L’éducation à la santé mentale à l’école : vécu, besoins et attentes exprimés par les étudiants en France

Abstract

AimsThis study explores the experiences and expectations of young adults concerning mental health educational programs in schools. The scarcity of these programs leads us to deepen students’ perspective in order to boost the establishment of such sessions. Indeed, this type of prevention plan can improve the access to care and reduce the impact of such disorders. MethodologyWe have developed a standardized questionnaire to be filled online by students between the ages of 18 and 25 years, reached using Facebook pages of student associations of universities from different regions of France. ResultsFrom the 3rd to the 20th of July 2017, 1852 students filled in the questionnaire. In total, 1672 (90%) of the young adults had not experienced mental health educational programs in their school career. However, 1652 (90%) requested that these programs be a part of their academic career. The majority of the young adults (n=590, 56%) would have chosen a psychologist as leader for these programs, preferably (>80%) in a discussion around a difficult imaginary situation, using role-playing or a board game. Furthermore, 1067 (57%) young adults reported having felt the need to talk to someone about mental health during their school career. ConclusionThis exploratory study highlights the lack of mental health educational programs in schools and the need expressed by students themselves. It suggests directions to think about how to develop these mental health preventive programs, evoking their limits and advantages.