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Policy requirements and coach mental health training: a mixed methods analysis of online versus in-person delivery
Samantha Bates1, Dawn Anderson-Butcher1, Kylee Ault-Baker1
1College of Social Work, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States.
Introduction:
Amid growing concerns about youth mental health, several states in the U.S. have enacted policies requiring mental health training for school-based sport coaches.
Methods:
This mixed methods study explored the delivery of mental health training for coaches in Ohio in response to new policy mandates, comparing the effectiveness of in-person and asynchronous online formats. A total of 1,690 coaches completed evaluations after participating in an online (n = 978) or in-person (n = 712) state-approved mental health training.
Results:
Repeated measures ANOVA analyses revealed statistically significant increases in coaches' confidence in supporting student-athletes with mental health concerns and in linking them to appropriate supports, regardless of the delivery modality (p < .001). Small but significant interaction effects indicated slightly greater confidence gains among online participants (η 2 = .011 for supporting concerns; η 2 = .005 for linking to supports). Qualitative analysis of open-ended responses about perceived learning from online participants identified five major themes: (1) Approaching struggling student-athletes, where coaches highlighted new skills in de-escalation, emotional regulation, and engaging in difficult conversations; (2) Wellness check-ins, where coaches learned relational strategies to monitor well-being; (3) Q.P.P.R. (Question, Pause/Persuade, Refer), which improved coaches' recognition of warning signs and confidence in crisis conversations; (4) Creating dialogue with open-ended questions, which provided sentence starters to elicit meaningful conversations; and (5) Referring student-athletes to resources, which underscored the importance of knowing referral pathways.
Discussion:
Findings suggest coach educators can leverage technology to design interactive online coach training sessions that yield comparable learning outcomes to those of in-person training. Our results inform scalable, policy-aligned solutions that can enhance coach preparedness by leveraging technology to equip coaches with best practices in supporting student-athlete mental health.
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