An examination of pre-service teacher mental health and attitudes towards promoting students’ mental health in P-12 settings

Mental health impacts students’ academic performance, physical health, and social connectivity. Aimed at supporting the mental health of students, this study examines whether preservice teachers (PSTs) (N = 180) feel prepared and equipped to effectively teach students with mental health needs. The goals of the study were to: (1) identify PSTs’ self-reported levels of mental health; (2) examine PSTs’ attitude to teach students with mental health needs; and (3) explore bi-directional relationships between PSTs attitudes to teach students with mental health needs, their self-reported levels of mental health, and their level of training to teach students with mental health needs. The results indicate that training for student and personal mental health needs has a significant positive association with PSTs’ perceived competence and perceived responsibility towards teaching students with mental health needs. PSTs’ mental health was reported as flourishing (52.8%), moderately mentally healthy (41.1%), and languishing (6.1%). The PSTs perceived a high level of responsibility, felt moderately competent, and had low levels of negative emotions related to teaching students with mental health needs. Implications for teacher preparation programmes are discussed.