Implementation of a mental health consultation model and its impact on early childhood teachers' efficacy and competence

Abstract

Early childhood mental health (MH) consultants work closely with childcare teachers onsite to serve as a resource for childcare providers as they foster and enhance children's early development. The increase in the quality of care that can be supported through an early childhood MH consultation program makes this type of consultation an optimal tool for enhancing the childcare environment and overall child development. This article details the initial launch of the MH consultation program to childcare centers in the state of Louisiana. Analyses support the assertions that (a) a model of MH consultation can be implemented successfully at a statewide level, (b) MH consultation is associated with an increase in teacher self-efficacy, and (c) teachers' report that the MH consultation increased their competence in specific areas related to children's socioemotional development. Analyses indicate that there is a differential impact on teachers based on their age and level of experience. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

Social-Emotional Development, School Readiness, Teacher–Child Interactions, and Classroom Environment

“…Prior research on the current ECMHC model (Heller et al, 2011) has demonstrated that the majority of teachers rate their relationship with their ECMHC as highly positive; the average score was 5.5 out of 6, supporting pathway A in Figure 1. Because of the limited FIGURE 1 (A) Early childhood mental health consultation (ECMHC) logic model for intervention.…”

“…The Tulane University Institute of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health's ECMHC model has demonstrated that trained consultants can successfully implement a single standardized ECMHC model statewide (Heller et al, 2011). The program met the expectations for all four benchmarks observed: length of consultation (6 months), number of visits (10-12 visits), didactic sessions (five sessions), and developing positive relationships with teachers.…”

“…The available tools include classroom observations, in-class modeling, individual meetings with teachers, didactic group meetings, meetings with families, the planning of specific interventions for challenging behaviors (with the parents' or legal guardian's consent), parent education, and referrals to outside agencies (e.g., speech and language evaluation, individual or family therapy, behavioral intervention in the home). By increasing teachers' understanding of how to foster healthy development, consultants enhance teachers' feelings of competence in the caregiving role (Alkon et al, 2003;Heller et al, 2011). Thus, ECMHC, in the current model, focuses on enhancing teachers' skills, increasing teachers' knowledge, and providing support in managing children who are exhibiting challenging behaviors.…”

“…This can be assessed in one of two ways: via teacher report and direct observation of teacher classroom behavior and interactions. For the most part, ECMHC studies, both published and unpublished, have found positive changes in teachers' reports of their own competence and=or knowledge regarding children's socialemotional development following mental health consultation (Alkon, Ramler, & MacLennan, 2003;Brennan, Bradley, Allen, & Perry, 2008;Heller et al, 2011;Raver et al, 2008).…”

“…Thus, ECMHC, in the current model, focuses on enhancing teachers' skills, increasing teachers' knowledge, and providing support in managing children who are exhibiting challenging behaviors. A prior study (Heller et al, 2011) detailed the ECMHC model used in this study.…”