Search results

The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate an online mental health literacy training program for college female mentors.

Undergraduate female participants (n = 10) completed in asynchronous mental health literacy training. Participants completed the Heads Up Checkup (HCU) and mental health literacy scale (MHLS). Participant usage data were collected for the training course and analyzed using means and standard deviations. Qualitative data were analyzed by axial coding and thematic categorization.

The mean MHLS score, based on mean (M) and standard deviation (SD), was high for the participants (M = 145.69, SD = 8.41). Six qualitative themes from the training effectiveness feedback were used: (1) help-seeking, (2) stress management, (3) tailored guidance to resources, (4) understanding warning signs, (5) body image awareness and (6) engaging with mentees.

There are a few limitations to this study including the small sample size, unrestricted time frame for completion of the asynchronous training and the need for long-term follow-up of the intervention effects.

This pilot study provides initial support for the mental health literacy training program when implemented with undergraduate females.

Given inadequate mental health literacy in college females regarding such topics, continually training undergraduates about these warning signs is necessary. Future research could consider implementing this program with all gender identities, various age groups and in both synchronous and asynchronous modalities. This program could also be replicated using a pre- and post-test design to evaluate direct impact of the training on outcome variables.

All the participants discussed how the training prepared them in aiding mentees in help-seeking and identifying appropriate mental health resources. Participants also indicated how the training enabled personal and others-oriented stress management, which supports a mental health literacy training program that reduced stress in medical students.

Worldwide, schools implement social-emotional learning programs to enhance students' social-emotional skills. Although parents play an essential role in teaching these skills, knowledge about their perspectives on social-emotional learning is limited. In providing insight into the perspectives of parents from adolescent students this paper adds to this knowledge.

An explorative qualitative study was conducted to gain insight into parents' perspectives (N = 32) on adolescent social-emotional learning. A broadly used professional framework for social emotional learning was used as a frame of reference in interviews with parents from diverse backgrounds. Within and across case analyses were applied to analyze the interviews.

A conceptual model of four social-emotional skills constructs considered crucial learning by parents emerged from the data: respectful behavior, cooperation, self-knowledge and self-reliance. Parents' language, interpretations and orderings of skills indicate that the model underlying these constructs differs from skills embedded in the professional framework.

Participants were small in number and mainly female. Therefore, more research is necessary to test the model in other parent populations.

The social-emotional skills students in prevocational secondary education learn at home differ from those targeted in SEL programs. Engaging students’ parents in SEL program implementation is indicated to align the skills taught at home and school. Preparing teachers to implement such programs requires training them on engaging parents from diverse backgrounds.

The study is one of the first providing insight into parents’ perspectives on SEL, the social-emotional skills deemed crucial to master for adolescents, and the roles they view for themselves and school on teaching these skills.

To reveal the emotions and information needs expressed by Chinese parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in an online forum, and their relationship.

The 10,062 data were from “Yi Lin”, China’s largest online forum for ASD. Open coding identified parents’ emotions and information needs, and a chi-squared test explored the correlation.

First, parents’ emotions were categorized into four themes: emotions about coping with their child’s care, emotions about the parents’ own behavior, emotions about social support with other parents and emotions about anticipating the future. Parents’ overall emotions were negative (72.47%), while the tendency of emotions varied among the four themes. Second, five information needs topics were expressed: intervention and training of ASD, parenting experiences, schooling issues, social interaction and support and future development. Different information needs topics contained different themes of emotions. Third, the tendency of emotions and expression of information needs were significantly correlated. Negative emotions had a statistically significant correlation in expression of information needs.

This study reveals the relationship between the emotions and information needs expressed by parents of children with ASD. The ASD forum could develop emotional support modules and functions for parents and facilitate emotional communication between parents.

This study aims to gain a comprehensive understanding of adolescent’s experiences of individual school social work counselling in Swedish elementary schools.

The study encompasses interviews with 16 adolescents about their experiences of individual counselling with school social workers (SSWs). The data was analysed using conventional content analysis.

The main result was the adolescents’ desire “to navigate to shore” to speak freely about their whole lives with a professional SSW and find a “ safe haven,” […] where a trusting professional cared for and comforted them in counselling. The counselling contact contributed to increased knowledge about oneself. The results reveal the importance of the SSWs paying attention and listening to the adolescents’ narratives. The creation of a coherent life narrative enables to finally end counselling and “Cast off.”

