Abstract
BackgroundThere is a recognised need for targeted community-wide mental health strategies and interventions aimed specifically at prevention and early intervention in promoting mental health. Young males are a high need group who hold particularly negative attitudes towards mental health services, and these views are detrimental for early intervention and help-seeking. Organised sports provide a promising context to deliver community-wide mental health strategies and interventions to adolescent males. The aim of the Ahead of the Game program is to test the effectiveness of a multi-component, community-sport based program targeting prevention, promotion and early intervention for mental health among adolescent males.MethodsThe Ahead of the Game program will be implemented within a sample drawn from community sporting clubs and evaluated using a sample drawn from a matched control community. Four programs are proposed, including two targeting adolescents, one for parents, and one for sports coaches. One adolescent program aims to increase mental health literacy, intentions to seek and/or provide help for mental health, and to decrease stigmatising attitudes. The second adolescent program aims to increase resilience. The goal of the parent program is to increase parental mental health literacy and confidence to provide help. The coach program is intended to increase coaches’ supportive behaviours (e.g., autonomy supportive behaviours), and in turn facilitate high-quality motivation and wellbeing among adolescents. Programs will be complemented by a messaging campaign aimed at adolescents to enhance mental health literacy. The effects of the program on adolescent males’ psychological distress and wellbeing will also be explored.DiscussionOrganised sports represent a potentially engaging avenue to promote mental health and prevent the onset of mental health problems among adolescent males. The community-based design, with samples drawn from an intervention and a matched control community, enables evaluation of adolescent males’ incremental mental health literacy, help-seeking intentions, stigmatising attitudes, motivation, and resilience impacts from the multi-level, multi-component Ahead of the Game program. Notable risks to the study include self-selection bias, the non-randomised design, and the translational nature of the program. However, strengths include extensive community input, as well as the multi-level and multi-component design.Trial registrationAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12617000709347. Date registered 17 May 2017. Retrospectively registered.
Highlights
There is a recognised need for targeted community-wide mental health strategies and interventions aimed at prevention and early intervention in promoting mental health
The community-based design, with samples drawn from an intervention and a matched control community, enables evaluation of adolescent males’ incremental mental health literacy, help-seeking intentions, stigmatising attitudes, motivation, and resilience impacts from the multi-level, multi-component Ahead of the Game program
Half of all mental disorders have their onset before the age of 14 years [2], and young men and boys represent the group at highest risk of mental disorders and suicide in one third of developed countries, including Australia [3]
Summary
There is a recognised need for targeted community-wide mental health strategies and interventions aimed at prevention and early intervention in promoting mental health. The aim of the Ahead of the Game program is to test the effectiveness of a multi-component, community-sport based program targeting prevention, promotion and early intervention for mental health among adolescent males. Australia’s national mental health plan articulates several key outcomes to reduce the national burden of mental disorders These include, but are not limited to: better understanding and recognition in the community about factors which underpin resilience and prevention of mental health problems; better understanding and recognition of the signs and symptoms of mental health problems; support and assisted help-seeking for early intervention; and, community access to evidence-based treatments and service delivery options [6]. Mental health literacy refers to one’s knowledge and beliefs about mental disorders and the efficacy of potential actions to benefit one’s own mental health or that of others [7, 8]
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