scholarly journals Online Learning Communities and Mental Health Literacy for Preschool Teachers: The Moderating Role of Enthusiasm for Engagement

Author(s):  
Pi-Chun Hsu ◽  
I-Hsiung Chang ◽  
Ru-Si Chen

Background: Most of the existing literature analyzes preschool teachers’ perceptions of information seeking and measures their satisfaction with online support for mental health issues. Seldom has this literature considered the influence of enthusiasm for or preference towards online engagement and social media in the development of preschool teachers’ mental health literacy. Methods: This study focused on preschool teachers’ attitudes towards the impact of an online learning community on mental health literacy and explored the moderation of enthusiasm for engagement on this relationship. A survey was conducted in Taiwan, and the researchers employed partial least squares to test the moderating effect. Results: The results indicate that enthusiasm for engagement has a negative moderating effect on the relationship between an online learning community and mental health literacy for preschool teachers. Conclusions: The moderating effect of enthusiasm for engagement in this relationship reminds us to consider the advantages and disadvantages of the employment of online learning communities for the improvement of mental health literacy and well-being. This study recommends cautiously integrating online learning communities and real-world communication into an appropriate and user-friendly interactive model to help preschool teachers promote their mental health literacy and well-being.

2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (Supplement_3) ◽  
Author(s):  
F Samkange-Zeeb ◽  
H Singh ◽  
M Lakeberg ◽  
J Kolschen ◽  
B Schüz ◽  
...  

Abstract   Disadvantaged populations, including unemployed adults, often exhibit low levels of health literacy. Exploring subjectively perceived health literacy needs in these populations can serve as an entry point for participatory intervention development. We aimed to assess health literacy needs of unemployed adults by triangulating qualitative interviews data and a scoping review. Using a parallel approach, we combined results of an interview study with 10 participants of a job-reintegration program in Germany and a scoping review. The interviews, conducted in early 2021, focused on health topics of interest to the participants and their sources of health-related information. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. For the scoping review, we searched MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycInfo and SCOPUS up to January 2021 for studies containing “unemployed” AND “health literacy” in titles/abstracts. Study selection and data extraction were done independently by two researchers. Nutrition and physical activity emerged as core themes during the interviews, with some participants referring to the importance of both for mental health. Doctors and the institution running the job-reintegration program were the sources of health-related information often mentioned. The Corona pandemic was reported to have limited physical activity and affected psycho-social well-being. Five out of 2696 studies were included in the review. Four focused on mental health literacy, the fifth assessed information seeking practices in unemployed adults. The qualitative analysis revealed that health literacy needs of unemployed adults go beyond mental health literacy. As nutrition and physical activity impact mental health, interventions targeting such topics might also improve mental health literacy in unemployed adults. Study findings will be discussed with unemployed persons and social workers in co-production workshops that aim to identify and prioritize health literacy needs for intervention development. Key messages Health literacy programs for unemployed adults should target nutrition and physical activity. Workforce re-integration programs play a pivotal role in improving health literacy of unemployed adults.


2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 55-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiffany Anne Beks ◽  
Sharon L Cairns ◽  
Serena Smygwaty ◽  
Olga A.L. Miranda Osorio ◽  
Sheldon J Hill

Many universities have implemented campus-based initiatives addressing students’ mental health with the goal of promoting well-being. One such initiative is the newly developed Counsellor-in-Residence (CIR) program at the University of Calgary, which targets students’ mental health by providing residence-based counselling services and mental health programming. In this process evaluation, students completed three waves of data collection conducted over the academic year. Each wave measured students’ mental health literacy, using the Mental Health Literacy Scale (O’Connor & Casey, 2015), and resiliency, using the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale-25 (Connor & Davidson, 2003). Males reported lower mental health literacy than females (p < .001), and international students reported lower mental health literacy than domestic students (p < .001). No differences in resilience levels were found between groups. These findings suggest that male and international students experience additional barriers to accessing campus-based mental health services. Implications for residence-based mental health programming that target male and international students are discussed.  


