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A randomised controlled trial of a web-based educational program in child mental health for schoolteachers

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Abstract

Children affected by mental disorders are largely unrecognised and untreated across the world. Community resources, including the school system and teachers, are important elements in actions directed to promoting child mental health and preventing and treating mental disorders, especially in low- and middle-income countries. We developed a web-based program to educate primary school teachers on mental disorders in childhood and conducted a cluster-randomised controlled trial to test the effectiveness of the web-based program intervention in comparison with the same program based on text and video materials only and to a waiting-list control group. All nine schools of a single city in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, were randomised to the three groups, and teachers completed the educational programs during 3 weeks. Data were analysed according to complete cases and intention-to-treat approaches. In terms of gains of knowledge about mental disorders, the web-based program intervention was superior to the intervention with text and video materials, and to the waiting-list control group. In terms of beliefs and attitudes about mental disorders, the web-based program intervention group presented less stigmatised concepts than the text and video group and more non-stigmatised concepts than the waiting-list group. No differences were detected in terms of teachers’ attitudes. This study demonstrated initial data on the effectiveness of a web-based program in educating schoolteachers on child mental disorders. Future studies are necessary to replicate and extend the findings.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Ana Soledade Graeff-Martins and Rosane Lowenthal, for assisting in the developmental of the educational content; Diogo Miranda, Ângelo Cappozoli, Letícia Godoy, Fábio Moino, and Vanessa Haddad, for assisting in the developmental of the web-based tools; Ana Soledade Graeff-Martins and Magdala Novaes, for assisting in the design of the study; Hugo Cogo-Moreira, for assisting in the statistical analysis; and Rachel Verin, for assisting in the review of the manuscript. The National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents was funded by the Brazilian Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq, National Council for Scientific and Technological Development) and by the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP, São Paulo Research Foundation). GVP is the recipient of a research grant from CNPq, and CAP is the recipient of a master’s scholarship from FAPESP (Grant no. 2010/14223-3).

Conflict of interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil

    Celina Andrade Pereira, Eurípedes Constantino Miguel & Guilherme V. Polanczyk

  2. Department of Pathology, Telemedicine, University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil

    Chao Lung Wen

  3. National Institute of Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCT-CNPq), São Paulo, Brazil

    Celina Andrade Pereira, Eurípedes Constantino Miguel & Guilherme V. Polanczyk

  4. Rua José Coimbra, 120 - Condomínio Wonder, Torre Park - Apto 6 – Vila Andrade, São Paulo, SP, CEP. 05726-110, Brazil

    Celina Andrade Pereira

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  1. Celina Andrade Pereira
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  2. Chao Lung Wen
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  3. Eurípedes Constantino Miguel
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  4. Guilherme V. Polanczyk
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Correspondence to Celina Andrade Pereira.

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Pereira, C.A., Wen, C.L., Miguel, E.C. et al. A randomised controlled trial of a web-based educational program in child mental health for schoolteachers. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 24, 931–940 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-014-0642-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-014-0642-8

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