Mental health literacy on youth depression and suicides for teachers and its impact on knowledge, attitudes and help facilitation: A preliminary study

Abstract

Background: Depression and suicide are among the most prevalent mental health problems among the adolescents in India. However, help seeking is very poor due to lack of knowledge on mental health among youth and significant individuals in their life. Imparting knowledge to teachers becomes important as youth spend most of their time in the educational set up. The present study aimed at examining the effect of mental health literacy on depression and suicidal behaviours on knowledge, attitudes and help facilitation of teachers. Materials and Methods: The study adopted a stratified sampling method and a sample (N = 102) of high school teachers (8th–12th standard) from both private and government institutions in Bangalore were included in the study. A pre- and post-assessment, single group design with a follow-up after 3 months was adopted. Data were collected using the socio-demographic data sheet and questionnaire prepared to assess the knowledge, attitudes and help facilitation. Results: The mean age of the teachers was 41.74 years, with 80% female respondents and 58.8% of the sample with master's degrees and diplomas in teaching. There was a significant increase in knowledge about the symptoms, consequences of depression and attitude toward depression and suicide. About 16% of the sample had taken steps to help students with distress and facilitated help seeking at 3-month follow-up. Conclusion: Mental health literacy programme has positive impact on the knowledge and helps in improving support and help facilitation behaviours among teachers.

Keywords

• attitude
• high school teachers
• knowledge
• mental health literacy
• youth depression and suicides