Search

Background: Mental health first aid (MHFA) training can improve confidence and intention to help a person with a mental health problem, but there is limited research exploring whether this results in better support provided. This study aims to evaluate the relationship between a person's confidence and intention to help with the quality of support provided., Methods: Australian public servants who had received MHFA training or Physical First Aid training (n = 152) completed questionnaires exploring attitudes and skills for assisting someone at work with a mental health problem. Data on confidence and intention to help was used to predict quality of support provided at 1 and 2-year follow-up. Data were analysed using linear and logistic regression., Results: Intention to help predicted the quality of support for assisting someone at work at follow-up (rs=0.15-0.20, p < .0.05), while confidence in providing help only predicted quality of support 1-year later (rs = 0.42, p = .032). These relationships were significantly attenuated after controlling for personal stigma, desire for social distance, gender, age, language spoken at home, level of education and whether participant managed staff. Furthermore, there were some large associations between intentions to perform specific first aid actions and carrying out the same action at follow-up such as for encouraging professional help at 2-year follow-up (OR=8.20, p < 0.05)., Conclusion: Findings indicate that intended actions to support a person with a mental health problem can predict the quality of support provided up to 2 years later. Future research should clarify whether this support benefits the mental health of recipients., (© 2022 The Authors. Early Intervention in Psychiatry published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)

Aim: Despite youth being the most common age group for onset of mental disorders, there is less knowledge on the benefits and harms of treatments in young people. In addition, efficacy data from randomized controlled trials may not generalize to how treatment works outside of research settings. This study aimed to investigate young people's perceived effectiveness of different treatments for mental health problems, the professionals who delivered these, and the experience of negative effects., Methods: We developed a consumer report website where young people who were ever diagnosed with a mental disorder provided ratings on the helpfulness or harmfulness of different types of professionals, mental health treatments (medical, psychological complementary/alternative) and self-help strategies, and whether they had experienced particular negative effects., Results: Here, 557 young people aged 12-25 years, who were recruited from English-speaking, high-income countries, provided 1258 ratings of treatments. All treatments showed varied perceptions of effectiveness. Medical and psychological treatments were rated moderately helpful on average with low rates of harmfulness. Self-help strategies were rated as being as helpful as professional treatments. Side effects related to the head or mind (e.g., concentration difficulties, inability to feel emotions, depression and irritability) were the most common across all types of medicines. For psychological treatments, treatment being too expensive and feeling worse at the end of a session were the most commonly reported negative effects., Conclusions: Study findings may be a useful guide to clinicians, researchers, young people and their families about what is likely to work in real-world settings., (© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)

Background: We conducted a cluster randomized trial of a workplace mental health intervention in an Australian police department. The intervention was co-designed and co-implemented with the police department. Intervention elements included tailored mental health literacy training for all members of participating police stations, and a leadership development and coaching program for station leaders. This study presents the results of a mixed-methods implementation evaluation of the trial., Methods: Descriptive quantitative analyses characterized the extent of participation in intervention activities, complemented by a qualitative descriptive analysis of transcripts of 60 semistructured interviews with 53 persons and research team field notes., Results: Participation rates in the multicomponent leadership development activities were highly variable, ranging from <10% to approximately 60% across stations. Approximately 50% of leaders and <50% of troops completed the mental health literacy training component of the intervention. Barriers to implementation included rostering challenges, high staff turnover and changes, competing work commitments, staff shortages, limited internal personnel resources to deliver the mental health literacy training, organizational cynicism, confidentiality concerns, and limited communication about the intervention by station command or station champions. Facilitators of participation were also identified, including perceived need for and benefits of the intervention, engagement at various levels, the research team's ability to create buy-in and manage stakeholder relationships, and the use of external, credible leadership development coaches., Conclusions: Implementation fell far short of expectations. The identified barriers and facilitators should be considered in the design and implementation of similar workplace mental health interventions., (© 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Aims: With approximately 50% of young people aged 18-24 in tertiary education, these are potential settings for programmes to improve mental health literacy. A survey was carried out with students and staff of a tertiary education institution to investigate psychological distress, actions to deal with mental health problems and first-aid behaviours., Methods: Telephone interviews were carried out with 774 students of an Australian metropolitan university (with 422 staff as a comparison group). They answered questions relating to psychological distress, actions to deal with mental health problems and first-aid behaviours., Results: Students were more likely to be psychologically distressed than staff (21% vs. 13%) and 27% reported experiencing a problem similar to that described in a depression vignette. The most common actions taken were talking to a close friend, physical activity and talking to close family. Over 72% of students with a problem had sought professional help, most often from a general practitioner or counsellor. Only 10% reported seeking help from a student counsellor. Helpful first-aid behaviours were common and were seen in over 90% of students who had a family member or close friend with a similar problem., Conclusions: There is a need for further investigation of levels and factors associated with psychological distress in higher education students along with an exploration of barriers to and enablers of use of student counselling services. High levels of help seeking from friends and first-aid behaviours provided point to the need for effective peer-to-peer education., (© 2011 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.)