The results highlight the importance of Swedish SSWs focusing on individual counselling sessions with adolescents to provide a setting for growth.

This study aims to use the dual-continuum model of mental health to explore mental health in Australian construction apprentices from the perspective of key stakeholders in the apprenticeship model. In particular, this study explored how construction apprentices, Vocational Education and Training (VET) teachers, industry employers and mental health workers understood the construct of mental health, factors associated with the dimension of psychological distress/symptoms of mental illness, and factors associated with the dimension of mental wellbeing.

This study used an exploratory qualitative research design. Data from 36 semi-structured interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. Participants comprised 19 Australian construction apprentices, 5 VET teachers, 7 industry employers and 5 mental health workers.

In total, 14 themes were generated from the data set. Participants across stakeholder groups reported a limited understanding about mental health. Participants cited a range of negative personal, workplace and industry factors associated with psychological distress/symptoms of mental illness, but only reported a few factors associated with mental wellbeing.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first to use the dual-continuum model of mental health to explore the mental health of Australian construction apprentices, and to explore the factors associated with both dimensions of this model from the perspective of key stakeholders in the Australian construction apprenticeship model.

This exploratory study aims to discover the different forms of challenges encountered by school stakeholders, including students, teachers, parents and management due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Qualitative methodology was deployed for the study. A purposive sampling technique was used to select the respondents for a semi-structured interview. Data were examined using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA).

It was found that each stakeholder faced four different challenges: mental distress, physical immobility, financial crunches and technological concerns. Findings suggest that teachers are experiencing higher financial, technological and physical challenges as compared to other stakeholders followed by parents.

This paper discusses the major challenges faced by each stakeholder along with the opportunities. These findings will be useful for educationists, regulatory authorities, policymakers and management of educational institutions in developing countries to revisit their policy frameworks to develop new strategies and processes for the smooth implementation of remote learning during a period of uncertainty.

The purpose of this study is to explore the understanding and observance of the program “This School is a Zone of Peace” (SZOP) in schools where conflict and violence are not prevalent.

This paper followed a qualitative research tradition – narrative inquiry. Eight teachers and a school head participated in the study. Data were gathered through nonparticipant observation, photography and focus group discussion with photo elicitation.

The participants elucidated the declaration, “This School is a Zone of Peace,” as a message of assurance to the community that the school is a home for learners that is welcoming and violence free. Furthermore, learners in a school that is a zone of peace are honed holistically with the participation, cooperation and togetherness of the school community members. Teachers at the forefront viewed themselves as mentors, implementers and models. Teachers contended that peacebuilding practices in schools could be sustained through regular implementation, encouraging others to get involved and have commitment.

A handful of articles have illustrated the essence of the School as Zone of Peace program, which pointed out to create a culture of peace in schools; however, it leaned toward the negative conception of peace – the absence of conflict and violence. This study bared additional insights and fresh perspectives of the SZOP initiative observed in schools with different contexts and experiences that may be helpful to policymakers for the enhancement of the adapted program with the goal of peacebuilding to making schools highly functional.

Relying on the principles of the social exchange theory, the current study is aimed at investigating the impact of team-member exchange relationships (TMX) among school management team (SMT) members on school outcomes (organizational citizenship behavior [OCB], job satisfaction and innovation) via the mediating role of leader-member exchange (LMX) relationships between principals and SMTs.

Data were collected from multiple sources in 86 elementary and junior high schools to avoid one-source bias: 86 principals, 357 SMT members and 683 schoolteachers who were not members of the management teams.

The results revealed a positive relationship between TMX and teachers' job satisfaction and OCB, but no significant link between TMX and innovation. LMX partially mediated the relationship between TMX and OCB and between TMX and teachers' job satisfaction. Full mediation was found in TMX-innovation relationship.

The findings carry a message for school principals and policymakers regarding the importance of developing and maintaining high-quality horizontal and vertical exchange relationships among the SMT members for their positive influence on school outcomes.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to examine the link between TMX and LMX as a team phenomenon, and specifically in the educational setting. The finding that there is a positive link between the two constructs may imply that SMTs contribute to school success not only directly by exhibiting high-quality TMX but also indirectly through the high-quality LMX.