Effects of a school-based program on Iranian students’ well-being

Asanjarani, Faramarz; Asgari, Mostafa

doi:10.1080/21683603.2020.1758858

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…In addition to health service centers, schools are optimal to incubate settings for mental health promotion plans for children and adolescents, as they are safe, cost-effective, and flexible places to offer a broad diversity of interventions ( 2 , 11 ). The study of the school system's public, organizations, and societal infrastructure, resources, and capabilities appear to be particularly important in achieving the effectiveness and efficiency of these programs since school staff often takes on a highly influential role as children and adolescents compare themselves to them ( 12 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Adolescence is a period of increased risk of developing mental health problems (1). Although there is a high prevalence of mental health problems among children and adolescents, recent research has shown that half of the mental health problems start at the age of fourteen and three-quarters at the age of 25 (1,2). According to the literature, nearly 25% of children and adolescents worldwide suffer from psychiatric problems, epidemiological studies estimated their prevalence among adolescents between 8 and 20%, and Iran is not spared (3)(4)(5).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Empowering teachers to screen, guide, and refer schoolchildren with behavioral and mental health problems. A pilot study to promote mental health in Iran

et al. 2022

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BackgroundSchools are ideal for promoting the mental health of school-age children, but the teachers' current knowledge is insufficient to play an influential role in mental health services at schools. Fortunately, however, teachers have a high sense of responsibility, interest, and talent to receive knowledge and the ability to participate in this field. This study aimed to examine whether a protocol focused on the role of teachers could identify, guide, and care for school-age children with behavioral and mental health problems.MethodThe current research was a “before and after” pilot quasi-experimental study conducted in three elementary, secondary, and high schools. The main intervention consisted of a 5-h workshop based on a ready-to-use booklet for teachers conducted separately in each school. A total of 58 teachers and 872 school-age children were included using a judgmental sampling technique.ResultsThe pre-and post-workshop mean scores of teachers' knowledge about common mental disorders in school-age children were 6.21 ± 4.58 and 12.50 ± 7.27, respectively. According to the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), the teachers made 127 referrals, of whom 102 school-age children had problems. Consultants diagnosed 114 school children who reflected 90% of all teachers' recommendations needing psychological care and counseling. Finally, only 50 diagnosed school-age children were followed up and attended therapy sessions at counseling centers. The sensitivity and specificity of this brief intervention in detecting school-age children with psychological problems were respectively 80.3 and 98.0%.ConclusionsThis study's results support teacher empowerment training's effectiveness in identifying and guiding school-age children needing mental health care. Psychological counseling programs in schools in various quantitative and qualitative dimensions, including responding to school-age children's needs and psychological problems, should be adequately evaluated, and appropriate measures should be taken to promote mental health services. Collaboration between health systems and the education department will increase the effectiveness of mental health programs' promotion and drug abuse prevention. These pilot data lead the way to designing scientifically sound follow-up studies that will concretely ascertain the benefit of this program.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%