Mental Health Literacy- Two Research Articles by Sami Diamond

Absolute’s own performance coach, Sami Diamond, recently had two research studies published regarding Mental Health Literacy in young elite athletes. In the below article, Sami discusses the importance of Mental Health Literacy resources, particularly in younger populations, and how this incited her research.

Article 1:

Diamond, S., Wallace, L., English, M., & Caperchione, C. (2022). Mental health literacy practices within Australian football league next generation academy clubs: An exploratory study. International Journal Of Sports Science & Coaching, 174795412210920. doi: 10.1177/17479541221092099

Article 2:

Diamond, S., Wallace, L., English, M., & Caperchione, C. (2022). The impact of mental health literacy initiatives on youth elite athletes: A systematic review. Performance Enhancement & Health, 100226. doi: 10.1016/j.peh.2022.100226

These two research studies investigated the impact of existing Mental Health Literacy (MHL) initiatives on young populations and the availability of MHL resources, programs and practices within an elite sport setting. Despite the research study focusing on the outcomes within an elite sport setting, these results clearly align with general populations which include young professionals.

Approximately 1 in 6 people aged 10 to 19 have a mental health condition, where half of these mental health conditions form from 14 years of age (Adolescent Mental Health 2019). Moreover, the prevalence of mental conditions is higher in females with 13% of adolescent girls having a current mental health problem (Haavik et al. 2017). Despite the high rate of mental health conditions amongst young populations, research suggests that improvements in Mental Health Literacy (MHL) between the ages of 10 to 12 can prevent the onset of mental health problems in later years (Wei et al. 2013). MHL refers to the knowledge and beliefs around mental disorders and is the ability to aid in mental health recognition, management and prevention (Dias et al. 2018; Lakdawala & Vankar 2016). A sufficient level of MHL contributes to better recognition and interpretation of a behaviour in relation to overall wellbeing, understanding concerns that contribute to mental health symptoms and an ability to raise concerns with available mental health professionals (Purcell et al., 2019). Poor levels of MHL have been associated with delayed and deprived treatment for those suffering a mental disorder, ultimately lengthening the recovery time from a mental illness (Tay, Tay & Klainin-Yobas 2018; Golay et al. 2016). Research has highlighted the importance of implementing MHL programs from a young age in order to prevent delayed and deprived treatment in later years (Golay et al. 2016; Riebschleger et al. 2017). The potential benefits from MHL programs delivered to young populations include increased mental health awareness around symptoms and disorders, reduced stigma and improved intentions to seek support (Breslin et al. 2017; Hainline et al. 2019). To achieve such benefits, MHL programs need to be developmentally appropriate and must be integrated into organisational structures such as sporting clubs and work spaces, rather than solely promoting change amongst the individual themselves (Kutcher et al. 2016; Purcell et al. 2019).

The first study aimed to investigate the impact of MHL programs inclusive of education, resources and information on the mental health outcomes. Results revealed that despite the existence of MHL resources and programs, few have been modified to meet the needs of youth populations, and more specifically youth female populations. The second study adopted an exploratory study design to investigate the extent to which MHL resources, information, and education is currently available within a sport setting, utilising the Australian Football League’s (AFL) Next Generation Academy (NGA) program as an example. The findings of these papers revealed the lack of mental health resources, information, and education within the NGA programs, despite the abundance of resources made available within the professional league – i.e., the AFL.

• References

  Description text goes hereBreslin, G., Shannon, S., Haughey, T., Donnelly, P., & Leavey, G. 2017. ‘A systematic review of interventions to increase awareness of mental health and well-being in athletes, coaches and officials’, Systematic Reviews, vol. 6, no. 1, pp 177.

  Dias, P., Campos, L., Almeida, H., & Palha, F. 2018. ‘Mental health literacy in young adults: Adaptation and psychometric properties of the mental health literacy questionnaire’, International Journal of Environmental Research ad Public Health, vol. 15, no. 7, pp. 1318.

  Haavik, L., Joa, I., Hatloy, K., Stain, H. J., & Langeveld, J. 2019. ‘Help seeking for mental health problems in an adolescent population: The effect of gender’, Journal of Mental Health, vol. 28, no. 5, pp. 467-474.

  Hainline, B., & Reardon, C. 2019. ‘Breaking a taboo: Why the International Olympic Committee convened experts to develop a consensus statement on mental health in elite athletes’, British Journal of Sports Medicine, vol. 53, no. 11, pp. 665-666.

  Golay, P., Alameda, L., Baumann, P., Elowe, J., Progin, P., Polari, A., & Conus, P. 2016. ‘Duration of untreated psychosis: Impact of the definition of treatment onset on its predictive value over three years of treatment’, Journal of Psychiatric Research, vol. 77, pp.15-21.

  Lakdawala, B., & Vankar, G. 2016. ‘A study on community attitudes towards the mentally ill among youth in Gujarat’, Indian Journal of Mental Health (IJMH), vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 473.

  Purcell, R., Gwyther, K., & Rice, S. 2019. ‘Mental health in elite athletes: Increased awareness requires an early intervention framework to respond to athlete needs’, Sports Medicine - Open, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 46.

  Riebschleger, J., Grové, C., Cavanaugh, D., & Costello, S. 2017. ‘Mental health literacy content for children of parents with a mental illness: Thematic analysis of a literature review’, Brain Science, vol. 7, no. 11, pp. 141.

  Tay, J., Tay, Y., & Klainin-Yobas, P. 2018. ‘Mental health literacy levels’, Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, vol. 32, no. 5, pp. 757-763.

  Wei, Y., Hayden, J., Kutcher, S., Zygmunt, A. & McGrath, P. (2013). The effectiveness of school mental health literacy programs to address knowledge, attitudes and help seeking among youth. Early intervention in psychiatry, 7(2), 109–121. https://doi.org/10.1111/eip.12010