scholarly journals Exploring Mental Health Literacy Among Pre-Service Teachers

2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Whitley ◽  
Suzanne Gooderham

Worldwide, prevalence rates of students experiencing mental health difficulties are growing, with only one in five receiving treatment. The role of teachers in collaborative efforts both to identify and to provide effective services for these students is an essential one. However, scant research has explored the mental health literacy of pre-service teachers. In the present study, 186 pre-service teachers completed a vignette-based measure (Child or Adolescent version based on each teacher’s experience) in order to assess their mental health literacy, comprised of beliefs and knowledge. Results indicate that participants expressed lower efficacy when teaching children or adolescents with externalizing as compared to internalizing behaviours but believed that a child or adolescent experiencing behaviours indicative of depression was of the greatest concern and in need of intervention. Pre-service teachers were able to correctly identify cases of anxiety and ADHD, but many attributed behaviours typical of depression to home life difficulties (Child version) or substance use/abuse (Adolescent version). Results are discussed in light of previous research in the field; recommendations for future research and practice are provided.

Author(s):  
Tânia Morgado ◽  
Luís Loureiro ◽  
Maria Antónia Rebelo Botelho ◽  
Maria Isabel Marques ◽  
José Ramón Martínez-Riera ◽  
...  

Adolescence is a critical life phase for mental health and anxiety an emerging challenge for adolescents. Psychoeducational interventions to promote mental health literacy (MHL) on anxiety in adolescents are needed. This study aimed to test the primary outcome of a future full-scale trial: improvement of adolescents’ anxiety MHL components on recognition, prevention strategies, and self-help strategies. A sample of 38 adolescents, 24 (63.2%) females and 14 (36.8%) males, with an average age of 14.50 years (SD = 0.89) participated in this study. Each class was allocated to the intervention group (IG, n = 21) or the waiting list control group (WLCG, n = 17) with single-blinded randomization. MHL was assessed using the QuALiSMental. The ProLiSMental psychoeducational intervention consists of four or eight weekly sessions of 90 or 45 min for adolescents, using different active pedagogical methods and techniques. There also are initial and final sessions with adolescents, legal guardians, and teachers. There was a significant improvement with a small to relatively strong effect size in many dimensions of anxiety MHL components. This study suggests the progression to the full-scale trial and values the important role of mental health and psychiatric nurses in the adolescents’ empowerment for MHL in schools.


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.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Goodfellow ◽  
Anna Macintyre ◽  
Lee Knifton ◽  
Edward Sosu

Background: Adolescence is a critical period for the development of mental health problems. However low mental health literacy (MHL) may impede help-seeking for these problems. Although MHL is a multidimensional construct and adolescent help-seeking can be through formal and informal means, little is known about how dimensions of MHL influence these help-seeking intentions. This study examines associations between dimensions of MHL and formal and informal help-seeking intentions among adolescents. It also investigates whether informal help-seeking mediates the association between dimensions of MHL and formal help-seeking, and whether these associations are moderated by gender. Methods: A cross-sectional survey including measures of MHL, and help-seeking intentions was distributed to participants in ten schools (12-18 years) across Scotland (n = 734). Data were analysed using Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFA) and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Results: CFA identified two distinct dimensions of MHL: ability to identify a mental health problem, and knowledge of treatment efficacy. Only knowledge of treatment efficacy was associated with increased intention to seek formal and informal help. Ability to identify a mental health problem was negatively associated with both forms of help-seeking intention. Informal help-seeking mediated the association between both forms of MHL and formal help-seeking. Gender did not moderate associations between MHL and help-seeking. Conclusions: Distinct dimensions of MHL have disparate associations with adolescent help-seeking intention. Care should be taken when providing MHL interventions to ensure that adaptive forms of MHL are equally promoted. Future research should investigate possible mechanisms by which discrete forms of MHL influence adolescent help-seeking.


2008 ◽  
Vol 165 (3) ◽  
pp. 399-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
MEREDITH E. COLES ◽  
SHANNON COLEMAN ◽  
RICHARD G. HEIMBERG

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