What Classroom Practices Could Teachers Use to Support Children with Anxiety? A Delphi Study

Anxiety is a common mental health difficulty among children, with the potential to impact learning and social experiences. Primary school teachers play a crucial role in supporting anxious students, but research suggests that they may feel unprepared for this role. This study aimed to use the Delphi method to determine the most important practices for inclusion in a toolkit for primary school teachers working with children with anxiety in mainstream classrooms in Australia. A three-round Delphi study was conducted with primary school teachers, mental health professionals, and parents with lived experience of raising children with anxiety. 42 participants rated practices, derived from robust systematic searches, on importance for inclusion in the toolkit. Consensus was determined using a pre-defined level of 80% agreement across all three panels. From an initial pool of 316 practices, 145 were endorsed. Endorsed practices focused on collaboration with others, supportive classroom environments, addressing avoidance and perfectionistic concerns, and positive teacher-student relationships. Practices that involve teachers applying aspects of psychological therapies (e.g. graded exposure, psychoeducation) were less often endorsed for inclusion. This research contributes to the initial stages of development for a toolkit for teachers of children with anxiety and highlights areas for future investigation in school-based mental health support.