UROP Project

Preservice Teacher's Knowledge and Self-Efficay on Childhood Anxiety and Their Referral Decision Making Process

Presearvice Teachers, Anxiety Knowledge, Teacher Self-efficacy

Research Mentor: Ms. Jessica Ritchie,
Department, College, Affiliation: EPLS, Education, Health, and Human Sciences
Contact Email: jritchie2@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 1
Relevant Majors: Open to all majors
Project Location: Research Foundation Building B, 2010 Levy Ave Suite 100, Tallahassee, FL 32310
Research Assistant Transportation Required: Yes
Remote or In-person: In-person
Approximate Weekly Hours: 5, During business hours
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link:
Not participating in the roundtable

Project Description

This research project examines preservice teachers’ mental health literacy related to childhood anxiety and how this knowledge influences their self-efficacy and decision-making about referring students to mental health services. Using a cross-sectional survey design, the study assesses participants’ knowledge of anxiety symptoms, self-efficacy in delivering mental health content, and likelihood of referring students across varying levels of symptom severity presented in vignettes. The project also involves the development and validation of a novel anxiety-specific mental health knowledge measure. By identifying factors that influence early identification and referral of students with anxiety, this research aims to address gaps in teacher preparation and improve school-based mental health support.

Research Tasks: Undergraduate research assistants will assist with survey-based data collection, data cleaning and dataset preparation, and basic quantitative analyses (e.g., descriptive statistics and data visualization). They will gain experience managing research data and supporting a study examining preservice teachers’ mental health literacy and referral decision-making.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Preferred skills include strong attention to detail, organizational ability, and comfort working with spreadsheets or survey data. Experience with basic statistics or data analysis is helpful but not required, as training will be provided. Students should be reliable, able to follow research procedures, and interested in gaining experience with quantitative research in education and mental health.