Implementation quality of whole-school mental health promotion and students’ academic performance

Achieving broad-scale parent1 engagement with school initiatives has proven elusive. This article reports survey data from 287 Maltese parents about their perceptions of the quality of their child's school's initiatives for promoting students’ wellbeing and mental health. Findings indicate that, on average, parents rated school initiatives highly. However, a MANCOVA of respondents grouped into three categories of Self-Assessed Parenting Capabilities (low, medium, high) showed that parents who held low perceptions of their own parenting capabilities also held significantly lower perceptions of the quality of schools’ mental health promotion initiatives. Less favourable dispositions towards school mental health promotion initiatives by parents with relatively low-parenting capabilities have implications for the design and delivery of school-based initiatives. For example, typical parent engagement, support and information provision activities (e.g., parent-teacher meetings, newsletters) might be less well received in families that arguably have a greater need to engage with such initiatives. This study has implications for whole-school mental health promotion initiatives that seek to include all parents.

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Teacher Mental Health Literacy: Results from a State-wide Survey in Schools

European Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1093/eurpub/ckaa165.275 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽

Author(s):

U Bauer ◽

O Okan ◽

F Faulbaum

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Promotion ◽

Health Literacy ◽

Mental Health Literacy ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

School Mental Health ◽

Health Problems ◽

Mental Health Promotion ◽

Parental Mental Health ◽

Whole School

Abstract Background Teachers have an important role to play in context of mental health literacy (MHL) promotion of school-aged children. Their MHL is seen as the counterpart of student`s health literacy. Especially vulnerable schoolchildren such as those affected by adverse life events (e.g. parental mental health problems) can benefit from programs. In addition, the whole school environment has impact on school mental health promotion. Yet, only little evidence is available on teachers MHL in Europe. The aim is to provide evidence from a state-wide survey on the state of MHL of teachers in Germany. Methods Based on semi-structured interviews with school teachers from all school types in one federal state, including primary and secondary schools, a MHL online questionnaire was developed. The survey was conducted in in 2017 in N = 2500 teachers in Germany. Descriptive and regression analyse have been performed. Results Teachers feel considerable uncertainties when working with children affected by adversities related to parental mental health problems. Dealing with the social family background seems hard. Teachers state that they don`t feel comfortable when aiming at mental health promotion of affected children or children in general. Data also show that they may tend to make misjudgements, and that they are not sufficiently trained to address mental health issues in the classrooms. Regression models show that the degree and quality of teaching mental health is affected by differences across school forms, satisfaction with and engagement of school principals in mental health action, learned strategies to respond to parents, and experienced stress, burden and exposure during their work. Conclusions Increasing teacher MHL and the environmental capacities and responsiveness towards school mental health promotion should be an important capacity building strategy. Policy support for school mental health promotion is a critical means to sustain effective whole-school approaches.

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A Case Study of Multimethod Evaluation of Complex School Mental Health Promotion and Prevention: The MindMatters Evaluation Suite

Australian Journal of Guidance and Counselling ◽

10.1375/ajgc.15.2.125 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 15 (2) ◽

pp. 125-136 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Louise Rowling ◽

Jo Mason

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Promotion ◽

Health Outcomes ◽

School Change ◽

Evaluation Studies ◽

School Mental Health ◽

Mental Health Promotion ◽

Drop Out ◽

Whole School ◽

Whole School Approach

AbstractThere are a number of challenges and debates surrounding the implementation of mental health interventions in schools. These include recognising the complexity of influencing factors and the interdependency of key components; the critical importance of monitoring school-based implementation in particular contexts; employing multimethod evaluation designs that can capture the complexity; and judging success using mental health and educational outcomes. These factors are shaped by both mental health and educational research. The prevention paradox focusing on the whole population ‘prevents’ more illness than targeting programs to specific individuals, and is exemplified in school mental health promotion that utilises an ecological or whole school approach. MindMatters, an innovative Australian mental health promotion and pr evention program, illustrates the challenges in this new field of endeavour. Its design and implementation are consistent with recommended effective practice, a comprehensive program that targets multiple health outcomes in the context of a coordinated whole school approach (Jané-Lopis, Barry, Hosman, & Patel, 2005). MindMatters moves beyond the sole focus on the curriculum to acknowledge the key roles of teacher professional development and whole school change within a strengths-based approach. As recommended by Jané-Lopis et al. (2005) measures of key school mental health outcomes are being used, ranging from absenteeism and drop-out rates to the development of social skills and academic achievement. The MindMatters evaluation suite of five separate yet interrelated evaluation studies illustrates some of the complexity involved.

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