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Mental health literacy intervention to reduce stigma toward mental health symptoms and disorders in women rugby players: a feasibility study

Mental health literacy intervention to reduce stigma toward mental health symptoms and disorders in women rugby players: a feasibility study

Oftadeh-Moghadam, Shakiba, Weston, Neil and Gorczynski, Paul ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8876-8935 (2023) Mental health literacy intervention to reduce stigma toward mental health symptoms and disorders in women rugby players: a feasibility study. The Sport Psychologist, 37 (2). pp. 119-127. ISSN 0888-4781 (Print), 1543-2793 (Online) (doi:10.1123/tsp.2022-0142)

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Abstract

This feasibility study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational intervention on stigma toward mental health symptoms and disorders, mental health literacy, and help-seeking intentions among UK semi-elite women rugby players. Seven semi-elite women rugby players participated. An A-B-A single-case experimental research design was used to assess stigma toward mental health symptoms and disorders, mental health literacy, and help-seeking intentions at baseline, intervention, and follow-up phases. The intervention was successful in enhancing the player’s mental health literacy and reducing stigmatising attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help. Acknowledging the study’s small sample size, the findings revealed that there is a need for scaffolding to support future developments, advancements and maintenance of mental health support within women’s rugby. Practical implications of future findings from a larger scale study may lead to policy reformation across the game to inform and improve systemic mental health support for women rugby players.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: help-seeking; mental health; well-being; female athletes; contact sports; gender
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC1200 Sports Medicine
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group: Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences
Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > School of Human Sciences (HUM)
Last Modified: 23 Jun 2023 11:53
URI: http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/39085

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