Beliefs about students’ mental health issues among teachers at elementary and high schools, Hail Governorate, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: Teachers’ awareness about and attitude towards students’ with mental health issues are often affecting their practical role in proper care of students with mental health problems. This is a cross-sectional study carried out among teachers in elementary (primary and middle) and secondary schools in Hail Governorate, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The objective of the study was to assess teachers’ awareness about and attitude towards student’s mental health issues through a response to a pretested constructed, semi-structured, anonymous self-administered questionnaire included 38 items. Results: Consenting teachers returned 2398 completed questionnaires with response rate of 60.0%. Majority of respondents possessed favorable attitudes towards students with mental health issues attained 74.7% attitude score on a scale of maximum 55 points but revealed less awareness with students’ mental health issues; they just attained 55.1% awareness score. Teachers acknowledged the importance of providing training programs regarding mental health issues for teachers (73.7%) and for other school staff (76.2%), availability of psychologist in schools (81.1%), providing schools with educational materials regarding students’ mental health (78.1%), providing telephone hotline to support dealing with students’ with mental health issues (78.5%), and promoting general media to increase community awareness with mental health (84.4%). Conclusion: The current study gives insight to policy makers about teachers’ awareness and attitude they have towards mental health issues in schools. Training programs in mental health appear to be crucial for teachers. Providing enough resources for schools to support their roles in mental health will advance healthy development in children.