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Consensus statement
International consensus statement on the psychosocial and policy-related approaches to mental health awareness programmes in sport
  1. Gavin Breslin1,2,
  2. Andy Smith3,
  3. Brad Donohue4,
  4. Paul Donnelly5,
  5. Stephen Shannon1,
  6. Tandy Jane Haughey1,
  7. Stewart A Vella6,
  8. Christian Swann7,8,
  9. Stewart Cotterill9,
  10. Tadhg Macintyre10,
  11. Tim Rogers11,
  12. Gerard Leavey2
  1. 1 Sports and Exercise Science Research Institute, Ulster University, Jordanstown, UK
  2. 2 Bamford Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing, Ulster University, Jordanstown, UK
  3. 3 Department of Sport and Physical Activity, Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, UK
  4. 4 Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
  5. 5 Gaelic Athletic Association, Belfast, Northern Ireland
  6. 6 Faculty of Education, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
  7. 7 School of Health and Human Sciences, Southern Cross University, Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia
  8. 8 Centre for Athlete Development, Experience & Performance, Southern Cross University, Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia
  9. 9 School of Psychology, AECC University College, Bournemouth, UK
  10. 10 Health Research Institute, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
  11. 11 Cognacity, London, UK
  1. Correspondence to Dr Gavin Breslin; g.breslin1{at}ulster.ac.uk

Abstract

Background Research focused on mental health in sport has revealed a need to develop evidence-supported mental health practices that are sensitive to sport culture, particularly for non-elite athletes. A consensus statement was produced to assist effective mental health awareness in sport and guide programme implementation in this rapidly emerging field.

Method The AGREE Reporting Checklist 2016 was used in two international expert consultation meetings, followed by two online surveys. Experts from 10 countries and over 30 organisations contributed.

Results Six objectives were agreed: (1) to define mental health awareness and service implementation constructs for inclusion in programmes delivered in sporting environments; (2) to identify the need to develop and use valid measures that are developmentally appropriate for use in intervention studies with sporting populations, including measures of mental health that quantify symptom severity but also consider causal and mediating factors that go beyond pathology (ie, well-being and optimisation); (3) to provide guidance on the selection of appropriate models to inform intervention design, implementation and evaluation; (4) to determine minimal competencies of training for those involved in sport to support mental health, those experiencing mental illness and when to refer to mental health professionals; (5) to provide evidence-based guidance for selecting mental health awareness and implementation programmes in sport that acknowledge diversity and are quality assured; and (6) to identify the need for administrators, parents, officials, coaches, athletes and workers to establish important roles in the promotion of mental health in various sports settings.

Conclusion This article presents a consensus statement on recommended psychosocial and policy-related approaches to mental health awareness programmes in sport.

  • Well-being
  • Mental
  • Health promotion
  • Public health

This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjsem-2019-000585

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors GB coordinated the development of the consensus statement. GB, AS, BD, PD and SC contributed to the development and delivery of presentations at the consultation meetings. GB, TJH and SS analysed the responses from the panel feedback and two surveys. GB wrote the first draft of the article. All other authors contributed to subsequent drafts and the final version after peer review.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient consent for publication Not required.

    • Ethics approval Ethical approval was granted by the Ulster University Research Ethics Committee.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Data availability statement Data are available upon reasonable request.