Mental Health and Coaching Children in Sport

Abstract

There is now widespread international concern about the mental health and mental illness of children and increasing interest in the role adults, including sports coaches, are expected to play in supporting mental health and the achievement of other social outcomes. This chapter examines existing research which explores: (i) the alleged role coaches are expected to play in supporting the mental health of children; (ii) the mental health literacy of coaches and how this is related to their ability, and willingness, to provide mental health support and guidance; and (iii) mental literacy as an aspect of coach education and development programmes. It is argued that much of the existing international research and work in the area has focused disproportionately on the mental health and practices of coaches in elite and professional sport, and that there is a need for more theoretically-informed, empirically-based, research on the needs and practice of sub-elite coaches and the impact of coach-led mental health support in recreational/grassroots sport where most coaches work and most participants are engaged. The development and evaluation of appropriate holistic evidence-based coach education programmes is also warranted, and these might usefully be broadened to focus on the mental health of coach developers as well as coaches themselves. It is concluded that a better evidence base is needed to determine whether coaches, and the programmes they deliver, can promote positive mental health and contribute effectively to the prevention, treatment and management of mental illness for children.