Author(s):  
Shakiba Oftadeh-Moghadam ◽  
Paul Gorczynski

Within rugby, a plethora of research has focused on male rugby players, with some recent attention being directed to examining their mental health. Such attention has not been evident for their female rugby counterparts. The aims of this study were to ascertain levels of mental health literacy (MHL) and explore demographic differences in United Kingdom semielite rugby players who identified as women, and examine whether MHL is associated with better mental health outcomes and general help-seeking intentions. In total, 208 semielite women rugby players completed an online multisection questionnaire measuring MHL, general help-seeking intentions, distress, and well-being. Overall, most players scored a low rating of well-being; however, those who indicated a previous mental health problem exhibited significantly higher levels of MHL. Players were more likely to display general help-seeking intentions toward an intimate partner or a friend than a health care professional. High levels of distress were reported in 64.4% of players, particularly those who had been previously medically diagnosed with a mental disorder and bisexual rugby players. MHL was significantly, positively correlated with general help-seeking intentions, but not significantly correlated with distress or well-being. This study is the first to examine MHL in women rugby players and suggests that strategies devised by multidisciplinary teams of experts to help promote, engage, and offer tailored mental health support to women rugby players would be beneficial. Further investigations exploring the determinants of, and barriers to, MHL among women rugby players would be worthwhile to better understand and support players throughout their sporting career.


Author(s):  
Miranda Mowbray

This chapter is concerned with how to design an online learning community in such a way as to encourage cooperation, and to discourage uncooperative or antisocial behavior. Rather than restricting design to visual and interface issues, I take a wide view, touching on aspects of the governance, social structure, moderation practices, and technical architecture of online learning communities. The first half of the chapter discusses why people behave antisocially in online learning communities, and ways to discourage this through design. The second half discusses why on the other hand people behave cooperatively in online learning communities, and ways to encourage this through user-centered design, applying some results of experiments in social psychology. The chapter is intended to be of practical use to designers of online learning communities.


Author(s):  
Donatella Persico ◽  
Francesca Pozzi ◽  
Luigi Sarti

Some collaborative learning strategies widely used in face-to-face settings can also be adapted to online contexts. They allow us to master the complex relations between members of large, heterogeneous online learning communities. The authors build on their experience in the application of some of the most well-known strategies and techniques used in online courses, such as jigsaw, peer review, role-play, case study, and brainstorming. The use of these strategies in computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environments and the related models describing the social structure of the learning community is discussed in the attempt to highlight their strengths and weaknesses and investigate the conditions for their applicability. The aim is to inform the design and the management of online learning communities.


Author(s):  
Michelle M. Kazmer

The study and implementation of online learning communities emerges from two approaches related to the idea of “community.” The first approach was how people began to think about learning community, but not restricted to online settings. Learning community incorporates the idea of a cohesive, collaborative culture among members with the purpose of supporting individual learning by facilitating shared knowledge creation. The idea of a learning community, and its importance for improving learning, pre-dated most online learning, and the focus was on building communitiesto support learning regardless of setting. The second approach was that people began to inquire whether it was possible to build community online, but not for purposes restricted to learning. The idea that true community was possible via computer-mediated communication (CMC) was, and still is, contentious. However, as the years have passed since this question first emerged, the idea that community can be formed online has been increasingly accepted.


2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanne N. Bjørnsen ◽  
Geir A. Espnes ◽  
Mary-Elizabeth B. Eilertsen ◽  
Regine Ringdal ◽  
Unni K. Moksnes

Mental health education is a central part of school nurses’ practice. Mental health literacy is an asset for health that educational initiatives can strengthen, and a significant determinant of mental health. This study was intended to examine the relationship between positive mental health literacy (PMeHL) and mental well-being to discuss its implications for school health services’ mental health education. The relationship was assessed using a multiple linear regression model controlling for relevant covariates. Data were derived from a cross-sectional school-based survey including 1,888 adolescents aged 15–21 years (response rate 97.3%). A weak gender difference was found in PMeHL. The regression model accounted for 41% of the variance in adolescents’ mental well-being; PMeHL was a significant explanatory variable of mental well-being. Accordingly, the current study found support for including PMeHL, or knowledge of how to obtain and maintain good mental health, as an integral component of school health services’ mental health education among adolescents.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yangxiu Hu ◽  
Baojuan Ye ◽  
Jiawen Tan

