Deriving Competencies for Mental Hygiene Training of School Children Through Thematic Content Analyses of Their Need Patterns

Background: Mental hygiene competencies can be developed in school children by adopting established scientific methodologies that focus on defining the learning outcomes, knowledge and skills. Aims: The aims of this study were to identify mental health awareness among school children and their mental health related needs to formulate learning outcomes for developing school-based curriculum. Methods: A qualitative study was undertaken in India during the COVID 19 imposed lockdown period to analyse the mental health needs of school children. Eighty students belonging to the age group of 13-18 years and similar number of teachers/parents forming a comparison group constituted the sample. Mental health awareness questionnaire and four open-ended questions were developed for assessing the mental health needs. The results were analysed using SPSS software to understand the statistical difference between the mean ranks and correlation. Thematic analysis of the open-ended responses was conducted to formulate the desired learning outcomes. Results: The results indicated significant difference between two groups on mental health awareness. Group II scores indicated higher mean on awareness. Age-wise group comparison of 13-15- and 16-18-year students showed similar scores. Thematic analysis of needs reflected emotional, psychological wellness and socially defined demands, over cognitive ability-based demands. Conclusion: We propose learning outcomes for training school students on mental hygiene practices that focus on mental health literacy, social and emotional regulation, sustainable behaviour practices, life skills and psychological first aid to be taught at the middle and high school level.