High School Educator Training by Simulation to Address Emotional and Behavioral Concerns in School Settings: A...

Area of Science:

• Educational Technology
• Mental Health Training
• Public Health

Background:

• Student mental health is a growing concern in educational settings.
• Educators are often the first point of contact for students experiencing psychological distress.
• Effective training is needed to equip educators with skills to identify and support students.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of an online virtual human role-play simulation on high school educators' ability to support students in psychological distress.
• To assess changes in educators' attitudes and self-reported helping behaviors regarding student mental health referrals.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial involving 31,144 high school educators across the US.
• The treatment group underwent a virtual human role-play simulation training.
• Validated gatekeeper behavior scales and self-reported helping behaviors were measured via surveys at baseline, post-training, and 3-month follow-up.

Main Results:

• Treatment group participants showed significantly higher scores in preparedness, likelihood, and self-efficacy for helping behaviors compared to the control group.
• A subsample of teachers reported a significant increase in student referrals to mental health services post-training.
• The simulation demonstrated effectiveness in enhancing educators' gatekeeper behaviors.

Conclusions:

• Online virtual human role-play simulations are a promising tool for training educators in student mental health support.
• The training empowers educators to identify, engage, and refer students in psychological distress.
• Further research should validate student outcomes and the impact on school mental health culture.