Promoting mental health literacy in schools

Abstract Background Adolescence is the most suitable time for health promotion and prevention programs regarding mental illness to start. Given that, about half of the mental illnesses will develop by the age of 14, addressing this issue early in the life course is a particular public health goal in Europe. Mental health literacy is considered a key determinant of good mental health, as it comprises adequate knowledge positive attitudes towards mental health and help-seeking behavior. School-based interventions aimed at increasing mental health literacy are a promising method to reach most young people, at least in countries were school attendance is mandatory. The goal of our project is to evaluate a mental health school program, adapted from a Curriculum originating in Canada, in regard to its ability to increase the mental health literacy of adolescents and young adults within the German school setting. Methods Data is currently being collected within the school setting from adolescents and young adults attending regular secondary schools and vocational schools in Germany at three different time points: (T0) before the intervention, (T1) afterwards and (T2) 2-3 months later. A control group will be questioned as well. Data collection takes place between February and December 2020. Results Till October 2020 a sample size of about 200 to 400 participants will be reached. It is expected that the intervention group will have a significantly higher increase in mental health literacy, more positive attitudes towards help-seeking and a decrease in stigmatizing attitudes towards mental illness compared to the control group. Conclusions It is expected that, the mental health Curriculum will show to be an effective way of promoting the mental health literacy of young people attending different school forms in Germany. A national wide implementation might be a promising public health measure for fostering good mental health and mental health literacy in adolescents and young people.

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Mental Health Literacy, Help-Seeking Behaviour and Wellbeing in Young People: Implications for Practice

The Educational and Developmental Psychologist ◽

10.1017/edp.2019.1 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 36 (01) ◽

pp. 16-21 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Prishini Ratnayake ◽

Chelsea Hyde

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Gender Differences ◽

High School Students ◽

Health Literacy ◽

Young People ◽

Help Seeking ◽

Mental Health Literacy ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Targeted Interventions ◽

Help Seeking Behaviour

AbstractResearch indicates that individuals who have high levels of mental health literacy engage in help-seeking for mental health issues more in comparison to those with low mental health literacy. It is therefore important to ensure that young people are able to identify signs of psychological distress and identify appropriate supports and resources when necessary. Preliminary research has identified gender differences in help-seeking and identification of mental health problems. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between mental health literacy, help-seeking intentions and wellbeing in senior high school students. The sample consisted of 22 females and 10 male students, ranging from 16–18 years. Findings indicated a positive correlation between wellbeing and general help-seeking, as well as wellbeing and help-seeking for suicidal ideation. Gender differences were identified for aspects of mental health literacy and help-seeking intentions. Results of this research have implications for practitioners in fostering positive outcomes and developing targeted interventions towards improving mental health literacy and help-seeking behaviour in the future.

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A study of the effect of an intervention for improving help-seeking preferences and the mental health literacy.-comparison between psychologist group and teacher group and control group-

The Proceedings of the Annual Convention of the Japanese Psychological Association ◽

10.4992/pacjpa.78.0_3ev-2-038 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 78 (0) ◽

pp. 3EV-2-038-3EV-2-038

Author(s):

Shuya Sato ◽

Hideo Ambo ◽

Takashi Ueno

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Literacy ◽

Help Seeking ◽

Mental Health Literacy ◽

Control Group ◽

And Control

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Effectiveness of Shining Mind- A Smartphone App to Increase Mental Health Literacy Among College Students

VNU Journal of Science Education Research ◽

10.25073/2588-1159/vnuer.4480 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Vu Hong Van ◽

