Student mental health since COVID-19 and teachers' use of culturally relevant and emotionally supportive practices.

The rising social unrest regarding social justice issues across the nation, as well as health concerns and isolation as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, brought about a time of unprecedented distress for students across the United States. As schools transitioned back to in-person instruction, teachers may have utilized different strategies in the classroom to help support student mental health during this time of crisis. In the present study, we surveyed a sample of 1,449 full-time K-12 teachers during the Spring 2022 semester to examine the relationships between their perceptions of student mental health decline and their use of emotionally supportive and culturally relevant practices. We examined whether these relationships differed depending on whether students spoke a foreign language at home and the racial background of the students in the class. Structural equation modeling results revealed that teachers' perceptions of student mental health decline were associated with greater use of emotionally supportive, but not culturally relevant, strategies. The relationship between teachers' perceptions of student mental health decline and use of both types of strategies were stronger in classrooms with 50% or more students who spoke a foreign language at home, but not as a function of the proportion of Black, Indigenous, and people of color students in class. Results highlight teachers' responsive use of emotional support, and use of both emotionally supportive and culturally relevant strategies to support the mental health of students from non-English-speaking households. However, findings point to the need for teachers to utilize more culturally relevant strategies in times of crisis, particularly in classrooms with more Black, Indigenous, and people of color students. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).