Supporting adolescent mental health: examining the effects of an internet-supported resilience intervention in adolescent soccer players.

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Supporting adolescent mental health: examining the effects of an internet-supported resilience intervention in adolescent soccer players. Colin J. Bray1* and Christian Swann1 1 Department of Psychological Science, School of Health and Human Sciences, Southern Cross University, Australia Aims: Organised sport has been highlighted as a promising setting in which to engage adolescents in mental health discourse. Psychological resilience (PR) is one important mechanism for individuals to deal with stress and produce appropriate responses to adversity in order to help them to maintain, or return to, mental health. Ahead of the Game (AOTG) is an evidence-based, multi-component, community sport-based program in improving mental health literacy, wellbeing and resilience among adolescent males. This study examines the efficacy of one specific AOTG component independently: an internet-supported intervention to improve resilience, wellbeing, adapted implicit belief and athletic engagement, lower psychological distress and athletic burnout in adolescent soccer players. Methods: A matched control repeated measures design was used with measurements at baseline and six week follow up. Participants (N = 83, females = 19, males = 64). The intervention group (n = 55) completed a one hour workshop and a 6-module interactive online program to promote resilience skills over a two week period. The control group (n = 28) were placed on a waitlist and received no additional treatment. Intervention effects were tested on measures of adolescent’s self-reported resilience (Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale 10 item), psychological distress (Kessler-6), wellbeing (Keyes Mental Health Continuum Short Form) and adapted implicit belief, athletic engagement and athletic burnout questionnaires. Results: It was hypothesised that, compared with adolescents in the control group, adolescents who participated in the intervention would display increased resilience. It was further hypothesised that compared with adolescents in the control group, adolescents who participated in the intervention would display improved wellbeing and more adaptive implicit beliefs about managing adversity. Conclusions: Given the potential for organised sport as an engaging setting in which to improve mental health, supporting these hypotheses and demonstrating efficacy of this intervention could be important for promoting adolescent mental health. Keywords: adolescence, wellbeing, Sport, Online, matched controlled study Conference: 15th Annual Psychology Honours Research Conference , Coffs Harbour, Australia, 4 Oct - 5 Oct, 2018. Presentation Type: Research Topic: Abstract for 15th Annual Psychology Honours Research Conference Citation: Bray CJ and Swann C (2019). Supporting adolescent mental health: examining the effects of an internet-supported resilience intervention in adolescent soccer players.. Front. Psychol. Conference Abstract: 15th Annual Psychology Honours Research Conference . doi: 10.3389/conf.fpsyg.2018.74.00003 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 18 Sep 2018; Published Online: 27 Sep 2019. * Correspondence: Mr. Colin J Bray, Department of Psychological Science, School of Health and Human Sciences, Southern Cross University, Coffs Harbour, Australia, c.bray.10@student.scu.edu.au Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Colin J Bray Christian Swann Google Colin J Bray Christian Swann Google Scholar Colin J Bray Christian Swann PubMed Colin J Bray Christian Swann Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.