Knowledge about mental health in children and adolescents has positive effects: It is considered as an effective prevention strategy, facilitates the recognition of mental health problems, promotes appropriate help-seeking behavior, supports handling skills and the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions and leads to a better long-term prognosis.
Both the method of imparting knowledge about mental health in the school environment and the content are based on the target group's prerequisites. It is essential to pay attention to the expected prior knowledge, the linguistic and cognitive requirements and their function and role. These considerations should be integrated into the didactic preparation and the selection of content (Castello, 2023).
A qualitative survey was conducted to examine the perceptions of primary school children aged ten and eleven with regard to mental health (Castello & Holm, 2022). The evaluation using qualitative content analysis points to a fundamental understanding of mental health among primary school children, with social and emotional well-being at its core. The majority of the pupils surveyed would like to see stronger support for their mental health at school.
Due to the high prevalence of depression, strengthening depression literacy is a particularly important challenge in schools. In a survey of young people, their assumptions and knowledge about depression were investigated. It was found that the majority of them find information on unsafe digital platforms. School and lessons were mentioned comparatively rarely as a source of information (Castello, 2020).
References
Castello, A. (2023). Pädagogisches Handeln und schulische Förderung bei internalisierenden Auffälligkeiten. In Börnert-Ringleb, M., Casale, G., Balt, M. & Herzog, M. (Hrsg.), Lern- und Verhaltensschwierigkeiten in der Schule. Erscheinungsformen, Entwicklungsmodelle und Implikationen für die Praxis. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer. 185-196
Castello, A. & Holm, F. (2022). Wie denken Kinder über psychische Gesundheit? Kinder- und Jugendschutz in Wissenschaft und Praxis, 67. Jahrgang, 4. Quartal, 159-164.
Castello, A. (2020). Depression Literacy von Jugendlichen. Zeitschrift für Heilpädagogik, 71, 366-371.