TY - JOUR
T1 - Gatekeeper training and access to mental health care at universities and colleges
AU - Lipson, Sarah Ketchen
AU - Speer, Nicole
AU - Brunwasser, Steven
AU - Hahn, Elisabeth
AU - Eisenberg, Daniel
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank the National Institutes of Health and the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education for their support of this project. Scott Crawford and his colleagues at the Survey Sciences Group administered the Web survey data collection on behalf of our research team. This work has been presented in oral presentations at the National Institute of Mental Health Mental Health Services Research conference (July 2011) and the Annual Research Meeting of AcademyHealth (June 2013). All individuals who contributed significantly to this work are acknowledged here.
Funding Information:
The study was funded by a National Institutes of Health “Challenge Grant” grant under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ( NIMH 1RC1MH089757-01 ).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine.
PY - 2014/11/1
Y1 - 2014/11/1
N2 - Purpose Gatekeeper training (GKT) programs are an increasingly popular approach to addressing access to mental health care in adolescent and young adult populations. This study evaluates the effectiveness of a widely used GKT program, Mental Health First Aid, in college student populations.Methods A randomized control trial was conducted on 32 colleges and universities between 2009 and 2011. Campus residence halls were assigned to the intervention (Mental Health First Aid plus pre-existing trainings) or control condition (pre-existing trainings only) using matched pair randomization. The trainings were delivered to resident advisors (RAs). Outcome measures include service utilization, knowledge and attitudes about services, self-efficacy, intervention behaviors, and mental health symptoms. Data come from two sources: (1) surveys completed by the students (resident advisors and residents; N = 2,543), 2-3 months pre- and post-intervention; and (2) utilization records from campus mental health centers, aggregated by residence.Results The training increases trainees' self-perceived knowledge (regression-adjusted effect size [ES] =.38, p <.001), self-perceived ability to identify students in distress (ES =.19, p =.01), and confidence to help (ES =.17, p =.04). There are no apparent effects, however, on utilization of mental health care in the student communities in which the trainees live.Conclusions Although GKT programs are widely used to increase access to mental health care, these programs may require modifications to achieve their objectives.
AB - Purpose Gatekeeper training (GKT) programs are an increasingly popular approach to addressing access to mental health care in adolescent and young adult populations. This study evaluates the effectiveness of a widely used GKT program, Mental Health First Aid, in college student populations.Methods A randomized control trial was conducted on 32 colleges and universities between 2009 and 2011. Campus residence halls were assigned to the intervention (Mental Health First Aid plus pre-existing trainings) or control condition (pre-existing trainings only) using matched pair randomization. The trainings were delivered to resident advisors (RAs). Outcome measures include service utilization, knowledge and attitudes about services, self-efficacy, intervention behaviors, and mental health symptoms. Data come from two sources: (1) surveys completed by the students (resident advisors and residents; N = 2,543), 2-3 months pre- and post-intervention; and (2) utilization records from campus mental health centers, aggregated by residence.Results The training increases trainees' self-perceived knowledge (regression-adjusted effect size [ES] =.38, p <.001), self-perceived ability to identify students in distress (ES =.19, p =.01), and confidence to help (ES =.17, p =.04). There are no apparent effects, however, on utilization of mental health care in the student communities in which the trainees live.Conclusions Although GKT programs are widely used to increase access to mental health care, these programs may require modifications to achieve their objectives.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2014.05.009
DO - 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2014.05.009
M3 - Article
C2 - 25043834
AN - SCOPUS:84908381118
VL - 55
SP - 612
EP - 619
JO - Journal of Adolescent Health
JF - Journal of Adolescent Health
SN - 1054-139X
IS - 5
ER -