Indonesian Teachers’ Effectivity in Identifying Students’ Mental Health Problems

Early identification of mental health problems in students can ensure that vulnerable children receive appropriate interventions. Within school, teachers have been actively involved in identifying students’ mental health problems and providing referrals for interventions. Studies mainly conducted in high-income countries have found that teachers effectively identify mental health problems. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of Indonesian teachers in identifying mental health problems is unknown.
Three studies were performed to investigate the effectiveness of Indonesian teachers in identifying mental health problems in their students (aged 13 – 18 years). Study One explored Indonesian teacher’s perceived confidence, barriers, and needs in identifying mental health problems using qualitative methodology. The study found that teachers were confident in identifying students' mental health, but they faced barriers due to their lack of knowledge and time constraints. They required mental health training and support to enhance their ability to recognize mental health problems. Study Two investigated teachers’ accuracy in identifying mental health problems in a mixed-methods approach. This study showed that by using vignettes, teachers could accurately identify the presence or absence of mental health problems but were less accurate in assessing the severity of the problems. Study Three investigated the relationships between teacher reports of common student psychopathology with student and parent reports in Indonesian schools and compared these relationships to those previously found in the UK. This study found that in Indonesia, teacher reports had small correlations with student and parent reports. These correlations were weaker than the correlations found in the UK sample.
Findings indicated that teachers in Indonesia were suitable informants for school-based mental health screening, but collaboration was required to identify mental health problems. Providing mental health training for teachers would be beneficial as they lack knowledge in this area. The findings underscore the need to design and evaluate teacher training programmes and encourage collaboration to identify mental health problems.