Youth Mental Health First Aid Training for Social Work Students: Preliminary Findings from a Quasi-Experimental Study

Background and Purpose: Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is an adult public education program designed to improve participants' knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions about mental health and related issues.  Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) is an 8-hour course designed to train adults who regularly interact with youth (12-18), how to provide initial assistance to an adolescent experiencing a mental health problem. Both programs were developed in Australia and have received significant attention across the United States. However, few empirical studies have been conducted to evaluate the U.S. version of YMHFA, particularly among social workers. This study assesses changes in knowledge, self-efficacy, attitudes, and normative beliefs of masters level social work students who received the YMHFA training.  

Methods: The researchers used a quasi-experimental comparison group design, comparing students who received the YMHFA training (n=39) to a comparison group (n=35). All students had field placements serving youth during the course of the 2014-2015 academic year. Both groups completed pre-tests and will complete 5-month follow-up online surveys. The training group completed an additional post-test online survey following the training. Data collection is ongoing through Spring 2015. All surveys specifically reflect constructs related to the YMHFA training: knowledge of mental health problems among adolescents; self-efficacy (confidence in and likelihood of taking action); attitudes (favorableness towards action in terms of level of difficulty, reward, and usefulness); and normative beliefs about taking action. Qualitative questions addressed recommendations for and use of the training. Participants were mostly white (61%) and female (95%), and ranged in age from 21 to 42 (mean =26). Descriptive analyses and paired t-tests were conducted to assess preliminary outcomes. Repeated measures ANOVA will be used to examine change over time for the training group. ANCOVA will be used to evaluate any group differences from pre-test to 5-month follow-up.

Results: Preliminary results from pre to post-test for the training group (n=30) show statistically significant increases in knowledge (p=.001), confidence (p=.000), and normative beliefs about taking action (p=.005). Attitudes towards difficulty in taking action significantly decreased (p=.007), though no changes were noted in how rewarding or useful it would be to take action. No significant changes were noted in how likely students were to take action. The majority of participants in the training would recommend YMHFA to people with no experience in mental health, including another student (78%), coworker (70%), and friend (48%). Participants indicated long-term interest in YMHFA materials:  85% plan to review the training manual, 74% plan to share material with others, and 80% plan to complete additional training in mental health.

Conclusions and Implications: Preliminary results suggest that the YMHFA training positively influenced knowledge, attitudes, and confidence in assisting youth with mental health needs.  Further analysis will contribute to the evidence base for YMHFA. Additionally, results will help determine the viability of the program for training social work students as it may enhance their ability to screen, support, and refer youth to needed services.