Middle school teachers’ attitudes and perceptions about their role in promoting pupils’ mental health in the state of Kuwait

Abstract

This study explores the complexity of teachers’ attitudes towards promoting their pupils’ mental health in Kuwait middle schools, teachers’ perceptions of the contextual factors that shaped those attitudes, the barriers they identify that might hinder the implementation of the promotion process, and changes required to put such a promotion process into practice. A mixed-methodological research approach is adopted within a complementary research design, consisting of two stages. A total of 497 Kuwaiti middle school teachers completed a systematic survey and twelve teachers were subsequently chosen purposely to take part in semi-structured interviews. The study’s findings suggest that Kuwaiti middle school teachers tend to hold moderately favourable attitudes towards promoting pupils’ mental health. However, a variety of personal, interpersonal, socio-cultural, and structural-organizational barriers were perceived by teachers, which could undermine positive attitudes and impact on the implementation of promoting pupils’ mental health. The study also showed teachers’ attitudes and perceptions as markedly embedded within their socio-cultural and religious context.