Background
Methods
Participants
Intervention
Unit 1: | Unit 2: | Unit 3: | Unit 4: |
---|---|---|---|
Introduction | Eating Disorders | MHFA for eating disorders | Evaluation activity and conclusion |
Introductory activities | What are eating disorders? | First aid for crisis situations: | Post-training questionnaire |
Common mental illnesses occurring in youth | Signs of a developing disorder | i. Medical emergencies | Question and answer time |
Impact of mental illness | Importance of early intervention | ii. Suicidal thoughts and behaviours | Handing out of certificates and end matter |
Youth mental health first aid | Risk factors for eating disorders | iii. Non-suicidal self-injury | |
The MHFA action plan | MHFA for eating disorders – Action 1 | MHFA for eating disorders – Actions 2-5 | |
1 hour | 1 hour | 1.5 hours | 0.5 hours |
Measures
Design and analyses
Variable measured | Instrument | Baseline | Post-training | Follow-up |
---|---|---|---|---|
Knowledge | Knowledge of Eating Disorder Symptoms | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
MHLQ-B | ||||
problem recognition | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
knowledge of effective treatments scale | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
knowledge of informal help-seeking scale | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
First Aid Knowledge Test | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
Mental Health First Aid Questions | ||||
item 5 - ALGEE | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
Attitudes | Social Distance Scale | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
MHLQ-B | ||||
Beliefs about bulimia (3 items) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
Behaviour | Level of Contact Report | ✓ | ✓ | |
Mental Health First Aid Questions | ||||
item 1 – Any contact | ✓ | ✓ | ||
item 2 – Number of contacts | ✓ | ✓ | ||
item 3 – Amount of help | ✓ | ✓ | ||
item 4 – Type of help | ✓ | ✓ | ||
item 6 – Confidence | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
First Aid Experiences Questionnaire | ✓ | |||
Mental Health Status | EDE-Q | ✓ | ✓ | |
K10 | ✓ | ✓ |
Procedures
Results
Participants
Characteristics at baseline
Baseline | Post-training | Follow-up | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(n =90) | (n = 82) | (n = 73) | ||||
n | % | n | % | n | % | |
Female | 51 | 56.7 | 45 | 54.9 | 43 | 58.9 |
Staff | 21 | 23.3 | 20 | 24.4 | 20 | 27.4 |
Student | 69 | 76.7 | 62 | 75.6 | 53 | 72.6 |
Born in Australia | 67 | 74.4 | 60 | 73.2 | 53 | 72.6 |
English second language | 7 | 7.8 | 7 | 8.5 | 7 | 9.6 |
Attended MHFA course | 5 | 5.6 | 5 | 6.1 | 5 | 6.9 |
Read ED guidelines | 4 | 4.4 | 3 | 3.7 | 3 | 4.1 |
Attended ED course | 5 | 5.6 | 5 | 6.1 | 5 | 6.9 |
Participant flow
Knowledge
Instrument | Baseline | Post-training | Follow-up | Sig Test | Change Baseline to Post-training | Change Baseline to Follow-up |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Knowledge of Eating Disorder Symptoms (mean total score) | 3.4 | 3.4 | 3.1 |
p = .4 | ||
MHLQ-B
| ||||||
Problem recognised as BN (%) | 17.8 | 42.5 | 28.8 |
p = .001 |
p < .001 |
p = .115 |
Problem recognised as any EDA (%) | 45.2 | 78.1 | 64.4 |
p < .001 |
p < .001 |
p = .007 |
Problem recognised as general mental health problemB (%) | 49.3 | 21.9 | 27.4 |
p < .001 |
p < .001 |
p = .002 |
knowledge of effective treatments scaleC (mean total score) | 4.7 | 6.4 | 5.4 |
p < .001 |
p < .001 |
p < .001 |
knowledge of informal help-seeking scale (mean total score) | 2.8 | 3.2 | 3.0 |
p = .007 |
p = .004 |
p = .054 |
First Aid Knowledge Test (mean total score) | 16.1 | 23.2 | 20.4 |
p < .001 |
p < .001 |
p < .001 |
Mental Health First Aid Questions
| ||||||
item 5 - ALGEE (mean total score) | 2.0 | 4.0 | 3.0 |
p < .001 |
p < .001 |
p = .089 |
Social Distance Scale (mean total score) | 16.0 | 16.2 | 15.6 | |||
MHLQ-B
| ||||||
How distressing do you think it would be to have Kelly's problem?