Kieu Thi Anh Dao ◽

Dang Hoang Minh

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

College Students ◽

Mental Illness ◽

Health Literacy ◽

Help Seeking ◽

Mental Health Literacy ◽

Mobile Apps ◽

Literacy Intervention ◽

Control Group ◽

Global Public Health

Background: Mental illness is a global public health challenge, particularly in low- and middle-income countries such as Vietnam. Improving mental health literacy was found to be associated with early detection and treatment of mental illness and increased help-seeking behaviors. With the development of information technology, IT applications such as websites and mobile applications have become essential tools for mental health literacy intervention. Though there has been a number of mobile apps delivering psychotherpies, little focus on mental health litracy intervention. Aims: The study aims to a) evaluate the feasibility of a mobile-based mental health literacy intervention called Shining Mind and b) assess the effectiveness of the Shining Mind app in improving mental health literacy among college students. Methods: The study used randomized control trial design with two groups: experimental group (N=68) and control group (N=84). Results: The average number of times of accessing Shining Mind was 22.97 per student (SD=25.13) with one student (1.47%) never logging into the app. In terms of quality, the app was rated moderately good by participants (M=3.3, SD=0.6). Regarding mental health literacy, the results showed that there were group effects over time regarding depression and biopolar recognition, social anxiety labelling, stigma and parent help-seeking intention.

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Influence of Gender on Mental Health Literacy in Young Australians

Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1080/j.1440-1614.2006.01885.x ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 40 (9) ◽

pp. 790-796 ◽

Cited By ~ 139

Author(s):

Sue M. Cotton ◽

Annemarie Wright ◽

Meredith G. Harris ◽

Anthony F. Jorm ◽

Patrick D. Mcgorry

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Gender Differences ◽

Health Literacy ◽

Young People ◽

Help Seeking ◽

Mental Health Literacy ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Health Service Delivery ◽

Structured Interview ◽

Computer Assisted

Objectives: To determine the effects of gender on mental health literacy in young people between 12 and 25 years of age. Design: Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing was employed to conduct a crosssectional structured interview focusing on young people's awareness of depression and psychosis. Participants: The sample comprised 1207 young Australians (539 males and 668 females) between the ages of 12-25 recruited from two metropolitan and two regional areas within Victoria. Six hundred and six respondents were presented a depression vignette and 601 were presented a psychosis vignette. Results: Female respondents (60.7%) were significantly more likely to correctly identify depression in the vignette as compared to male respondents (34.5%). No significant gender differences were noted for the psychosis vignette. Males were less significantly likely to endorse seeing a doctor or psychologist/counsellor for the treatment of psychosis. Males were also significantly more likely than females to endorse alcohol as a way of dealing with depression and antibiotics as useful for dealing with psychosis. Conclusion: Gender differences in mental health literacy are striking. Males showed significantly lower recognition of symptoms associated with mental illness and were more likely endorse the use alcohol to deal with mental health problems. Such factors may contribute to the delays in help seeking seen in young males. Further research is needed to delineate how these gender differences in young people may obstruct help seeking, early intervention and other aspects of mental health service delivery.

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Mental Health Literacy in Healthcare Students: An Expansion of the Mental Health Literacy Scale

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17030948 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (3) ◽

pp. 948

Author(s):

Hsing-Jung Chao ◽

Yin-Ju Lien ◽

Yu-Chen Kao ◽

I-Chuan Tasi ◽

Hui-Shin Lin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Mental Health ◽

Mental Illness ◽

Health Literacy ◽

Psychometric Properties ◽

Mental Health Professionals ◽

Help Seeking ◽

Convergent Validity ◽

Mental Health Literacy ◽

Healthcare Students

Objective: Although the recently developed mental health literacy scale showed significant score differences between general population and mental health professionals, to this date there is no published scale intended to specifically assess mental health literacy (MHL) in healthcare students. This study constructed a 26-item scale-based measure to assess multiple components of MHL and associated psychometric properties in a sample of medical and public health students of 11 universities in Taiwan. Methods: The development and validation of the scale comprised three phases: measure development, pilot testing (n = 32), and psychometric properties examination (n = 1294). Results: 26 items were generated for five factors: maintenance of positive mental health, recognition of mental illness, attitude to mental illness stigma, help-seeking efficacy, and help-seeking attitude. The scale demonstrated good content validity, internal consistency, and construct validity (factorial validity, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and known groups validity). Conclusions: The findings suggest that the Mental Health Literacy Scale for Healthcare Students (MHLS-HS) is a valid, reliable, and practical tool for identifying MHL gaps in medical and public health students. It has the potential to inform remedial curricular interventions for educators and evaluate intervention effectiveness.

