Abstract
The school environment presents significant challenges for teachers as first
responders to children who experience psychological turmoil during traumatic
events. As these challenges emanate, the need for effective Psychological First Aid
(PFA) becomes crucial to lessen the short and long-term impact of trauma on both
the learners and these teachers. Considering this, the study aimed to synthesize
existing literature on PFA training of teachers across various global contexts and how
the training influences their mental health, knowledge, and skills. We conducted
a scoping review, purposefully sampling articles from global databases (PubMed,
EBSCOhost, and ProQuest) and regional databases (Science Direct and Sabinet) using
Boolean operators, truncations, and MeSH terms. This review included empirical
studies conducted in English using the qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods
approaches from 2010 to 2023. Backward and forward search was performed on
Google Scholar to gather more information. Findings revealed that PFA training
improved teachers' mental health knowledge, attitudes, and confidence, and reduced
stigma toward psychological help behaviour. However, challenges such as limited
time, emotional and physical exhaustion, lack of resources, and role ambiguity
influenced the implementation of PFA. This review demonstrates an urgent to
include PFA in professional teacher training to promote psychologically safe school
environments. This review contributes new insights into the unresearched area
of promoting mental health in places of learning through the understanding of
the interactions between trauma responses and the mental health of teachers. It
advances the understanding of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3, 4, and
8 on creating good health and improving the quality of education and working
environments. Further synthesis of the evidence through systematic reviews and
empirical research is required.
Keywords Effects, Implementation, Mental health, Psychological first aid, Teachers,
Training