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School-based interventions

School-Based Mental Health: Interventions, Staff Training, and Youth Well-Being

4 - (OP26) Supporting Student Mental Health: Outcomes from a Self-paced Online Training for School Staff

Saturday, June 27, 2026
11:56 AM - 12:13 PM PDT
Location: Yerba Buena Salon 13, B3 Level
Keywords: School/School-Based Interventions, Psychoeducation, Education and Training
Recommended Readings: Childs-Fegredo, J., Burn, A. M., Duschinsky, R., Humphrey, A., Ford, T., Jones, P. B., & Howarth, E. (2021). Acceptability and feasibility of early identification of mental health difficulties in primary schools: A qualitative exploration of UK school staff and parents’ perceptions. School Mental Health, 13(1), 143-159.,   Shelemy, L., Harvey, K., & Waite, P. (2019). Supporting students’ mental health in schools: What do teachers want and need? Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties, 24(1), 100–116.,   Soneson, E., Howarth, E., Weir, A., Jones, P. B., & Fazel, M. (2024). Empowering school staff to support pupil mental health through a brief, interactive web-based training program: Mixed methods study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 26, e46764.,   ,  


Introduction: Youth mental health (MH) disorders are prevalent in the United States, with rates increasing in recent decades (Bitsko et al., 2022). Schools are a key setting for identifying and addressing youth MH concerns (Duong et al., 2021). School staff interact with their students daily, and they are well-positioned to notice changes in performance and demeanor that may indicate risk (Splett et al., 2019). When staff are familiar with common signs of MH risk and appropriate referral pathways, they may play an important role in identifying concerns and preventing adverse outcomes (Soneson et al., 2024). Many states require school personnel to receive suicide awareness and prevention training; however, guidelines vary in the extent to which staff are trained to identify and prevent MH problems more broadly (AFSP, 2024). Further, school districts must determine how to fit this training into their professional development and ensure its relevance across grade levels. The current initiative aimed to address this challenge by developing and evaluating a brief, self-paced, online MH training for school staff.

Methods: School leaders and university faculty members partnered to design a training focused on (a) recognizing common signs of student MH distress and (b) connecting students with school MH providers, when indicated. Two versions of the training were created, one for elementary school staff and another for secondary school staff. The training was offered to school districts from fall 2023 to fall 2025. Participants completed pre- and post-training surveys to assess the training’s acceptability and effectiveness. They completed the Gatekeeper Behavior Scale (GBS; Albright et al., 2016) to measure their perceived readiness to identify and respond to student MH concerns pre- and post-training. The post-training survey also included knowledge-check items to assess retention of key content.

Results: In fall 2023, approximately 750 school staff members across four school districts completed the training and its associated surveys. Participants represented a range of roles and experience levels. On average, they correctly answered 5.30 of six knowledge-check questions (standard deviation=0.78). GBS total scores increased significantly from pre- to post-training, indicating increased confidence, preparedness, and likelihood of addressing student MH concerns (t[618]=-26.69, p< 0.001). Most participants reported satisfaction with the training (77.95%), and almost all rated it as at least moderately effective (94.36%). From fall 2024 to fall 2025, approximately 1,188 additional school staff members from six school districts completed the training and its surveys. Analysis of the 2024-2025 data is underway, and results will be presented at the Congress.

Conclusions: Several school districts opted to require the training, indicating that it addressed a clear need and was accessible to school staff. Preliminary survey findings suggest that the training was satisfactory, engaging, and effective. Brief, self-paced trainings for school staff may support students’ well-being by improving MH literacy across school districts and enhancing school staff members’ capacity to identify and address student MH concerns.

Learning Objectives:

  • Discuss the feasibility and scalability of brief, self-paced online trainings as a means of improving school-based mental health supports and outcomes.