School‐based mental health interventions

Abstract

School plays an important part in the lives of children and adolescents and can potentially play a key role in helping to address the mental health needs of their students. In present scenario the school based mental health programme has been recognized and initiated in many schools though mainly by the management or nongovernmental organizations not through the government. Objectives: a) to identify commonest factors associated with scholastic problems, b) to develop Case studies, c) to utilize the intervention provide by the psychiatric Social worker and referral service in managing the academic and mental health problems in the school context. Methods: A psychiatric Social worker delivered the intervention using mainly the principles of case work and applied behavioural analysis with 23 case studies. Results: Faulty learning Strategies , peer related adjustment problems, uncongenial family environment , core psychiatric disorders, borderline intelligence or pervasive developmental problems and poor teaching strategies or class room environment were the major contributors of academic problems. Conclusion: Most of the problems leading not only the scholastic and behavioural problems, but also to strengthen their coping skills through interventions. Case vignettes will help teachers and parents to know more about their wards and also to deal with the children's problems effectively.

Impact of mental disorders on attendance at school

“…For example, chronic absenteeism and persistent truancy are related to a range of negative life outcomes including school dropout, unemployment, poverty, substance use and contact with the criminal justice system (Henry & Huizinga, 2007;Reid, 1999;Wilson, Malcolm, Edward, & Davidson, 2008). Chronic absenteeism has also been shown to be associated with concurrent poor mental health (Kearney, 2008;Merry & Moor, 2015;Wood et al, 2012).…”

School-based intervention study examining approaches for well-being and mental health literacy of pupils in Year 9 in England: study protocol for a multischool, parallel group cluster randomised controlled trial (AWARE)

“…Schools are often viewed as a universal point of access to children and young people, offering an important opportunity to embed mental health and well-being initiatives 13. Schools can provide a non-stigmatising environment where young people and parents/carers can engage, outside of mental health services,14 and can also present opportunities for pupils to develop self-management strategies 15…”

Effectiveness of a Positive Parental Practices Training Program for Chilean Preschoolers’ Families: A Randomized Controlled Trial

“…Promoting positive parenting practices appears to be a useful strategy to improve the welfare and psychosocial development of children, and to prevent various psychosocial and mental health difficulties ( Herrman et al, 2005 ). A range of parenting training programs (hereinafter, parenting programs) have been shown to be effective tools for these purposes ( Merry and Moor, 2015 ).…”

“…Although evaluations of parenting programs have focused on the treatment of behavioral problems and disorders, research on prevention is also relevant and shows, in general, good results ( Kato et al, 2015 ; Smedler et al, 2015 ). However, research has focused on efficacy (studies delivered under optimal conditions with high control from researches, for example, in University clinics) more than on effectiveness (studies conducted in real-word conditions, such as schools and primary care health centers; Streiner, 2002 ; Merry and Moor, 2015 ).…”

“…The promotion of positive parenting practices is potentially beneficial for all families and not only for at-risk families. Furthermore, in educational centers, universal programs are easier to implement, are better received, and the risks of stigmatization of selected families are avoided ( Merry and Moor, 2015 ). The universal nature of the program implied special challenges, like the need to develop an intervention as brief as possible in order to encourage the widest participation by families.…”