An evaluation of a mental health literacy program for community sport leaders

Community sports coaches and leaders can have an important role to play as informal resources for sporting adolescents and adults at risk of mental ill-health. Supporting coach mental health literacy using programs has potential to enhance opportunities for coach-player support. This study aimed to evaluate a community sport mental health literacy program and its capacity to improve club leader confidence to support and refer (primary outcome), awareness of resources, beliefs about mental health and stigmatizing attitudes (social distance). A cluster-randomized controlled evaluation was conducted with measures taken at baseline (around 2 weeks prior to intervention), immediately post-program and at a nine-month follow up. Twenty-five community Australian Rules Football clubs from metropolitan and regional centres were sampled and matched by size and location. Coaches or sport leaders (n = 265) were randomized by club to either the intervention group or a waitlist control group. A multivariate analysis of variance (pre-test scores as covariates) revealed participants in the ‘Tackle Your Feelings’ (TYF) program reported improved outcomes compared to controls on measures tied to leader confidence to support and refer, knowledge of resources to support mental health, general help-seeking and stigmatizing attitudes tied to social distance. A fifth measure of beliefs about mental illness was not impacted by the program. A nine-month comparison group follow-up indicated some decay in scores over time. The results suggest that TYF programs can be effective at improving coach mental health literacy in community sporting club contexts.