Ethics code: IR.MUK.REC.1402.089
1- Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran
Abstract: (27 Views)
Objective(s): Improving mental health literacy can have a significant impact on knowledge, attitude, beliefs and help-seeking methods. This effect can help prevent, identify, treat and manage mental health disorders. The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of face-to-face and virtual educational intervention program on the mental health literacy of elementary school teachers in Sanandaj city.
Methods: This research was conducted by an intervention method on 198 primary school teachers in Sanandaj city in 2023. The samples were divided into three groups: 6 clusters in the face-to-face training group (69 teachers), 6 clusters in the virtual training group (64 teachers) and 6 clusters in the control group (65 teachers). Educational content was uploaded in Shad messenger for the virtual intervention group in three sessions in two consecutive weeks, and three 2-hour face-to-face training sessions were held in the face-to-face intervention group in two weeks. Teachers' mental health literacy was evaluated before and after the intervention and one month after that using mental health literacy questionaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS.22 software. A significance level of 0.05 was considered.
Results: The results showed that in the face-to-face education group, the average mental health literacy score before the intervention was (79.9±10.1), which increased to (89.6±10.8) after the intervention, and in the follow-up phase (83.6±12.1) was obtained (P value=0.001).In the virtual education group, the average score before the intervention was (82.3±0.9) and after the intervention it increased to (91.9±14.1) and in the follow-up phase (0.86±0.15) was received (P value = 0.0001). However, in the control group, there was no significant difference in the mean scores of mental health literacy before and after the intervention.
Conclusion: Educational interventions, both face-to-face and virtual, had a positive and significant effect on mental health literacy and awareness of primary teachers. These results show that trainings related to mental health can help improve the mental health status of teachers.
Methods: This research was conducted by an intervention method on 198 primary school teachers in Sanandaj city in 2023. The samples were divided into three groups: 6 clusters in the face-to-face training group (69 teachers), 6 clusters in the virtual training group (64 teachers) and 6 clusters in the control group (65 teachers). Educational content was uploaded in Shad messenger for the virtual intervention group in three sessions in two consecutive weeks, and three 2-hour face-to-face training sessions were held in the face-to-face intervention group in two weeks. Teachers' mental health literacy was evaluated before and after the intervention and one month after that using mental health literacy questionaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS.22 software. A significance level of 0.05 was considered.
Results: The results showed that in the face-to-face education group, the average mental health literacy score before the intervention was (79.9±10.1), which increased to (89.6±10.8) after the intervention, and in the follow-up phase (83.6±12.1) was obtained (P value=0.001).In the virtual education group, the average score before the intervention was (82.3±0.9) and after the intervention it increased to (91.9±14.1) and in the follow-up phase (0.86±0.15) was received (P value = 0.0001). However, in the control group, there was no significant difference in the mean scores of mental health literacy before and after the intervention.
Conclusion: Educational interventions, both face-to-face and virtual, had a positive and significant effect on mental health literacy and awareness of primary teachers. These results show that trainings related to mental health can help improve the mental health status of teachers.
