Mental health is a fundamental human right (Zubiri-Esnaola et al., 2023) that has gained prominence since the COVID-19 pandemic amid rising mental health problems and insufficient professional provision (WHO, 2022). Social workers, teachers and educators in general are among the professionals who must give some professional response to the mental health challenges of students, clients and their families on a daily basis. This response relies on their knowledge on and attitude towards mental health, that is their mental health literacy (MHL). The concept of MHL (Jorm et al., 1997) has been particularly useful to understand and predict professionals’ interventions because it encompasses people’s beliefs about mental health problems and stigmas associated to them, as well as how to prevent mental health issues, search for proper help and offer it to other people.

There is a broad consensus that pre-service educators require training to address mental health issues, reflecting the growing recognition that schools are vital spaces for prevention, detection and referral (Skrzypek, 2024; Waters, 2011; Weare & Nind, 2011). Accordingly, educational institutions occupy a privileged position for promoting students’ MHL (Reavley et al., 2012). Teachers and school support staff are increasingly regarded as invaluable yet underutilised mental health resources (Moon et al., 2017). Teachers are often directly involved in delivering support and may at times be the sole providers of interventions such as social-emotional learning (Skrzypek, 2024). Thus, their beliefs and motivation are crucial for school-based support and the early identification of mental health difficulties (Maclean & Law, 2022). 

Moreover, the association between teacher well-being and both classroom performance and reduced psychological distress among students suggests that strengthening teachers’ MHL can positively influence the mental health of teachers and students alike (Pozo-Rico et al., 2023; Skrzypek, 2024). Consequently, integrating MHL into teacher education may enable educational institutions to play a pivotal role in destigmatising mental health issues and fostering a supportive school environment. While teacher training has received considerable attention, social work education faces similar challenges. Owing to the nature of their profession, social workers are likely to regularly engage with individuals experiencing mental health difficulties. However, concerns persist that these practitioners are not always adequately trained to meet service users’ needs. (Cesare & King, 2015; Kourgiantakis et al., 2022). Beyond theoretical knowledge, social workers must develop awareness of their own values, biases and assumptions. Kourgiantakis et al. (2022) advocate strengthening knowledge and assessment skills among both social work students and practitioners, yet research indicates that social workers lack MHL (Cesare and King, 2015; Martin, 2016). Moreover, social work degree programmes may emphasise sociological perspectives or critiques of psychiatry at the expense of biological and clinical dimensions (Cesare & King, 2015). Finally, both social workers and educators face an elevated risk of burnout due to their working conditions (Molnar et al., 2017; Skrzypek, 2024). In this context, MHL is particularly relevant for protecting their own mental health.

The Faculty of Education of the Universitat de Barcelona offers undergraduate degrees in Education, Social Education, Early Childhood Education, Primary Education and Social Work. In Spain, both teacher educators and social educators can carry out socio-educational interventions in institutions that assist, teach and support individuals experiencing mental health problems. Thus, students across these five bachelor’s degree programmes stand to gain from MHL both personally and professionally; however, little evidence exists regarding how HE courses actively cultivate or strengthen students’ MHL.

The aim of the study was to investigate the perceptions of higher education instructors regarding whether and how the courses they teach contribute to improving the MHL of students enrolled in Education, Social Education, Early Childhood Education, Primary Education, and Social Work degrees. To this end, a quantitative design was adopted, and a survey was developed and administered to instructors of all courses related to mental health, health, emotional well-being, psychology, diagnosis in education, counselling, diversity, educational inclusion, human relations, social skills, communication, conflict resolution, embodiment and gender. Furthermore, instructors of all courses involving the supervision of students’ professional placements were also included, given the mental health challenges students often face during early professional placements. Once the list of courses was complete, 297 instructors of these courses were identified, and 10 were excluded, as they were members of the research team. Next, 287 individual emails were sent to all selected instructors explaining the research and inviting them to participate. Of the 287 instructors invited, 105 (36.6%) completed the survey. The survey asked participants to rate, on a Likert scale from 0 to 10, the extent to which their teaching in HE: a) contributed to increasing students’ knowledge about mental health issues, b) addressed distorted beliefs about mental health issues, c) helped students understand how to achieve and sustain good mental health, d) informed students about available mental health treatments and resources, e) provided students with resources to support individuals who might be experiencing mental health issues and f) contributed to reducing stigma surrounding mental health issues. Open-ended questions asked participants to provide examples of how their teaching addressed these aspects of MHL. Quantitative analysis of agreement ratings for the survey items was conducted using SPSS software (version 29). Descriptive statistics— frequencies, means and standard deviations— were calculated to summarise data. Group comparisons across sociodemographic variables were made using non-parametric statistical tests (Mann-Whitney U test). Inductive content analysis was used to examine responses to the open-ended questions. This procedure involved classifying and reducing textual fragments into manageable content categories using established coding rules (Schreier, 2014). The research project was approved by the Bioethics Commission of the Universitat de Barcelona, reference no. CER012520.

Participants agreed most with their contribution to reducing stigma surrounding mental health issues, increasing students’ knowledge about these issues and helping students understand how to achieve and sustain good mental health. Providing resources to students so that they can offer help to people who may be experiencing a mental health issue and informing students about available mental health treatments and resources were the least agreed items. The average responses indicate that MHL remains only a modest priority in the training of pre-service educators and social workers. The highest mean scores were only just over 6 on a 0-10 scale. Moreover, many open-ended responses qualified the closed-ended findings, as numerous examples provided by participants were not aligned with the focus of the item. Participants reported enhancing their students’ MHL through three main approaches. The first was teaching mental health concepts, a component of teacher training that may improve students’ knowledge and reduce distorted beliefs. The second was the discussion of real cases of mental health problems that often mirrored situations students may encounter in future practice. The third was creating safe environments in which instructors and students shared their stories and reflected on their current or future mental health as practitioners. Given that professionals have their own mental health needs and that MHL cannot be reduced to concepts alone, the third approach appears particularly conducive to developing an MHL that fosters attitudinal change and improvements in mental health. Part-time instructors who did not hold a PhD showed significantly greater agreement about their contribution to students’ MHL than their full-time PhD-qualified peers. These findings suggest that HE instructors who also work outside the university may be more sensitive to the need for MHL in HE. While not unexpected, this contrast highlights how field experience can raise awareness of mental health challenges.

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