Teachers use of fear appeals: association with student and teacher mental health

Background: Fear appeals are discourses commonly used by teachers to motivate students especially when academic outcomes are paramount. Fear appeals have been associated with better and worse academic performance by the student recipients, with some evidence that fear appeals are detrimental for students who are anxious and have lower self-efficacy. Little is known about the factors that drive teachers’ use of fear appeals beyond a desire to increase motivation to excel. 

Aims: This study examined the relationship between the use of fear appeals, psychological distress, and self-efficacy in both teachers and students. Sample: Participants were 377 students (81% female, age range 15 to 18, M = 16.68, SD = 0.49) and 96 teachers (73% female, Mean years teaching = 18.04, SD = 12.39). 

Methods: Participants completed surveys mid-way through the first school term of their final year of high school. Student surveys examined student anxiety, depression, stress, self-efficacy, and experience of teacher fear appeals. Teacher surveys examined teacher anxiety, depression, stress, emotional burnout, self-efficacy, years of teaching, and use of fear appeals. 

Results: Teachers use of fear appeals was associated with student distress which was heightened for students with lower academic self-efficacy. Similarly, teachers’ use of fear appeals was associated with higher anxiety and lower self-efficacy in teachers themselves. 

Conclusions: Therefore, the use and consequence of fear appeals is strongly linked to both student and teacher self-efficacy and distress. Given the detrimental impacts of fear appeals on academic performance in vulnerable students, more research is needed on the consequences of fear appeals.