type of study: Clinical Trial |
Subject:
Health Psychologhy
Received: 2024/09/18 | Accepted: 2025/06/10 | ePublished ahead of print: 2026/01/28
Received: 2024/09/18 | Accepted: 2025/06/10 | ePublished ahead of print: 2026/01/28
References
1. Hashemi Z, Afshari A, Einy S. The effectiveness of acceptance and commitment education on improving the mental health and quality of life of elderly people with cancer. Iranian Journal of Health Education and Health Promotion 2020; 8:160-71 [Persian] [DOI:10.29252/ijhehp.8.2.160]
2. Tsai AC, Tomlinson M. Inequitable and ineffective: exclusion of mental health from the post-2015 development agenda. PLoS Medicine. 2015 30;12:e1001846 [DOI:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001846]
3. McGrath JJ, Al-Hamzawi A, Alonso J, Altwaijri Y, Andrade LH, Bromet EJ, .WHO World Mental Health Survey Collaborators. Age of onset and cumulative risk of mental disorders: a cross-national analysis of population surveys from 29 countries. Lancet Psychiatry 2023; 10:668-681 [DOI:10.1016/S2215-0366(23)00193-1]
4. Mirghaed MT, Gorji HA, Panahi S. Prevalence of psychiatric disorders in Iran: a review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Preventive Medicine 2020; 17:11-21 [DOI:10.4103/ijpvm.IJPVM_510_18]
5. Mohammadi MR, Ahmadi N, Khaleghi A, Mostafavi SA, Kamali K, Rahgozar M, et al. Prevalence and correlates of psychiatric disorders in a national survey of Iranian children and adolescents. Iranian Journal of Psychiatry 2019;14:1 [Persian]
6. Reavley NJ, Morgan AJ, Jorm AF. Development of scales to assess mental health literacy relating to recognition of and interventions for depression, anxiety disorders and schizophrenia/psychosis. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 2014;48:61-9 [DOI:10.1177/0004867413491157]
7. Afshari R, Kaveh MH, Lankarani KB, Doolub D, Jaafari N, Ostovarfar J. Empowering teachers to screen, guide, and refer schoolchildren with behavioral and mental health problems. A pilot study to promote mental health in Iran. Frontiers in Psychiatry 2022; 13:894483 [DOI:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.894483]
8. Fazel M, Patel V, Thomas S, Tol W. Mental health interventions in schools in low-income and middle-income countries. The Lancet Psychiatry 2014; 1:388-98 [DOI:10.1016/S2215-0366(14)70357-8]
9. Kutcher S, Wei Y, McLuckie A, Bullock L. Educator mental health literacy: a programme evaluation of the teacher training education on the mental health & high school curriculum guide. Advances in School Mental Health Promotion 2013; 6:83-93 [DOI:10.1080/1754730X.2013.784615]
10. Kidger J, Turner N, Fisher H, Evans R, Bell S. An intervention to improve mental health support and training available to secondary school teachers (the WISE study): a cluster-randomised controlled trial. The Lancet 2019; 394:S63 [DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736(19)32860-0]
11. Kutcher S, Bagnell A, Wei Y. Mental health literacy in secondary schools: a Canadian approach. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics 2015; 24:233-44 [DOI:10.1016/j.chc.2014.11.007]
12. Skre I, Friborg O, Breivik C, Johnsen LI, Arnesen Y, Wang CEA. A school intervention for mental health literacy in adolescents: effects of a non-randomized cluster controlled trial. BMC Public Health 2013; 13:1-15 [DOI:10.1186/1471-2458-13-873]
13. Nejatian M, Tehrani H, Momeniyan V, Jafari A. A modified version of the mental health literacy scale (MHLS) in Iranian people. BMC Psychiatry 2021; 21:1-11 [DOI:10.1186/s12888-021-03050-3]
14. Wei Y, McGrath PJ, Hayden J, Kutcher S. Measurement properties of mental health literacy tools measuring help-seeking: a systematic review. Journal of Mental Health 2017; 26:543-55 [DOI:10.1080/09638237.2016.1276532]
15. Singh S, Zaki RA, Farid NDN. Adolescent mental health literacy and its association with depression. ASM Science Journal 2020; 13:207-16
16. Campos L, Dias P, Palha F, Duarte A, Veiga E. Desarrollo y propiedades psicométricas de un nuevo cuestionario de evaluación de alfabetización en salud mental en jóvenes. Universitas Psychologica 2016; 15:61-72 [DOI:10.11144/Javeriana.upsy15-2.dppq]
17. Jung H, von Sternberg K, Davis K. Expanding a measure of mental health literacy: Development and validation of a multicomponent mental health literacy measure. Psychiatry Research 2016; 243:278-86 [DOI:10.1016/j.psychres.2016.06.034]
