Professional preparedness of university students to address children’s mental health issues: curriculum content analysis

Adolescent mental health in Kyrgyzstan presents a critical public health challenge. Within education, especially in most rural areas, social pedagogues and social workers very often serve as primary providers of psychosocial support. Yet, little is known about how universities prepare these professionals to address adolescent mental health needs. Our paper examines how mental health-related content is presented across social pedagogy and social work curricula in Kyrgyzstan’s universities. Phase One analyzed 310 course titles across 10 curriculum plans from eight universities to track the frequency of direct and indirect mental health keywords. Phase Two analyzed 41 course syllabi from one university offering both programs, measuring how mental health competencies are articulated in course descriptions, learning outcomes, and class topics. Our findings reveal that all programs fell within low or moderate preparedness categories, with heavily absent mental health and crisis response knowledge. In depth syllabi analysis of two programs in one university identified three patterns: mental health framing within legal-administrative or developmental frameworks, a disconnect between course content and learning outcomes, and an absence of crisis response competencies. We conclude that professional preparation remains insufficient across program types and levels. Curriculum reform prioritizing crisis recognition and preventive mental health content is urgently needed.