecting teachers' irrational beliefs. Educational Sciences:

Theory and Practice, 14(2), 465-470.

[51] Tanhan, F., & Şentürk, E. (2011). Development of teacher attitude scale towards undesirable intraclass

behaviours of students. Turkish Psychological Counseling and Guidance Journal, 4(35), 44-53.

[52] Titheradge, D., Hayes, R., Longdon, B., Allen, K., Price, A., Hansford, L., . . . Norwich, B. (2019).

Psychological distress among primary school teachers: a comparison with clinical and population samples.

Public health, 166, 53-56.

[53] Turner, M. J. (2016). Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT), irrational and rational beliefs, and the mental health of athletes. Frontiers in psychology, 7, 1423.

[54] Ugwoke, S. C., Eseadi, C., Igbokwe, C. C., Chiaha, G. T. U., Nwaubani, O. O., Orji, C. T., . . . Abugu, L. I.

(2017). Effects of a rational-emotive health education intervention on stress management and irrational beliefs among technical college teachers in Southeast Nigeria. Medicine (Baltimore), 96(31), e7658.

[55] Warren, J. M. (2010). The impact of social cognitive theory and rational emotive behaviour therapy interventions on beliefs, emotions, and performance of teachers.

[56] Warren, J. M., & Dowden, A. R. (2012). Elementary school teachers' beliefs and emotions: Implications for school counselors and counselor educators. Journal of School Counseling, 10(19), n19.

[57] Webber, A., Weltle, D., & Lederel, P. (2006). Ill Health and Early Retirement among School Principals in Bavaria. International Archives of Occupational Health, 78, 325-331.

[58] World Health Organization. (2014). Mental health: a state of well-being. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/features/factfiles/mental_health/en/

[59] World Health Organization. (2018a). Depression. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news-room/factsheets/detail/depression

[60] World Health Organization. (2018b). Mental Health: Strengthening Our Response. Retrieved from

https://www.who.int/health-topics/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-strengthening-our-response.

Downloads

Published

31.07.2020

How to Cite

Shui Xian, T., Aisyah Panatik, S., Mahfar , M., & Mohd Azam Wan Mohd Yunus, W. (2020). Irrational Beliefs and Mental Health among Malaysian Secondary School Teachers. International Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation, 24(5), 698-709. https://doi.org/10.61841/4ater654