Perceived Anxiety Stigma, Anxiety Literacy and Help-Seeking Attitudes among Swedish Teachers

Sammanfattning: Anxiety is becoming more prevalent among Swedish youth. Anxiety can range from momentary symptoms to lifelong disorders, where generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) is one of the most common anxiety disorders (Allgulander, 2012). Yet relative to those who are older, young individuals are less likely to seek psychological help. Previous research has focused on the role of mental health literacy and stigma in help-seeking behaviours among students. This cross-sectional study explored possible associations between GAD literacy, perceived GAD stigma, and psychological help- seeking attitudes among Swedish regular and special education teachers (N = 647) using an internet-based survey. Results revealed a significant positive association between GAD literacy and help-seeking attitudes among regular education teachers and not for special education teachers. Overall, this study provides insight into the current levels of GAD literacy, perceived GAD stigma, and help-seeking attitudes among Swedish teachers of different professional training and has implications for intervention development among regular education teachers.