The Elite Athlete Mental Health Strategy Trial

NCT ID: NCT00940732

Last Updated: 2015-06-26

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 59 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2009-11-30
• Study Completion Date: 2011-10-31

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to determine whether positive mental health help-seeking attitudes, and behaviour in elite athletes can be increased through an online intervention.

Detailed Description

Mental disorders account for approximately 30% of the non-fatal disease burden in Australia, with the most prevalent disorders of depression, anxiety and substance use disorders experienced by 18% of the population in any single year. These disorders are significantly more common in young adulthood than at any other stage in the lifespan. Despite the availability of effective treatments for many disorders, this high susceptibility in young people is coupled with low rates of seeking professional help. As elite athletes have been found to have less positive attitudes towards seeking help for mental health issues, and they are most often young adults themselves, they may be even less likely than non-athletes to utilise professional services. Although there is a strong relationship between exercise and positive mental health, the prevalence of mental disorders in elite athletes is currently not known. A literature review of the general literature on help seeking and a series of focus groups with elite athletes from the Australian Institute of Sport conducted by the current research group in 2008, suggested that help-seeking by these athletes might be increased by improving their knowledge about mental health, reducing stigma, and providing feedback about the symptoms of common mental disorders.

The current project was designed to test these possibilities utilising an online format. The Elite Athlete Mental health Strategy (TEAMS) project comprises two phases: (1) a large scale survey of the mental health status of elite athletes; (2) a randomised controlled trial of the effectiveness of three interventions designed to increase help seeking attitudes and help seeking behaviours related to mental disorders in elite athletes. These three interventions are: destigmatisation and mental health literacy; feedback; and a help-seeking list of resources. The study aims to compare the effectiveness of these three interventions relative to each other and a control condition.

Conditions

Mental Health Help-Seeking

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Destigmatisation and Mental Health Literacy

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Destigmatisation and Mental Health Literacy

Intervention Type: OTHER

Written material delivered over 2 weeks via the Internet, including "mythbusters", debunking common myths around anxiety and depression, as well information about a range of celebrities who have identified themselves as having depression or anxiety. Also contains mental health literacy information.

Help-seeking list

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Help-seeking list

Intervention Type: OTHER

List of sources for mental health help-seeking delivered over 2 weeks.

Feedback

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Feedback

Intervention Type: OTHER

Written material delivered over 2 weeks via the Internet, including two short self-report measures (Goldberg Anxiety, Goldberg Depression), which will provide feedback to the participant about levels of depression and anxiety.

Control

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Destigmatisation and Mental Health Literacy

Written material delivered over 2 weeks via the Internet, including "mythbusters", debunking common myths around anxiety and depression, as well information about a range of celebrities who have identified themselves as having depression or anxiety. Also contains mental health literacy information.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Help-seeking list

List of sources for mental health help-seeking delivered over 2 weeks.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Feedback

Written material delivered over 2 weeks via the Internet, including two short self-report measures (Goldberg Anxiety, Goldberg Depression), which will provide feedback to the participant about levels of depression and anxiety.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Invited through sports organisation
• Elite athlete
• Able to read English

Exclusion Criteria

• None.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Australian Institute of Sport

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Amelia Gulliver

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Amelia Gulliver

Ms Amelia Gulliver

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Amelia Gulliver, BA, BAppPsych, BScPsych (Hons)

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

The Centre for Mental Health Research, The Australian National University

Kathy Griffiths, BSc (Hons), PhD

Role: STUDY_CHAIR

The Centre for Mental Health Research, The Australian National University

Helen Christensen, BA (Hons), MPsych, PhD

Role: STUDY_DIRECTOR

The Centre for Mental Health Research, The Australian National University

Locations

The Centre for Mental Health Research, The Australian National University

Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

Countries

Australia

References

Gulliver A, Griffiths KM, Christensen H, Mackinnon A, Calear AL, Parsons A, Bennett K, Batterham PJ, Stanimirovic R. Internet-based interventions to promote mental health help-seeking in elite athletes: an exploratory randomized controlled trial. J Med Internet Res. 2012 Jun 29;14(3):e69. doi: 10.2196/jmir.1864.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 22743352 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

2009/373

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id