Perceptions of Instrumental Teacher Support for High School Students' Mental Health and Perceptions of Student Life-Related Stress.

Abstract

　This study aimed to gain insight into teachers' support for improving high school students' mental health, and to determine the relationship between perceived instrumental teacher support for high school students' mental health (hereafter referred to as "perceived teacher support") and perceived student life-related stress (hereafter referred to as "perceived stress"). The hypothesized model was that instrumental teacher support perceptions influence mental health through stress perceptions (friends, academics, teachers, and parents). Data from 344 high school students enrolled in two schools were used in the analysis to examine the fit of the model to the data and the relationships among the variables. The results showed that the goodness of fit of the model that instrumental perceived teacher support influences mental health via perceived stress met the statistically acceptable level. The associations between the variables showed a negative association between perceptions of instrumental teacher support and perceived stress due to relationships with friends, teachers, and parents. Stress perception was positively related to mental ill-health. The contribution of the present analytical model to mental health was 35.5%. The results of this study suggest the need to increase perceptions of instrumental teacher support in order to improve the mental health of high school students and reduce perceived stress caused by their relationships with friends, teachers, and parents.