28 Chapter 2 (Neff & Vonk, 2009). This questionnaire assesses the level of self-compassion, which is associated with mental health. Respondents rate each statement on a scale, with items including: “If I fail at something important to me, I become consumed by feelings of inadequacy” and “I try to be understanding and patient toward aspects of my personality I don’t like.” Mental Health: Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF, Cronbach’s α = .88- .89; 14 items; 6-point Likert scale ranging from 1 “never” to 6 “every day”) (Lamers et al., 2011). This questionnaire assesses the emotional well-being, social well-being, and psychological well-being of the teacher. Sample questions include: “In the past month, how often did you feel that your life has a sense of direction or meaning to it?” and “In the past month, how often did you feel that you had warm and trusting relationships with others?”. Analysis strategy For the analysis, descriptive statistics were first calculated for the research group. Additionally, correlations were computed between all descriptive data and outcome measures to provide insight into the univariate relationships between variables. Paired t-tests were conducted to assess differences in perceived stress, mindfulness skills, self-compassion, and mental health between pre- and post-measurements. To compare elementary school teachers with and without psychological complaints, as well as those working in schools with pupil-weights below 17% or above-average pupil weights, repeated measures ANOVA was employed. This analysis included one betweenparticipants factor (subgroup) and one within-participants factor (time; pre-post), aiming to determine whether the intervention yielded more favorable outcomes for certain groups of teachers. Of the 71 teachers, 3 did not complete the questionnaire after the intervention due to absence from the final meeting, where the last data collection occurred. Although this dropout rate was very low, chi-square tests and t-tests were conducted to examine whether there was selective dropout. Results indicated selective dropout occurred. All analyses were performed using SPSS (version 27). RESULTS Descriptive Data Firstly, the descriptive characteristics of the teachers were examined (see Table 1). The majority of the teachers were women, with just over half reporting current and/or past psychological complaints. Additionally, about a quarter of elementary school teachers taught at schools with a pupil weight of 17% or more. Nearly half of the teachers (47%) reported no current or past mental health issues. Furthermore, it was found that 4% of teachers experienced mental health problems for the first time at the time of intake, while 22% had experienced psychological problems both at intake and in the past.
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