Effects of Evidence-Based Intervention on Teachers’ Mental Health Literacy: Systematic Review and a Meta-Analysis

Abstract

The development of mental health among students has become a crucial objective and focus in numerous countries, with teachers serving as the primary guardians of their mental well-being. As such, enhancing teachers’ mental health literacy has emerged as a key strategy and priority in this endeavor. The purpose of this study is to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the experimental effects associated with improving teachers’ mental health literacy. The study seeks to provide substantiated evidence and innovative strategies for enhancing teachers’ mental health literacy. A systematic search was conducted using five English databases (PubMed, Web of Science, EBSCO, Springer Link, ProQuest) and three Chinese databases (WanFang, CNKI, and VIP) to identify controlled trials evaluating the immediate effect and tracking effect of the intervention experiment on enhancing teachers’ mental health knowledge, anti-stigma, willingness, or behavior to seek help. Relevant peer-reviewed articles (n = 20) were selected for further analysis through the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA-P), with a total of 7446 subjects. The findings revealed that the immediate effect of the intervention on teachers’ mental health literacy, knowledge, stigma, and assistance-seeking had significant moderate to substantial effects. The tracking effect value for knowledge was only moderately significant, and the others were not significant. The analysis of subgroup moderating variables revealed that differences in national economic development level and cultural type did not have a significant impact on the intervention of teachers’ mental health literacy. The results of this review revealed that intervention experiments can effectively improve teachers’ mental health literacy. Hence, it is prudent to pay more attention to the intervention of teachers’ mental health literacy and strengthen the scientific design of experiments to improve the effectiveness of the intervention.

Examining the mental health literacy and challenges to supporting students among regional Philippine teacher education faculty

“…Yamaguchi et al (2020) maintain that teachers with high levels of mental health literacy have better chances of recognizing mental health problems among students and advise for early interventions or treatment. In a meta-analysis on the effect of interventions led by teachers to improve students' mental health literacy (Liao et al, 2023), it was revealed that ordinary classroom teachers can make up for the lack of mental health professionals in schools, can effectively take part in interventions aimed at improving students' mental health literacy, and can significantly contribute at improving students' mental health knowledge and attitudes toward mental health problems. This suggests that improving teachers' mental health literacy warrants significant attention as students' mental health literacy is contingent on it.…”