The COVID-19 pandemic is currently a global health threat attributed to negatively affecting the mental health and well-being of people globally. The purpose of the current study is to examine the mediating roles of economic insecurity and mental health literacy in the relationship between stress about COVID-19 and anxiety. Results from the current study using a large sample of Chinese college students (N = 1,334) showed that stress of COVID-19 was positively associated with economic insecurity and anxiety while negatively associated with mental health literacy, which in turn was negatively associated with anxiety. These results elucidate our understanding of the role of mediators in stress about COVID-19 and anxiety. The findings are useful in terms of providing evidence for tailoring interventions and implementing preventative approaches to mitigate anxiety due to stress of COVID-19. Based on the present findings and within the context of COVID-19, the potential utility of promoting MHL to reduce the psychopathological consequences of COVID-19 is discussed.


10.2196/15664 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. e15664 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna Ting Wai Chu ◽  
Angela Wadham ◽  
Yannan Jiang ◽  
Robyn Whittaker ◽  
Karolina Stasiak ◽  
...  

Background Parents play an important role in the lives of adolescents, and supporting and addressing the needs of families continue to be the focus of many researchers and policy makers. Mobile health interventions have great potential for supporting parents at a population level because of their broad reach and convenience. However, limited evidence exists for such interventions for parents of adolescents. This study reports on the formative work conducted with parents and/or primary caregivers to identify their needs and preferences for the development of MyTeen—an SMS text messaging program on promoting parental competence and mental health literacy for parents of adolescents (aged 10-15 years). Objective The aim of this qualitative study was to explore parents and/or primary caregivers’ perspectives around youth well-being, parenting, and parenting support and their input on the development of MyTeen SMS text messaging parenting intervention. Methods A total of 5 focus groups (n=45) were conducted with parents or primary caregivers of adolescents aged 10 to 15 years between October and December 2017 in New Zealand. A semistructured interview guideline and prompts were used. Data were audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. Results Participants were concerned about youth mental health (ie, stigma and increasing demand on adolescents), and a number of parenting challenges (ie, social expectations, time, impact of technology, changes in family communication pattern, and recognizing and talking about mental health issues) were noted. Importantly, participants reported the lack of services and support available for families, and many were not aware of services for parents themselves. A number of recommendations were given on the style, content, and frequency of developing the text messaging program. Conclusions Findings from this qualitative work informed the development of MyTeen, an SMS text messaging program designed to increase parental competence and improve mental health literacy for parents of adolescents.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 311-319
Author(s):  
Paul Gorczynski ◽  
Wendy Sims-Schouten ◽  
Clare Wilson

Purpose Despite a high prevalence of mental health problems, few students know where to turn for support. The purpose of this study was to gain a UK wide perspective on levels of mental health literacy amongst university students and to examine the relationship between mental health literacy and mental health help-seeking behaviours. Design/methodology/approach A total of 300 university students in the UK participated in this online cross-sectional study. Participants filled out the mental health literacy scale, the general help-seeking questionnaire, Kessler psychological distress scale 10, The Warwick-Edinburgh mental well-being scale and the self-compassion scale: short form. Findings Overall, 78 per cent of participants indicated mild or more severe symptoms of distress. Students reported lower levels of mental health literacy when compared to students in other nations. Women, bisexuals, and those with a history of mental disorders indicated high levels of mental health literacy. Participants indicated they were most likely to seek support from intimate partners and least likely to seek support from religious leaders. No significant correlations were found between mental health literacy and help-seeking behaviours. Mental health literacy was not correlated with distress, mental well-being or self-compassion. Help-seeking behaviours were only significantly positively correlated with mental well-being. Originality/value Universities should address strategies to improve help-seeking behaviours in an effort to address overall mental well-being. Programmes may wish to help provide students with information about accessing face-to-face support systems. Environmental strategies to foster mental well-being on campus should also be explored.


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