Expanded school mental health services: assessing needs related to school level and geography

Urbanisation negatively impacts sleep health and mood in adolescents: a comparative study of female students from city and rural schools of North India

This study investigated the impact of social settings on sleep, physical and mental health in female adolescents of North India (latitude 29.5 oN; longitude 77.5 oE). Using a battery of questionnaires, we compared the chronotype, sleep-wake pattern, sleep health (e.g. sleep quality, daytime sleepiness and fatigue) and mood (via depression, anxiety and stress symptoms) in female students (age 14-18 years) from rural (N = 719) and urban (N = 1033) schools separated by about 35 km, but families had almost similar socio-demographic details. The morning type was prevalent amongst rural, whilst the evening type was prevalent amongst urban students who also had access to smart phones, suggesting a possible greater use of the internet. There were greater negative sleep effects, daytime sleepiness, overall poor sleep quality, higher fatigue and anxiety levels in urban than the rural cohort. Interestingly, these measures also differed between school days and free days, suggesting an impact of the conflict between internal biological and social timings (= social jet lag). We also found a significant relationship between chronotype, internet addiction, mood-related parameters and measures of sleep health. Overall, these results suggest a possible impact of social settings on sleep health and mood-related behaviours in female adolescents.

Compared With Girls, Boys' Psychological Symptoms Are More Likely to Be Influenced by Lifestyle in Chinese Middle School Students

Purpose

To explore the relationship between Chinese middle school students' lifestyles and psychological symptoms and compare the differences between genders.

Method

Using the method of stratified cluster sampling, 14,356 students aged 13–18 years from 8 cities in China were selected as participants. The Multidimensional Sub-health Questionnaire of Adolescents was used to estimate psychological symptoms. Chi-square test and Logistic regression analysis were used to analyze the relationship between lifestyle and psychological symptoms.

Results

The psychological symptom detection rate of Chinese middle school students was 21.37%. The detection rate of psychological symptoms for boys was 22.1%, which was significantly higher than for girls (20.64%, χ² = 4.608, P < 0.05). According to the Logistic regression analysis, factors that have a positive correlation with the demonstration of psychological symptoms (P < 0.01) include: how the students go to school (by foot or on the vehicle) (OR = 1.16, 95% CI: 1.07–1.25); inadequate time for sleep (OR = 1.48, 95% CI: 1.28–1.72); video watching time ≥2 h/d (OR = 1.25, 95% CI: 1.13–1.39); never exercise (OR = 2.39, 95% CI: 2.07–2.76); never participate in extracurricular exercises (OR = 1.45, 95% CI: 1.27–1.66); have breakfast occasionally (OR = 1.35, 95% CI:1.22–1.50); never have breakfast (OR = 1.90, 95% CI: 1.62–2.24); always have snacks (OR = 1.27, 95% CI: 1.13–1.44); always drink sugared beverages (OR = 1.37, 95% CI: 1.22–1.55); picky with food occasionally (OR = 1.22, 95% CI: 1.11–1.33).

Conclusions

There was a positive correlation between unhealthy lifestyle and the occurrence of psychological symptoms, and boys are more easily influenced by lifestyles than girls.

Providers as Stakeholders in Addressing Implementation Barriers to Youth Mental Healthcare

Research has shown that youth with mental health disorders often do not receive adequate care. School- and community-based mental health organizations are integral to implementing evidence-based mental healthcare to the vast majority of youth. It is therefore important to understand the perspectives of this stakeholder group, to determine how to improve access to high-quality care. A series of three focus groups with community mental health providers and three school counselors and social workers focus groups were conducted to get their perspective on existing barriers that prevent youth who need mental health services from being treated. A grounded theory inductive qualitative analysis revealed six major themes (Lack of Services, Lack of Knowledge, Stigma, Logistics, Poor Past Experiences with Mental Health, and Poor Coordination of Services). Each of these themes are discussed and implications are framed within the context of implementation science.

Mental Health and Social Services in Schools: Variations by School Characteristics-United States, 2014

Schools serve as a mental health service provider for students with related disorders. This study reported on specific mental health and social services practices overall and by school demographics in U.S. schools using data from the 2014 School Health Policies and Practices Study, a cross-sectional study of a nationally representative sample of schools with any of grades kindergarten through twelve, and an extant source of school demographics. Differences in mental health and social services staffing, facilities/equipment, and services were observed across school demographics. These data will help identify service gaps, which can guide efforts to better serve students and families.

Targeted group-based interventions in schools to promote emotional well-being: a systematic review

The school environment offers significant opportunities to deliver psychological interventions to groups of young people in the UK. However, the nature and effectiveness of programmes are not consistently documented. This systematic review aimed to identify and examine group-based interventions delivered in UK schools. Sixteen papers describing eight interventions were included. It was found that nurture groups have an immediate positive impact on the social and emotional well-being of young people. Results from follow-up studies are less clear, and limited by a high level of sample attrition. The findings reported in relation to social and emotional aspects of learning, cognitive, behavioural and social skills based interventions were limited as each intervention is only evaluated by one paper. The review highlighted a need to implement well-designed, longitudinal studies with larger samples in order to evaluate which interventions are effective in UK schools.

School-wide staff and faculty training in suicide risk awareness: successes and challenges

PROBLEM

Rates of youth suicide and suicidal behavior remain high despite prevention efforts. Training high school personnel as gatekeepers is an important strategy.

METHODS

Training was implemented in a school district's five comprehensive high schools. Surveys were conducted before and after training sessions, which targeted all adults working at the high school. Two hundred thirty-seven individuals completed the pretest and/or posttest.

FINDINGS

Participants reported gains in knowledge, confidence, and feelings of competence in recognizing, approaching, and connecting distressed youth to school-based resources. Training was well received.

CONCLUSION

Training is acceptable and appropriate for school personnel. Increasing the number of school personnel who participate in the training is challenging.

Young people's views of mental health education in secondary schools: a Scottish study

BACKGROUND

This exploratory study used mixed methods to investigate young people's preferences in the delivery of mental health education and to investigate possible age and gender differences.

METHOD

Information was gathered about the delivery of mental health education in three secondary schools. Nine pupil focus groups were carried out to identify key themes which were then further developed and administered through questionnaires to a larger sample of 773 pupils.

RESULTS

Gender and age differences were found in young people's preferences about who should deliver mental health education, and what, when, where and how this should be delivered.

CONCLUSION

Mental health education should reflect the needs of young people. Age and gender preferences should be considered when designing these programmes.

The President’s New Freedom Commission: Capitalizing on Opportunities to Advance School-Based Mental Health Services

The report from President George W. Bush's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health (NFC), Achieving the Promise: Transforming Mental Health Care in America(2003), proposes goals and recommendations for improving mental health services. This report has significant implications for the delivery of mental health services through the schools. A focused discussion of the potential opportunities and challenges of implementing NFC recommendations related to school-based mental health is presented. Strategies for addressing five key areas at the intersection of school mental health and the Commission's recommendations include: stigma reduction, suicide prevention, expansion and improvement of school mental health, and screening and treatment of co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders.