School-Based Mental Health Education: Program Effectiveness and Trends in Help-Seeking

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Adolescent Psychology
• Educational Interventions

Background:

• The youth mental health crisis necessitates effective school-based interventions.
• School programs can enhance mental health literacy and promote help-seeking behaviors.
• The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted adolescent mental health and access to support.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of the 'Coming Up for AIR' school-based mental health education program.
• To assess changes in student mental health literacy and actual help-seeking behaviors.
• To examine trends in help-seeking behavior before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Main Methods:

• Program effectiveness measured via pre- and post-program surveys assessing mental health literacy.
• Help-seeking behavior analyzed using aggregated declaration card data from 2019-2024.
• Data analyzed by grade level (middle/high school) and pandemic period (pre-, intra-, post-COVID-19).

Main Results:

• Statistically significant gains in mental health literacy observed across all student demographics.
• Self-referrals for mental health support increased significantly post-pandemic (middle schoolers +90%, high schoolers +36%).
• Middle school students demonstrated higher referral rates than high school students for both self and friend referrals.

Conclusions:

• The 'Coming Up for AIR' program effectively enhances youth mental health literacy and promotes help-seeking.
• The alarming rise in self-referrals post-pandemic underscores the escalating mental health crisis in middle schoolers.
• School-based educational programs are crucial for addressing youth mental health concerns and facilitating access to support.