Research summary · Mental health
Youth-sport mental health workshops improve resilience and help-seeking intentions
Forty-four Australian sport clubs were randomised to Ahead of the Game or promotional materials. The reported analysis included 704 males aged 12–21 who completed baseline and follow-up surveys, with follow-up approximately six weeks after the intervention. Mixed-effects models accounted for clustering.
- Publication year
- 2027
- First published online
- Publication type
- Cluster-randomised controlled trial with an active promotional-materials control
- Journal
- Psychology of Sport and Exercise
- Population / context
- Community youth sport · Adolescent boys and young men
What the publication reports
Compared with active controls, the programme produced larger increases in resilience and intentions to seek formal help, alongside greater confidence to support someone and less endorsement of mental-illness stereotypes. About 55% attended at least one workshop. These findings support short-term changes in literacy-related outcomes, not proof that participants subsequently accessed treatment or experienced fewer mental disorders.
Limits and interpretation
Engagement was modest and follow-up short. Outcomes were self-reported; help-seeking intentions are not actual care use. Results from male community-sport participants may not transfer to girls, other settings or long-term prevention. Programme-linked funding and an author's Movember consulting role were disclosed.
Read the source
Consult the original record for the full author list, methods, references, funding and competing-interest disclosures.
A cluster-randomised controlled trial of Ahead of the Game: Mental health literacy and resilience in organised youth sport.
Original publication / indexed recordPMID: 42716331DOI: 10.1016/j.psychsport.2026.103259Full text at the sourceReader discussion
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