Relationship Between Level of Mental Health and Level of work Performance Among Primary Teachers: Malaysian Experiences

Mental health among teachers is important and needs to be emphasized by all parties. This is because mental health can affect the physical health, quality of life, productivity and performance of teachers at school. This study aims to examine the level of mental health and the level of work performance among teachers in several primary schools in the district of Sandakan, Sabah. The researcher also wants to identify whether there is a relationship between the level of mental health and the level of work performance among teachers in the schools concerned. A simple random sampling method was used to obtain 150 people as a study sample. This study is a quantitative study that uses a descriptive survey method through a questionnaire distributed using Google Form. To measure the level of teachers' mental health, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) questionnaire was used while the work performance questionnaire was used to assess the level of teacher work performance in their work production. The data obtained was analyzed in the form of descriptive and inferential statistics using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software version 27. The findings of the study show that primary school teachers are at a moderately good level of mental health with a mean score of 2.66. The results of the study also prove that there is a significant relationship between the level of mental health and the level of teacher work performance with the value of the correlation coefficient (r) being .73. This study is expected to provide insight into the level of mental health among the teachers studied. Stakeholders can plan procedures to improve the level of mental health among teachers. In the final part, a similar study that can be carried out with some identified added value is also suggested.