Univerza na Primorskem
Fakulteta za matematiko, naravoslovje in informacijske tehnologije
Več informacij o projektu / More info about the project
Opis / Description
SLO:
Otroštvo in mladostništvo sta razvojni obdobji, v katerih je potrebno posebno pozornost namenjati razvoju dobrega duševnega zdravja. Težave v duševnem zdravju se namreč običajno pojavijo v mladostništvu, samomor pa je med glavnimi vzroki smrti mladih; kljub spodbudnemu trendu upada količnika samomora v Sloveniji v zadnjih desetletjih, še vedno vsako leto beležimo povprečno okoli 10 samomorov mladostnikov v starostni skupini od 10 do 19 let. Otroci in mladostniki so torej zelo ranljiva skupina. Ker velik del časa preživijo v šolah, je smiselno v šolskem okolju izvajati intervencije za promocijo duševnega zdravja in preprečevanje samomora. Osnovnošolski in srednješolski učitelji imajo pri tem vlogo t.i. vratarjev sistema, saj imajo zaradi svojega rednega in tesnega stika z mladostniki možnost pri mladostnikih prepoznati znake stiske in ustrezno ukrepati. Pri tem se lahko čutijo bolj ali manj pripravljene ter kompetentne za prevzemanje te vloge; kar pa je lahko povezano z vplivom številnih dejavnikov – tako splošnih, kot tudi specifičnih, vezanih na posledice epidemije COVID-19. Predlagan projekt se osredotoča na pripravljenost in kompetentnost osnovnošolskih in srednješolskih učiteljev za prevzemanje vloge vratarjev sistema. Namen projekta je raziskati vpliv različnih dejavnikov, ki imajo lahko pomembno vlogo pri tem, ter razviti prilagojeno intervencijo in jo evalvirati. Natančneje, v okviru projekta nameravamo sistematično pregledati obstoječe intervencije za učitelje kot vratarje sistema; preučiti vlogo splošnih in specifičnih dejavnikov, povezanih z pripravljenostjo in kompetentnostjo učiteljev za prevzemanje vloge vratarjev sistema; razviti in pilotno izvesti intervencijo za krepitev pripravljenosti in kompetentnosti učiteljev za prevzemanje te vloge, evalvirati učinek intervencije s pomočjo objektivne in subjektivne evalvacije ter pripraviti smernice za nadaljnjo izvajanje intervencije. Vključiti nameravamo okoli 200 osnovnošolskih oz. srednješolskih učiteljev, ki so v stiku z mladostniki zadnje triade 9-letne osnovne šole ter s srednješolskimi mladostniki. Izvedli bomo randomizirano kontrolirano študijo, kar pomeni, da bodo udeleženci naključno razporejeni v »skupino z intervencijo« ali »kontrolno skupino (čakalna lista)«. Na ta način bomo izključili možnost, da bi morebitne razlike med skupinama temeljile na razlikah v motiviranosti udeležencev. Udeleženci bodo izpolnili dva seta vprašalnikov; prvega v okviru osnovne raziskave, nato pa še v okviru evalvacije. Pri tem se bomo osredotočili na različne konstrukte, npr. kompetentnost in pripravljenost za prevzemanje vloge vratarja sistema kot primarni odvisni spremenljivki; ter subjektivno blagostanje, zadovoljstvo s šolsko klimo, stališča do težav v duševnem zdravju in iskanja pomoči, stigma glede samomorilnega vedenja, pandemska utrujenost, osebna prožnost, itd. kot napovedni dejavniki. Objektivno evalvacijo pilotno izvedene intervencije (izobraževanja za učitelje) bomo opravili s pomočjo analize razlik v stanju pred in po intervenciji, pri čemer bomo rezultate »skupine z intervencijo« primerjali z rezultati »kontrolne skupine (čakalna lista)«. Subjektivno evalvacijo bomo opravili z analizo odgovorov udeležencev na dodatna vprašanja o njihovih vtisih glede koristnosti intervencije. Predlagan projekt ima velik pomen za znanost in stroko, saj združuje empirično raziskavo z metodološko dodelanim raziskovalnim načrtom ter praktično pilotno izvedbo intervencije, ki bo podprta z obstoječimi znanji, obenem pa bo v projektu poudarek tudi na evalvaciji učinkovitosti intervencije. Rezultati projekta bodo tako doprinesli k razvoju znanosti v Sloveniji in v tujini, kot praktičen rezultat dela pa bodo na voljo tudi konkretne smernice za nadaljnje izvajanje intervencije na tem področju.
EN:
Childhood and adolescence are developmental periods in which special attention should be paid to the development of good mental health. Mental health problems typically start at a young age, and suicide is among the leading causes of death in adolescence. Despite the encouraging trend of declining suicide rates in Slovenia in recent decades, we still record an average of approximately 10 suicides of 10 to 19-year old adolescents each year. Children and adolescents are therefore a very vulnerable group. Since they spend much of their time in schools, it makes sense to implement interventions for mental health promotion and suicide prevention in the school environment. Primary and secondary school teachers have the role of “gatekeepers”, as they are in regular and close contact with adolescents and are therefore in a unique position to recognize signs of distress and react appropriately. They may feel more or less willing and competent to take on this role; however, this may be due to the influence of a number of factors, both general and specific, related to the consequences of the COVID-19 epidemic. The proposed project focuses on the willingness and competence of primary and secondary school teachers to take on the role of gatekeepers. The aim of the project is to explore the contribution of various factors that may play an important role in this and to develop a tailored intervention and evaluate it. Specifically, the project intends to systematically review existing interventions for teachers as gatekeepers; examine the role of general and specific factors related to the willingness and competence of teachers to take on the role of gatekeepers; develop and pilot implement an intervention to strengthen the willingness and competence of teachers to take on this role, evaluate the impact of the intervention through objective and subjective evaluation, and prepare guidelines for further implementation of the intervention. We intend to include about 200 primary or secondary school teachers who are in contact with adolescents of the last triad of the 9-year elementary school and with high school adolescents. We will conduct a randomized controlled study, which means that participants will be randomly assigned to the “intervention group” or the “waiting-list control group”. In this way, we will exclude the possibility that potential differences between the groups would be based on differences in the motivation of the participants. Participants will complete two sets of questionnaires; the first one as part of the baseline study and the second one as part of the evaluation. In doing so, we will focus on various constructs, e.g. competence and willingness to take on the role of system gatekeeper as primary outcomes; and subjective well-being, satisfaction with the school climate, attitudes towards mental health problems and help-seeking, the stigma of suicidal behavior, pandemic fatigue, resilience, etc. as predictors. An objective evaluation of the pilot intervention (training for the teachers) will be carried out by analysing the differences in the results obtained before and after the intervention, comparing the results of the ""intervention group"" with the results of the ""waiting-list control group"". Subjective evaluation will be performed by analysing the participants’ answers to additional questions about their impressions of the usefulness of the intervention. The proposed project has great scientific and professional importance, as it combines methodologically sound empirical research with a practical pilot implementation of an intervention, which will be supported by the existing knowledge. The results of the project will thus contribute to the development of science in Slovenia as well as abroad, and as a practical result of the work, concrete guidelines for further implementation of the intervention in this field will also be made available.