Aims: Using cross-sectional national survey data, we assessed young peoples' beliefs about the role of alcohol, tobacco and marijuana in the prevention and treatment of mental disorders as well as the predictors of these beliefs. We also compared these findings with those from a similar survey carried out in 2006., Design, Setting and Participants: Between January and May 2011, a national computer-assisted telephone survey was conducted on a representative sample of Australian youths aged 15-25 years. A total of 3021 young people were presented with a case vignette portraying depression, depression with suicidal thoughts, psychosis, social phobia, depression with alcohol misuse or post-traumatic stress disorder in a young person., Measurements: Respondents were asked about their beliefs regarding the role of using alcohol, tobacco and marijuana in preventing or dealing with the mental disorders described in the vignettes. Level of psychological distress was assessed by the Kessler 6 scale (K6)., Findings: More than 75% of respondents agreed that the three substances were harmful for the young people in the vignettes, and that not using marijuana or drinking alcohol in excess is preventive. Males, young adults and more distressed respondents were less likely to endorse these beliefs. No significant changes were observed between surveys., Conclusions: Most young people in Australia are aware of the negative impact of substance use on mental disorders, but a few high-risk groups remain: males, young adults and those with more psychological distress. Future public health campaigns need to target these groups and focus on translating young people's substance use beliefs into behavioural change., (© 2011 The Authors, Addiction © 2011 Society for the Study of Addiction.)

Aim: With approximately 50% of young people aged 18-24 in tertiary education, these are potential settings for programmes to improve mental health literacy. A survey was carried out with students and staff of a tertiary education institution to investigate recognition of depression, help-seeking intentions, beliefs about interventions and stigmatizing attitudes., Methods: Students of an Australian metropolitan university (with staff as a comparison group) participated in a telephone interview. They answered questions relating to mental health literacy., Results: Of the completed interviews, 774 (65%) were students and 422 (35%) were staff. Over 70% of students and staff were able to recognize depression in a vignette, with greater likelihood of recognition in students associated with older age, female gender, being born in Australia and a higher level of education. Over 80% of respondents said they would seek help if they had a problem similar to that of the vignette. However, rates of specific help-seeking intentions for students were relatively low, with only 26% nominating a general practitioner and only 10% nominating a student counsellor. Factors associated with stigmatizing attitudes included male gender, younger age, lower level of education, being born outside Australia and lack of recognition of depression., Conclusions: There is a need for mental health literacy interventions targeted at students, particularly those who are younger, male, born outside Australia and of a lower level of education. As rates of specific help-seeking intentions for students were relatively low, there is a need for further exploration of the barriers to help seeking from professional sources., (© 2011 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.)

Aims: The study examined actions taken by young people to deal with mental disorders and the factors associated with help-seeking and self-help behaviours., Methods: Participants in a 2006 national survey of Australian youth (aged 12-25 years) were contacted 2 years later and participated in telephone interviews based on a vignette of one of the following disorders: depression, depression with alcohol misuse, social phobia and psychosis. Personal experiences of these disorders and subsequent self-help and help-seeking behaviours were examined., Results: Of the 2005 participants interviewed, 275 (14%) reported experiencing a mental disorder since January 2007, most commonly depression. The most frequent sources of help were family (77%) and close friends (73%). General practitioners (GPs) were consulted by 53% of respondents. The most frequent self-help behaviours were physical activity (70%) and getting up early and out in the sunlight (46%). Beliefs about the helpfulness of interventions at baseline were compared with actual use in the following 2 years. Interventions ranked higher for beliefs about helpfulness than actual use mainly included consulting health professionals and cutting down on substance use. Interventions ranked higher for actual use than beliefs typically included lifestyle interventions but also included consulting GPs., Conclusions: Young people with mental health problems are more likely to seek help from close friends and family and to use self-help interventions than to access professional help, although over half of survey respondents had visited a GP. Help seeking tended to be better predicted by intentions to seek help than by beliefs about the helpfulness of interventions., (© 2011 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.)