Evaluation eines schulbasierten Präventionsprojekts zur Förderung der psychischen Gesundheitskompetenz von Schülern der Sekundarstufe 1

Evaluation of a School-Based Prevention Project to Promote Mental Health Literacy Among Secondary School Students Given the growing mental health issues faced by children and young people, targeted prevention approaches are needed. Schools are increasingly being recognised as a suitable setting for such initiatives. Thus, the GetFit4MentalHealth preventative pilot project was initiated by the University Clinic for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the University of Innsbruck. In the first phase of the project, secondary school teachers completed a university training programme that prepared them to independently design and deliver teaching sessions to promote the mental health literacy of their students. This evaluation examined changes in the stigmatisation of mental disorders (r-AQ), mental health literacy (UMHL-A) and psychopathological symptom burden (YSR) among the participating students (n = 315, mean age = 12.33 years) through a pre-post questionnaire survey. The results of the study did not indicate any significant changes in stigmatisation (r-AQ) or psychopathological symptom burden (YSR). The results showed a significant improvement in knowledge of mental disorders, which is a key aspect of mental health literacy. This finding demonstrates the potential for teachers to positively influence an important aspect of mental health literacy through the implementation of a low-threshold preventative approach. The project demonstrated the principal feasibility of an innovative, school-based prevention approach by teachers. Further research is needed to establish the conditions for the effective and practical implementation of school-based interventions designed to promote mental health literacy through teachers.