Woolfson, R., Woolfson, L., Mooney, L., & Bryce, D. (2009). Young people's views of mental
health education in secondary schools: A Scottish study. Child: Care, Health and
Development, 35(6), 790-798. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2214.2008.00901.x
Woolfson et al. (2008) conducted a descriptive study examining student preferences for
mental health education delivery in schools. A sample of 773 Scottish students, aged 11-17,
provided suggestions of how to make mental health education programs more Engaging and
effective. Students completed a 26-item questionnaire that assessed their views of mental health
education and the delivery of a program with questions addressing such concerns as who should
present the information, specific subjects that should be included in the programs, the different
methods of delivering the information and location and set up of the program. The questionnaire
used` a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 as not very important to 5 as very important.
Youth indicated that it would be useful for a familiar person to deliver the program and
many preferred for the individual to have personal experience with mental health concerns.
Students also preferred for the programs to be presented in their usual classes as opposed to
entire grade assemblies or with individuals they did not know. Students thought it was important
that the programs integrated a variety of teaching techniques to present the content such as group
discussions, role plays, videos, poster designing, group work and practical activities. The topics
that were considered important included a wide array of mental health concerns such as autism,
Attention Deficit- Hyperactivity Disorder, depression, eating disorders, schizophrenia, dementia,
self- harm and sexual health problems. Students indicated that it was important that factual
knowledge as well as prevention and coping strategies were included.
My proposed study includes many of the aspects students indicated as important to
mental health programs such as the different disorders that are covered and including facts as
well as prevention strategies with stress and coping techniques. The data from this research
provides reason to consider adding sections to the current study addressing issues of self-harm,
schizophrenia and sexual health disorders as these are indicated as subject areas that may be
interesting and informative for students.
The results of this study may not be generalizable to the sample we will be using in my
efficacy study mainly in that they will be Canadian students and not Scottish and the ages of the
students considered to be secondary students in Scotland is much younger than in Canada. This
study will be helpful to refer back to when writing the introduction and discussion as it supports
the use and inclusion of many components that are central to the proposed research project.