18. Jorm AF. Mental health literacy: empowering the community to take action for better mental health. American Psychologist 2012; 67:231 [DOI:10.1037/a0025957]
19. Jorm AF, Korten AE, Jacomb PA, Christensen H, Rodgers B, Pollitt P. "Mental health literacy": a survey of the public's ability to recognise mental disorders and their beliefs about the effectiveness of treatment. Medical journal of Australia 1997; 166:182-6 [DOI:10.5694/j.1326-5377.1997.tb140071.x]
20. Kutcher S, Wei Y, Gilberds H, Ubuguyu O, Njau T, Brown A, et al. A school mental health literacy curriculum resource training approach: effects on Tanzanian teachers' mental health knowledge, stigma and help-seeking efficacy. International Journal of Mental Health Systems 2016; 10:1-9 [DOI:10.1186/s13033-016-0082-6]
21. Anderson RJ, Pierce D. Assumptions associated with mental health literacy training-Insights from initiatives in rural Australia. Advances in Mental Health 2012; 10:258-67 [DOI:10.5172/jamh.2012.10.3.258]
22. https://mentalhealthliteracy.org/schoolmhl/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Mental-Health-High-School-Curriculum-Guide.pdf 2024/11.15
23. Ghadirian L, Sayarifard A. Depression literacy in urban and suburban residents of Tehran, the Capital of Iran; Recognition, help seeking and stigmatizing attitude and the predicting factors. International Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2019; 10:134 [DOI:10.4103/ijpvm.IJPVM_166_18]
24. Amarasuriya SD, Jorm AF, Reavley NJ. Quantifying and predicting depression literacy of undergraduates: a cross sectional study in Sri Lanka. BMC Psychiatry 2015; 15:1-13 [DOI:10.1186/s12888-015-0658-8]
25. Reavley NJ, McCann TV, Jorm AF. Mental health literacy in higher education students. Early Intervention in Psychiatry 2012; 6:45-52 [DOI:10.1111/j.1751-7893.2011.00314.x]
26. Furnham A, Cook R, Martin N, Batey M. Mental health literacy among university students. Journal of Public Mental Health 2011; 10:198-210 [DOI:10.1108/17465721111188223]
27. Jorm AF. Mental health literacy: Public knowledge and beliefs about mental disorders. The British Journal of Psychiatry 2000; 177:396-401 [DOI:10.1192/bjp.177.5.396]
28. Al-Yateem N, Rossiter RC, Robb WF, Slewa-Younan S. Mental health literacy of school nurses in the United Arab Emirates. International Journal of Mental Health Systems 2018; 12:1-13 [DOI:10.1186/s13033-018-0184-4]
29. Dev A, Gupta S, Sharma KK, Chadda RK. Awareness of mental disorders among youth in Delhi. Current Medicine Research and Practice 2017; 7:84-9 [DOI:10.1016/j.cmrp.2017.05.004]
30. Furnham A, Swami V. Mental health literacy: A review of what it is and why it matters. International Perspectives in Psychology 2018; 7:240-57 [DOI:10.1037/ipp0000094]
31. Thompson A, Hunt C, Issakidis C. Why wait? Reasons for delay and prompts to seek help for mental health problems in an Australian clinical sample. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 2004; 39:810-7 [DOI:10.1007/s00127-004-0816-7]
32. Jorm AF, Christensen H, Griffiths KM. The public's ability to recognize mental disorders and their beliefs about treatment: changes in Australia over 8 years. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 2006; 40:36-41 [DOI:10.1080/j.1440-1614.2006.01738.x]
33. Yu Y, Liu Z-w, Hu M, Liu H-m, Yang JP, Zhou L, et al. Mental health help-seeking intentions and preferences of rural Chinese adults. Plos One 2015; 10:e0141889 [DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0141889]
34. Wei Y, McGrath PJ, Hayden J, Kutcher S. Mental health literacy measures evaluating knowledge, attitudes and help-seeking: a scoping review. BMC Psychiatry 2015; 15:1-20 [DOI:10.1186/s12888-015-0681-9]
35. Sayarifard A, Ghadirian L, Mohit A, Eftekhar M, Badpa M, Rajabi F. Assessing mental health literacy: What medical sciences students' know about depression. Medical journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran 2015; 29:161
36. Mahmoodi SMH, Ahmadzad-Asl M, Eslami M, Abdi M, Hosseini Kahnamoui Y, Rasoulian M. Mental health literacy and mental health information-seeking behavior in Iranian university students. Frontiers in Psychiatry 2022; 13:893534 [DOI:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.893534]
