Effect Of Mental Health Literacy Program On Teachers’ Attitude Towards Child Mental Health Problems In Selected Primary Schools, Enugu

Abstract

Teachers are critical elements in upholding the mental well-being and minimizing adverse mental health outcomes in children. Achieving this goal is dependent on attitude of teachers towards child mental health problems and there is scarcity of data in Nigeria on this topic. Hence, the aim of this paper is to apply a mental health literacy program and assess its effectiveness on teacher’s attitude towards child mental health problems. A pre and post-test quasi experimental design with an intervention and control group was adopted for the study with the later serving as a waitlist group. The sample comprised 341 primary school teachers in 18 selected government and private owned schools in Enugu. Likert scale questionnaire with four sections comprising of 17 items was used to obtain data and a literature based developed module was used to deliver the intervention. Data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Attitude towards CMHPs (except general stereotypes domain) was positive for both groups of teachers before intervention with overall mean slightly higher in control group. After intervention and during follow up, the attitude improved and was positive for teachers in the intervention group, and remained unchanged for control group. Regarding the intervention group, attitude of teachers towards CMHPs during post-intervention 1 and 2 (p < .001) were significantly higher than the pre-intervention attitude; and the post-intervention 1 attitude significantly higher than the post-intervention 2 attitude (p < .001). Inclusion of child mental health concepts as a component of teachers pre-service and in-service training while ensuring they have contact and experience with neurodiverse children through internship placements is recommended.