Dataset Information

Successful Application of a Canadian Mental Health Curriculum Resource by Usual Classroom Teachers in Significantly and Sustainably Improving Student Mental Health Literacy.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To investigate whether the significant and substantive findings from a previous study of youth mental health literacy (MHL) could be replicated using the same methods in another population.

Method

We examined the impact of a curriculum resource, the Mental Health and High School Curriculum Guide (The Guide), taught by usual classroom teachers on students' knowledge and attitudes related to mental health and mental illness in Canadian secondary schools. Survey data were collected before, immediately after, and 2 months after implementation of The Guide by teachers in usual classroom teaching. We conducted paired-sample t tests and calculated the Cohen d value to determine outcomes and impact of the curriculum resource application.

Results

One hundred fourteen students were matched for analysis of knowledge data and 112 students were matched for analysis of attitude data at pre-intervention, post-intervention, and 2-month follow-up time periods. Following classroom exposure to the curriculum resource, students' knowledge scores increased significantly and substantively, compared with baseline (P < 0.001, d = 1.11), and this was maintained at 2-month follow-up (P < 0.001, d = 0.91). Similar findings for attitude improvement were found (P < 0.001, d = 0.66), and this improvement was maintained at 2-month follow-up (P < 0.001, d = 0.52).

Conclusions

These findings corroborate those from a previous study conducted in a different location. Taken together these results suggest a simple but effective approach to improving MHL in young people by embedding a classroom resource, delivered by usual classroom teachers in usual school settings.

SUBMITTER: Kutcher S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4679167 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Successful Application of a Canadian Mental Health Curriculum Resource by Usual Classroom Teachers in Significantly and Sustainably Improving Student Mental Health Literacy.

Kutcher Stan S Wei Yifeng Y Morgan Catherine C

Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie 20151201 12

<h4>Objective</h4>To investigate whether the significant and substantive findings from a previous study of youth mental health literacy (MHL) could be replicated using the same methods in another population.<h4>Method</h4>We examined the impact of a curriculum resource, the Mental Health and High School Curriculum Guide (The Guide), taught by usual classroom teachers on students' knowledge and attitudes related to mental health and mental illness in Canadian secondary schools. Survey data were c ...[more]

PMID: 26720827

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Project description:BackgroundTeacher self-efficacy and emotional stability are considered crucial resources for coping with classroom demands. We examined how class and subject teachers' self-efficacy beliefs and emotional stability are related to teachers' and students' perceptions of the teacher-student relationship, classroom management, and classroom disruptions.MethodsIn a sample of eighty-two swiss german 5th and 6th grade classes, 1290 students, their class teacher (N = 82), and a selected subject teacher (N = 82) filled out a questionnaire assessing classroom disruptions, teacher-student relationships, and classroom management. In a first step, we conducted t-tests on whether class teachers and subject teachers differ in their self-efficacy beliefs and emotional stability. In a second step, we explored by correlation analyses the relations between teacher self-efficacy in classroom management and emotional stability and the teachers' and students' perceptions of classroom disruptions, teacher-student relationships, and classroom management. In a third step, we examined by stepwise multiple regression analyses to what extent psychological variables predict teacher perceptions after controlling for students' ratings, representing rather "objective" classroom features.ResultsIn class teachers, high self-rated emotional stability and self-efficacy are associated with a more positive appraisal of teacher-student relationships and classroom management skills (compared with student ratings). By contrast, in subject teachers, high self-efficacy beliefs are associated with a more favorable perception of classroom disruptions, teacher-student relationships, and classroom management, from both the teachers' and students' perspectives.ConclusionsThe results of the present study show a distinctive pattern for class teachers and subject teachers. In class teachers, high self-rated emotional stability and self-efficacy are associated with a more positive evaluation (compared to student ratings) of the teacher-student relationship and classroom management skills but not teacher perceptions of student misbehavior. On the contrary, subject teachers' firm self-efficacy beliefs are associated with more favorable perceptions of classroom characteristics, both from the teachers' and students' perspectives.

Project description:BackgroundExtant literature reveals that medical students suffer from various mental health problems in the process of learning medicine. However, there are few studies evaluating the implementation of a mental health education course in medical curriculum. The current study aimed to test the effectiveness of an 8-week intensive mental health education course, the College Student Mental Health Education Course (CSMHEC), and to gain further insights on how the course could be improved from students' feedback.MethodsThis is a quasi-experimental study with both quantitative and qualitative analyses. We recruited 374 first year medical students as our subjects with 188 (age = 17.97 ± 0.65 years, 37.2% male) for the experiment group and 186 (age = 18.02 ± 0.63 years, 40.3% male) for the control group. For quantitative analysis, Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21), Chinese College Student Academic Burnout Inventory (CCSABI) and Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) were used and a 5-point Likert scale was used to indicate students' overall satisfaction with CSMHEC. For qualitative analysis, a thematic analysis method was adopted to gain insights from the feedback of medical students.ResultsMedical students in the experiment group saw a significant decline in psychological distress (p < 0.001, d = 0.31) and academic burnout (p < 0.001, d = 1.46), while they experienced a significant increase in life satisfaction levels after the intervention (p < 0.001, d = 0.48). Compared with students in the control group, students in the experiment group had statistically significant lower levels of psychological distress (p < 0.05, d = 0.23) and academic burnout (p < 0.001, d = 0.70), but statistically significant higher levels of life satisfaction in the post-test (p < 0.01, d = 0.31). Most students in the experiment group were satisfied with CSMHEC and themes extracted in the thematic analysis shed light on how the course could be improved.ConclusionsImplementing a mental health education course like CSMHEC in medical curriculum can be effective in helping medical students improve psychological health. More research needs to be conducted on further refinement and better design of such a course to implement in medical education.

Dataset Information

Successful Application of a Canadian Mental Health Curriculum Resource by Usual Classroom Teachers in Significantly and Sustainably Improving Student Mental Health Literacy.

Objective

Method

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Successful Application of a Canadian Mental Health Curriculum Resource by Usual Classroom Teachers in Significantly and Sustainably Improving Student Mental Health Literacy.

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