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A Content Analysis of Mental Health Literacy Education for Sport Coaches

Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology ◽

10.1123/jcsp.2021-0011 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-11

Author(s):

Stephen P. Hebard ◽

James E. Bissett ◽

Emily Kroshus ◽

Emily R. Beamon ◽

Aviry Reich

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Content Analysis ◽

Health Literacy ◽

Help Seeking ◽

Mental Health Literacy ◽

Health Knowledge ◽

Scholarly Literature ◽

Literacy Support ◽

Positive Attitudes ◽

Sport Coaches

Sport coaches can play an influential role in athletes’ mental health help seeking through purposeful communication, destigmatization of mental health concerns, and supportive relationships. To positively engage in these behaviors, coaches require mental health knowledge (or literacy), positive attitudes about that knowledge, and self-efficacy to use that knowledge. Guided by a multidimensional health literacy framework, we conducted a content analysis of web content and scholarly literature to identify health education programming for coaches that addressed athlete mental health. A purposive sample of Olympic National Governing Bodies, collegiate athletic associations, high school sport associations, youth sport governing bodies, and the scholarly literature were analyzed. We found inconsistent programming regarding a range of mental health disorders, behaviors critical to mental health promotion, and critical components of mental health literacy. Implications and next steps for mental health literacy support for coaches are discussed.

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Mental health literacy among Arab university students in Israel: A qualitative study

International Journal of Social Psychiatry ◽

10.1177/00207640211036167 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 002076402110361

Author(s):

Anwar Khatib ◽

Fareeda Abo-Rass

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Literacy ◽

Mental Disorders ◽

Low Socioeconomic Status ◽

Help Seeking ◽

Mental Health Literacy ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Arab Population ◽

Professional Help ◽

Arab Students

Background: There has been a noticeable increase in the number of studies concerned with mental health literacy (MHL), specifically among students. Still, very few studies have examined MHL among students of non-Western minority groups. Aims: This study examined MHL among Arab students in Israel based on Jorm’s conceptual framework. Methods: Twenty-eight Arab students in Israel took part in semi-structured, in-depth interviews. Most were single and Muslim, in their second year of studies, and most reported low socioeconomic status. The data were analyzed thematically, guided by the Jorm’s six MHL dimensions. Results: Different levels of literacy were found in the various MHL dimensions. The participants identified severe mental disorders more easily than mood disorders; reported a variety of possible causes of mental disorders; were well aware of available professional help (apart for rehabilitative services); identified significant barriers to mental health help seeking, as Arabs; and reported the internet as a major source of information about mental health problems and their treatment Conclusions: The participants’ MHL appeared to be associated with their unique sociocultural characteristics. This study stresses the need to raise MHL among Arab students in Israel, and in particular to promote positive attitudes to seeking professional help. It also highlights the need to develop culturally adapted mental health interventions for the Arab population in Israel.

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Evaluation of a Resilience-Based Intervention for Children of Parents With Mental Illness

Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1080/00048670802512065 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 42 (12) ◽

pp. 1041-1050 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

Eliza Fraser ◽

Kenneth I. Pakenham

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Mental Illness ◽

Life Satisfaction ◽

Health Literacy ◽

Mental Health Literacy ◽

Control Group ◽

Participant Satisfaction ◽

Clinically Significant ◽

Treatment Gains ◽

And Control

Objective: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a group psychosocial intervention for children (aged 12–18) of a parent with mental illness (copmi). Method: A treatment and waitlist-control design study with pre- and post-treatment, and 8 week follow up, was carried out. The treatment (n = 27) and control (n=17) groups were compared on three groups of dependent variables: intervention targets (mental health literacy, connectedness, coping strategies), adjustment (depression, life satisfaction, prosocial behaviour, emotional/behavioural difficulties), and caregiving experiences. Results: Group comparisons failed to show statistically significant intervention effects, but reliable clinical change analyses suggested that compared to the control group, more intervention participants had clinically significant improvements in mental health literacy, depression, and life satisfaction. These treatment gains were maintained 8 weeks after treatment. Participant satisfaction data supported these treatment gains. Conclusions: Given study limitations and the modest support for intervention effectiveness it is important that this and other similar interventions should continue to be revised and undergo rigorous evaluation.

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