Mental health of primary school teachers and recognizing mental health issues in pupils

Namen magistrske naloge je bil raziskati nivo duševnega zdravja med osnovnošolskimi učitelji v Sloveniji in ugotoviti njegovo napovedno vlogo pri prepoznavanju duševnih stisk ter nudenju pomoči učencem v duševnih stiskah. Zanimalo nas je tudi, ali osnovnošolski učitelji menijo, da vedo dovolj o duševnih stiskah učencev in ali se njihova ocena lastne sposobnosti za obravnavo učencev v duševnih stiskah povezuje z njihovo zmožnostjo prepoznavanja in pripravljenostjo nudenja pomoči učencem v duševnih stiskah. S pomočjo podatkov, ki smo jih pridobili na vzorcu 230 osnovnošolskih učiteljev, smo izvedli dve logistični regresijski analizi in potrdili, da stopnja psihološkega blagostanja pri učiteljih pozitivno napoveduje njihovo zmožnost prepoznavanja in nudenja pomoči učencem v duševnih stiskah. Na podlagi izračunanih modelov logistične regresije pa nismo uspeli potrditi predpostavk, da stopnje stresa, anksioznosti in depresivnosti med učitelji negativno napovedujejo njihovo zmožnost prepoznavanja in nudenja pomoči učencem v duševnih stiskah. Kljub temu menimo, da je naša raziskava, ki je ena izmed redkih na tem področju, opozorila na pomembnost krepitve duševnega zdravja pri učiteljih in njihovega poznavanja duševnih stisk pri učencih za vzpostavljanje zdravega ter spodbudnega šolskega okolja.The purpose of the master\u27s thesis was to investigate the level of mental health among primary school teachers in Slovenia and to determine its predictive role in identifying mental issues and providing assistance to pupils affected by them. We were also interested in whether primary school teachers feel they know enough about mental health issues among pupils and whether their assessment of their ability to treat pupils affected by them is related to their ability to recognize them, and willingness to help such pupils. Using data obtained from a sample of 230 primary school teachers, we performed two logistic regression analyses and confirmed that the level of psychological well-being in teachers positively predicts their ability to recognize mental health issues in pupils and provide assistance to those who are affected by them. Based on the calculated logistic regression models, however, we were unable to confirm the assumptions that levels of stress, anxiety, and depression among teachers negatively predict their ability to recognize mental health issues and provide assistance to pupils affected by them. Nevertheless, we believe that our research, which is one of the few in this field, highlights the importance of strengthening teachers’ mental health and their knowledge of mental disorders in pupils to establish a healthy and stimulating school environment