Moving Toward Implementation of Universal Mental Health Screening by Examining Attitudes Toward School-Based Practices

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Bulrr

Universal mental health screening is a proactive approach to identify students who may benefit from prevention or early intervention services. Despite known benefits, few schools engage in screening efforts, making it important to examine factors that may impede or enhance implementation. After implementing a universal screening program across five preschools and elementary schools, the study assessed teacher and parent attitudes and found strong stakeholder agreement on acceptability and appropriateness.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time25 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Universal mental health screening approach

Study results and stakeholder attitudes

Implications and future directions

Moving Toward Implementation of Universal Mental Health Screening by Examining Attitudes Toward School-Based Practices Stephanie A. Moore, PhD 1, Erin Dowdy, PhD2, Tameisha Hinton, MS2, Christine DiStefano, PhD3, and Fred W. Greer, PhD3 Behavioral Disorders 2022, Vol. 47(3) 166–175 © Hammill Institute on Disabilities 2020 Article reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[DOI: 10.1177/0198742920982591](DOI: 10.1177/0198742920982591)[ ](DOI: 10.1177/0198742920982591)[journals.sagepub.com/home/bhd](journals.sagepub.com/home/bhd) Abstract Universal mental health screening is a proactive approach to identify students who may benefit from prevention or early intervention services. Despite known benefits, few schools are engaging in screening efforts, and it is critical to examine factors that may impede or enhance implementation. Following implementation of a universal screening program across five preschools and elementary schools, this study investigated the attitudes of teachers (n = 40) and parents (n = 330) and found strong agreement among stakeholders about the acceptability and appropriateness of universal mental health screening. Teachers and parents expressed less willingness to regularly complete screening forms, yet teachers reported that the Behavior Assessment System for Children–Third Edition: Behavioral Emotional Screening System was a usable screening tool. Implications and future directions to enhance implementation efforts are discussed. Keywords universal screening, attitudes, acceptability, usability, school Emotional and behavioral disorders represent a significant source of disability for children and adolescents (Ringeisen et al., 2017) and are associated with increased risk for numerous deleterious life outcomes (e.g., school failure, juvenile and criminal justice systems involvement, unemployment, substance abuse; Althoff et al., 2010; Wagner & Newman, 2012) . However, a majority of children’s mental health needs go unmet, with approximately 70% of children not receiving the treatment they need (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013) . Schools represent a primary service delivery setting for children who do receive treatment, with estimates indicating that up to 80% who receive mental health services do so at school (Duong et al., 2020; Rones & Hoagwood, 2000) . Population-based public health approaches are widely accepted and promoted for addressing children’s unmet mental health needs in schools (Dowdy et al., 2010) . These approaches emphasize prevention in addition to treatment through services provided within a tiered framework that includes interventions at increasing levels of intensity. Critical to the success of tiered intervention frameworks is the use of data to identify students with mental health risk, such that they maybe referred to an appropriate level of intervention (Kilgus & Eklund, 2016) . School-based universal mental health screening (UMHS) is an evidence-based, proactive approach to identification of mental health risk that is aligned with federal education policies and population-based approaches to prevent mental illness (Kilgus & Eklund, 2016) . UMHS involves the systematic assessment of a wide range of emotional and behavioral risk factors among all students within a classroom, school, or district and is supported as a first step for identifying children in need of services (Dowdy et al., 2010) . Via teacher-, caregiver-, or child self-report on psychometrically validated instruments, the goal of UMHS is to identify children with current symptoms as well as those at risk for development of significant symptoms. In contrast, traditional referral methods (e.g., teacher referral, office discipline referrals) are frequently 1 University of California, Riverside, USA 2University of California, Santa Barbara, USA 3University of South Carolina, Columbia, USA Corresponding

FAQs

What is universal mental health screening in school settings?

Universal mental health screening is a proactive process used to identify students who may benefit from prevention or early intervention services.

How did teachers and parents generally view universal screening?

Both teachers and parents showed strong agreement about the acceptability and appropriateness of universal mental health screening.

What concerns did participants have about completing screening forms?

Teachers and parents reported less willingness to regularly complete screening forms, even though teachers found the screening tool usable.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Bulrr