Psychosocial Support Program for Public School Teachers

Official title

Evaluation of the Effectiveness and Feasibility of Different Formats of a School-Based Psychosocial Support Program for Public School Teachers: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Overview

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if different formats of a school-based psychosocial support training program can improve teachers' ability to recognize and respond to students' mental health needs. The study will include teachers working in public schools in Brazil. The main questions it aims to answer are: 1. Do teachers who receive the training improve their knowledge on how to better to identify and support students with mental health difficulties? 2. Do different formats of training (in-person, online, or self-paced) and the presence of supervision lead to different levels of improvement in this knowledge, in attitudes related to mental health, and helping behaviors? Researchers will compare five versions of the program (in-person, online, and asynchronous formats, with or without supervision) to see which approach is more effective, acceptable, and feasible. Participants will: 1. Take part in a training program delivered either in-person, online, or through self-paced materials; 2. In some groups, attend additional supervision sessions to discuss real-life cases; 3. Receive brief follow-up materials through mobile messages after the training 4. Complete online questionnaires at multiple time points (before the training, during the program, after completion, and at follow-up). The study will measure changes in teachers' knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to supporting students' mental health, as well as satisfaction with the program and its feasibility for large-scale implementation.

Interventions

• Behavioral In-person School-Based Psychosocial Support Training
  A structured training program designed to improve teachers' ability to recognize and respond to students' mental health needs. The intervention includes evidence-based content on mental health literacy, identification of emotional and behavioral difficulties, and appropriate support and referral strategies. The training is delivered in-person in two weekly sessions.
• Behavioral Online School-Based Psychosocial Support Training
  A structured training program designed to improve teachers' ability to recognize and respond to students' mental health needs. The intervention includes evidence-based content on mental health literacy, identification of emotional and behavioral difficulties, and appropriate support and referral strategies. The training is delivered trough synchronous videoconference in two weekly sessions.
• Behavioral Asynchronous School-Based Psychosocial Support Training
  A structured training program designed to improve teachers' ability to recognize and respond to students' mental health needs. The intervention includes evidence-based content on mental health literacy, identification of emotional and behavioral difficulties, and appropriate support and referral strategies. The training is delivered through an asynchronous self-paced course in a digital platform.
• Behavioral Supervision Sessions
  Structured small-group supervision sessions conducted via audio calls, focused on discussion of real-life cases, clarification of concepts, and support for practical application of the training content.
• Behavioral Mobile-Based Reinforcement Materials
  Brief follow-up materials delivered via mobile messaging to reinforce key concepts covered in the training sessions.

Primary outcome measures

• Change in the score in the Mental health Knowledge & Attitudes Questionnaire [Time frame: Baseline (T0) to post-intervention at 4 weeks (T2)]

Secondary outcome measures (6)

• Early and Sustained change in the score in the Mental health Knowledge & Attitudes Questionnaire [Time frame: Baseline (T0) to 2 weeks (T1); Baseline (T0) to 2-month follow-up (T3)]
• Change in psychosocial support skills score (clinical vignette-based score) [Time frame: Baseline (T0) to 2 weeks (T1); Baseline (T0) to post-intervention at 4 weeks (T2); Baseline (T0) to 2-month follow-up (T3)]
• Changes in helping behaviors toward students [Time frame: Baseline (T0) to 2 weeks (T1); Baseline (T0) to post-intervention at 4 weeks (T2); Baseline (T0) to 2-month follow-up (T3)]
• Change in the levels of teacher burnout [Time frame: Baseline (T0); 2 weeks (T1); Post-intervention at 4 weeks (T2); 2-month follow-up (T3)]
• Training acceptability, satisfaction, and perceived confidence [Time frame: Post-intervention at 4 weeks (T2)]
• Cost-effectiveness of the intervention [Time frame: Baseline (T0) to post-intervention at 4 weeks (T2)]

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion criteria

School-level inclusion criteria:

• Public schools from the state education system of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, serving students in "Ensino Fundamental" and "Ensino Médio" (equivalent to grades 1-12), and belonging to "Polo 1", an administrative grouping defined by the Rio Grande do Sul State Department of Education that includes the following Regional Education Coordinators (Coordenadorias Regionais de Educação \[CREs\]): 1st, 2nd, 11th, 12th, 27th, and 28th CREs;
• Schools with 10 or more teachers on staff;
• Schools with a complete school management team, defined as having all three core management roles in place.

Participant-level inclusion criteria (teacher level)

Participating teachers must meet all of the following criteria:

• Teachers currently working in participating public schools;
• Able and willing to participate in all stages of the intervention and scheduled assessments;
• Provide informed consent prior to participation

Exclusion criteria

School-level exclusion criteria:

• Schools with fewer than 10 teachers on staff;
• Schools without a complete school management team;
• Youth and Adult Education Centers (Núcleos de Educação de Jovens e Adultos \[EJA\]);
• Schools that began operating as full-time schools in 2026;
• Schools not belonging to Polo 1 of the state education system of Rio Grande do Sul;
• Schools that do not serve students in grades 1-12

Participant-level exclusion criteria

• Not currently working as a teacher in a participating public school;
• Unable to participate in the training in the planned date for the specific school the teacher works at;
• Decline or are unable to provide informed consent

Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.

Healthy volunteers: No

Study design

Allocation

Randomized

Model

Parallel assignment

Masking

Open label

Primary purpose

Health services research

Study locations

Center list to be confirmed — check the primary protocol.

Identifiers

NCT: NCT07666542 · 95402126.0.0000.5327

Primary sources (government registries)

• ClinicalTrials.gov (US NIH)

View this study on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