The Mental Health Crisis in a Rural School

• In Event: Research in Progress Roundtable Session 3
  In Invited Roundtable: Research on Rural Education: Policy, Equity, Student Aspirations, and Mental Health (Table 7)

Abstract

In recent years, adolescent mental health has been declining. The current study investigates the mental health crisis in a rural Midwest high school and its impact on rural teachers. Through a mixed methods research design, the researcher explores the rural teachers’ experiences with student mental health, their perceived barriers to supporting their students’ mental health, their self-efficacy for supporting student mental health, and how that self-efficacy is related to their work-related stress. Through this research, the researcher aims to contribute to closing the gap that exists in rural education research and lessening the detrimental impact this mental health crisis has on rural teachers and student populations.

Author

• Sydney Sisson, Johns Hopkins University