37. Ghuloum S, Bener A, Burgut FT. Epidemiological survey of knowledge, attitudes, and health literacy concerning mental illness in a national community sample: a global burden. Journal of Primary Care & Community Health 2010; 1:111-8 [DOI:10.1177/2150131910372970]
38. Al-Krenawi A, Graham JR, Dean YZ, Eltaiba N. Cross-national study of attitudes towards seeking professional help: Jordan, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Arabs in Israel. International Journal of Social Psychiatry 2004; 50:102-14 [DOI:10.1177/0020764004040957]
39. Clement S, Schauman O, Graham T, Maggioni F, Evans-Lacko S, Bezborodovs N, et al. What is the impact of mental health-related stigma on help-seeking? A systematic review of quantitative and qualitative studies. Psychological Medicine 2015; 45:11-27 [DOI:10.1017/S0033291714000129]
40. Venugopal VC, Mohan A, Chennabasappa LK. Status of mental health and its associated factors among the general populace of India during COVID‐19 pandemic. Asia‐Pacific Psychiatry 2022; 14:e12412 [DOI:10.1111/appy.12412]
41. Sharp M-L, Fear NT, Rona RJ, Wessely S, Greenberg N, Jones N, et al. Stigma as a barrier to seeking health care among military personnel with mental health problems. Epidemiologic Reviews 2015; 37:144-62 [DOI:10.1093/epirev/mxu012]
42. Yap MB, Wright A, Jorm AF. The influence of stigma on young people's help-seeking intentions and beliefs about the helpfulness of various sources of help. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 2011; 46:1257-65 [DOI:10.1007/s00127-010-0300-5]
43. Lai H-J, Lien Y-J, Chen K-R, Lin Y-K. The Effectiveness of Mental Health Literacy Curriculum among Undergraduate Public Health Students. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2022; 19:5269 [DOI:10.3390/ijerph19095269]
44. Kurki M, Gilbert S, Mishina K, Lempinen L, Luntamo T, Hinkka-Yli-Salomäki S, et al. Digital mental health literacy-program for the first-year medical students' wellbeing: a one group quasi-experimental study. BMC Medical Education 2021; 21:1-11 [DOI:10.1186/s12909-021-02990-4]
45. Fernandez A, Tan K-A, Knaak S, Chew BH, Ghazali SS. Effects of brief psychoeducational program on stigma in Malaysian pre-clinical medical students: a randomized controlled trial. Academic Psychiatry 2016; 40:905-11 [DOI:10.1007/s40596-016-0592-1]
46. Lauber C, Rössler W. Stigma towards people with mental illness in developing countries in Asia. International Rview of Psychiatry 2007; 19:157-78 [DOI:10.1080/09540260701278903]
47. Martinez AB, Co M, Lau J, Brown JS. Filipino help-seeking for mental health problems and associated barriers and facilitators: a systematic review. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 2020; 55:1397-413 [DOI:10.1007/s00127-020-01937-2]
48. Zhang Z, Sun K, Jatchavala C, Koh J, Chia Y, Bose J, et al. Overview of stigma against psychiatric illnesses and advancements of anti-stigma activities in six Asian societies. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2020; 17:280 [DOI:10.3390/ijerph17010280]
49. Gulliver A, Griffiths KM, Christensen H. Perceived barriers and facilitators to mental health help-seeking in young people: a systematic review. BMC Psychiatry 2010; 10:1-9 [DOI:10.1186/1471-244X-10-113]
50. Reynders A, Kerkhof AJ, Molenberghs G, Van Audenhove C. Attitudes and stigma in relation to help-seeking intentions for psychological problems in low and high suicide rate regions. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 2014; 49:231-9 [DOI:10.1007/s00127-013-0745-4]
51. Noroozi A, Khademolhosseini F, Lari H, Tahmasebi R. The mediator role of mental health literacy in the relationship between demographic variables and health-promoting behaviours. Iranian Journal of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences 2018; 12, 2:e12603 [DOI:10.5812/ijpbs.12603]
52. Imran N, Rahman A, Chaudhry N, Asif A. Effectiveness of a school-based mental health intervention for school teachers in urban Pakistan: a randomized controlled trial. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2022; 16:1-12 [DOI:10.1186/s13034-022-00470-1]
Send email to the article author
| Rights and Permissions | |
 |
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. |