Effectiveness of mental health education among high school teachers in Japan: A prospective cohort study

Abstract Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a mental health educational program for high school teachers to improve their knowledge of student mental health. Methods: We conducted a single-arm interventional study between 2018 and 2019 to compare high school teachers’ awareness of student mental health before and after a mental health educational program with four themes: suicidal behaviors, behavioral problems with developmental disabilities, school absenteeism/social withdrawal, and violent behaviors. A mixed-effects linear regression analysis of 130 samples assessed the program’s effectiveness. Results: The acceptability of the program was favorable. The analysis revealed mental health knowledge improved by an average of 1.6 points (9.6% from the pretest average score) (95% CI 0.3–3.1, p< 0.02) on a 24-point scale. Knowledge of suicidal behaviors continued to improve after 1 year. Conclusion: The results indicated that the program may improve educators’ knowledge, especially regarding suicidal behaviors.