Community-based roles promoting youth mental health: comparing the roles of teachers and coaches in promotion, prevention and early intervention

Mental health is an issue for the whole community. Effective support and intervention for mental health can be carried out across a range of contexts. This paper investigated teachers' and coaches' relative involvement in promotion, prevention and early intervention activities for young people's mental health. A set of activities representing promotion, prevention and early intervention for mental health was developed through expert consensus and was used in an online survey completed by 124 teachers and 147 coaches within Canberra, Australia. Results indicated both teachers and coaches frequently performed activities which promote young people's mental health. Teachers more commonly engaged in behaviour that supported prevention and early intervention for mental health than coaches. Encouraging adults in community-based roles to take early action in supporting young people's mental health is important to reduce the burden of mental health problems among young people and strengthen available pathways to mental health care.