Prävention psychischer Störungen bei Kindern, Jugendlichen und jungen Erwachsenen – eine Bedarfsabfrage zur Entwicklung von Schulungskonzepten für Fachkräfte

Professionals in various areas of youth welfare (e.g. daycare centres, school social work, counselling centres) have to respond to mental health problems in their young clients. However, generic training programmes often do not do justice to the specific challenges faced in these areas. As a basis for a tailored training concept, the training needs of professionals in 8 different areas of youth welfare were therefore identified.

Seven focus groups were conducted with a total of 28 professionals from the individual areas (2 areas were combined). All discussions were recorded, transcribed and anonymised. The transcripts were analysed deductively–inductively based on the content-structuring qualitative analysis according to Kuckartz.

In all areas of youth welfare, there is a need for training on the mental development of children and young people as well as on mental illness. In most areas, there is a need for training on parents with mental illness, media skills and psychosocial support systems. Some areas mention dealing with crisis situations and dialogue techniques. Area-specific topics include sexuality and sex education, pornographic content, transgender issues, the German Federal Participation Act and age-appropriate programmes.

Although established topics such as psychological development and illnesses are already anchored in the training of social education professionals, there appears to be a great deal of uncertainty. Some new topics have also emerged. In the various areas of youth welfare, a mix of topics should be included in a training concept for the prevention of mental disorders.