Development and Validation of a Tool to Assess Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Teachers on School Adolescents' Mental Health (KAP-TAM).

BACKGROUND

Adolescent students are mostly experiencing an increase in mental health issues. Most of the students' precious time is spent with their teachers. The first place adolescents seek is to obtain knowledge from their teachers. Teachers are essential for early screening, identifying, and connecting students with appropriate mental health support services. Therefore, the study aimed to evaluate the degree of mental health Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAP) among teachers who work with adolescents.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

The tool development encompasses four phases, that is, the literature search, Focus Group Discussion (FGD) with teachers, development of KAP tool items, and establishment of validity and reliability.

RESULTS

Through thematic analysis of the literature and FGDs, the Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice tool's 20 items were created (ten in knowledge, five in attitude, and five in practice). The tool was validated by five mental health specialists. The Scale Content Validity Index (S-CVI = 0.89) and Item-level Content Validity Index (I-CVI = 1) of the instrument were high. The scale has a high level of test-retest reliability (r = 0.7).

CONCLUSION

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Teachers on school Adolescents' Mental health (KAP-TAM) demonstrates good test-retest reliability and good I-CVI and S-CVI scores. This tool will aid the individuals to assess teachers' Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of school adolescents' mental health.