# Secondary School Teachers’ Disorder-Specific Mental Health Literacy About Depression, Anxiety, Early Psychosis and Suicide Risk: A Scoping Review

## TL;DR

This review examines how well secondary school teachers understand mental health issues like depression, anxiety, psychosis, and suicide risk, and highlights the need for targeted training.

## Contribution

The study emphasizes the importance of disorder-specific mental health literacy training for teachers, rather than general training.

## Key findings

- Eighteen studies were identified, focusing on teachers' knowledge of depression, anxiety, psychosis, and suicide risk.
- Disorder-specific training is more effective than general mental health literacy training for teachers.
- Schools often serve as frontline sites for mental health recognition when healthcare systems are overwhelmed.

## Abstract

Considering the high prevalence of adolescent depression and anxiety, the profound functional consequences of untreated early psychosis and suicide being the number one cause of death in Australia among 15–19-year-olds, ensuring that teachers are literate about these disorders should be a high priority. Teachers’ disorder-specific literacy is a pragmatic response to healthcare system constraints. This scoping review aimed to map the evidence of teacher mental health literacy training programs, specifically for depression, anxiety, early psychosis and suicide risk. PRISMA-ScR guidelines were followed. Included studies were published in English between 2000 and 2024, focused on teachers working with students in Year 7–12 and measured teachers’ knowledge of depression, anxiety, psychosis or suicide risk. Studies were appraised for quality. Eighteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Nine evaluated knowledge of student depression, five evaluated knowledge of anxiety and five evaluated knowledge of psychosis, while nine studies focused on suicide risk. Providing disorder-specific training and evaluation, rather than general mental health literacy training, is recommended for future research. When healthcare systems lack the capacity to provide care for ill adolescents, schools often function as frontline sites for recognition and triage. Disorder-specific literacy is recommended for teachers so they can manage their real-world, health-system compensation role.