This study examined British Columbia elementary school counsellors' perceptions
in relation to assisting depressed students, including: (a) their knowledge about
depression; (b) their ideal role; (c) their current role; (d) their current practices; (e)
barriers to assisting depressed students; and (f) factors which would help them to better
assist these students. A questionnaire specifically designed for this study was mailed to
333 elementary school counsellors, and 248 (74.5%) were completed and returned.
The percentages of counsellors who perceived various functions as part of their
current and ideal roles were calculated, as were the percentages who engaged in various
counsellor activities, and indicated factors which would help them to better assist
depressed students. Sample means and standard deviations were calculated for the extent
to which various factors were barriers to assisting depressed students. Results indicated
most counsellors perceived identification, referral, and prevention of student depression
to be part of their ideal and current roles, and have used these functions to assist
depressed students. However, respondents were divided on treating depressed students,
and only slightly more than one-third had assessed students even though two-thirds
perceived it as part of their ideal role. Most counsellors have been referred depressed
students by teachers, and have referred students to mental health and medical
professionals. Approximately one-half perceived art and play therapy to be a more
effective method of treating depression. Counsellors lacked basic information on childhood depression, and more learned
about it through their own initiative, rather than professional development activities. Too
high a student-to-counsellor ratio and lack of time were most consistently rated as the
highest barriers to assisting depressed students. Other major barriers included: priority
being given to acting out students; lack of knowledge about depression, assessment
techniques, and treatment strategies; and lack of community resources. Lack of a clear
role policy was not perceived to be a major barrier to assisting depressed students. The
most frequent recommendations for helping counsellors to assist depressed students were
more information about effective treatment strategies and a lower student-to-counsellor
ratio.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/4029 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Farquhar, Jacqueline Lee |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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