The Levels of Pre-Retirement Anxiety Among Senior High School Teachers in The Upper East Region of Ghana
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53819/81018102t2551Abstract
Despite retirement being an important life transition, the psychological readiness of teachers is mostly undermined in favour of financial planning, creating a practical and empirical gap in support systems. This study investigated the levels of pre-retirement anxiety among senior high school teachers in the Upper East Region of Ghana. The research employed a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group design with a sample of 30 teachers within ten years of retirement. The Retirement Anxiety Scale, which demonstrated high internal consistency with a Cronbach's Alpha of 0.863, was used to measure anxiety levels before and after intervention. The results indicated that pre-retirement anxiety was very high amongst the participants before intervention, with 58.47% exhibiting high anxiety levels, 33.75% showing low anxiety, and only 7.78% demonstrating moderate anxiety. The study found that demographic factors such as gender and teaching experience were not significant predictors of pre-retirement anxiety, as no statistically significant differences were established regarding gender or years of teaching experience. The research concludes that pre-retirement anxiety is a serious concern among teachers in the Upper East Region and that universal, inclusive interventions are needed rather than demographic-specific approaches. It is recommended that educational stakeholders should integrate evidence-based psychological programmes into pre-retirement planning to facilitate holistic support for retiring teachers, moving beyond the current overemphasis on financial preparedness to address the psychological dimensions of this critical life transition.
Keywords: Pre-Retirement Anxiety, Senior High School Teachers, Upper East Region
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