|
p = .51 | |||||
Extremely (%) | 38.4 | 39.7 | 43.8 | |||
Very (%) | 53.4 | 56.2 | 49.3 | |||
Moderately (%) | 8.2 | 4.1 | 6.8 | |||
A little (%) | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |||
Not at all (%) | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |||
How sympathetic would you be towards someone with Kelly's problem?
|
p = .002 |
p = .001 |
p = .17 | |||
Extremely (%) | 24.7 | 39.7 | 30.1 | |||
Very (%) | 56.2 | 50.7 | 53.4 | |||
Moderately (%) | 16.4 | 9.6 | 16.4 | |||
A little (%) | 2.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |||
Not at all (%) | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |||
Have you ever thought it might not be too bad to be like Kelly?
|
p = .07 | |||||
Always (%) | 1.4 | 0.0 | 1.4 | |||
Often (%) | 6.8 | 5.5 | 6.8 | |||
Occasionally (%) | 19.2 | 16.4 | 19.2 | |||
Rarely (%) | 30.1 | 30.1 | 31.5 | |||
Never (%) | 42.5 | 47.9 | 41.1 |
Attitudes
Behaviours
Instrument | Baseline | Follow-up | Sig Test |
---|---|---|---|
Level of Contact Report (mean highest score) | 7.49 | 7.57 |
p = .783 |
Mental Health First Aid Questions
| |||
item 1 – Any contact
|
p = .768 | ||
Yes (%) | 60 | 56 | |
No (%) | 26 | 30 | |
Not sure (%) | 14 | 14 | |
item 2 – Number of contacts
A
|
p = .95 | ||
Contact with 1 person (n,%) | 19, 47.5 | 13, 31.7 | |
Contact with 2 people (n,%) | 11, 27.5 | 16, 39.0 | |
Contact with 3 people (n,%) | 7, 17.5 | 10, 24.4 | |
Contact with 4 or more people (n,%) | 3, 7.5 | 2, 4.9 | |
item 3 – Amount of help
A
|
p = .08 | ||
No help provided (n,%) | 17, 38.6 | 11, 26.8 | |
A little (n,%) | 12, 27.3 | 15, 36.6 | |
Some (n,%) | 12, 27.3 | 12, 29.3 | |
A lot (n,%) | 3, 6.8 | 3, 7.3 | |
item 4 – Type of help
B
| |||
Asked someone more appropriate than myself to help the person (n,%) | 3, 10.7 | 8, 25.8 |
p = .18 |
Talked to the person directly (n,%) | 15, 53. | 15, 48.4 |
p = 1.0 |
Offered general support (n,%) | 6, 21.4 | 3, 9.7 |
p = .45 |
Offered information about illness/services (n,%) | 3, 10.7 | 5, 16.1 |
p = .72 |
Encouraged/assisted with seeking prof help (n,%) | 4, 14.3 | 9, 29.0 |
p = .23 |
Encouraged self help (n,%) | 1, 3.6 | 4, 12.9 |
p = .38 |
Offered practical help (n,%) | 6, 21.4 | 2, 6.5 |
p = .29 |
Offered emotional support (n,%) | 11, 39.3 | 8, 25.8 |
p = .61 |
Risk assessment/monitoring (n,%) | 1, 3.6 | 4, 12.9 |
p = .38 |
item 6 – Confidence in helping Kelly (mean score)
| 2.2 | 2.7 |
p < .001 |
Not at all (n,%) | 16, 21.9 | 3, 4.1 | |
A little (n,%) | 34, 46.6 | 27, 37 | |
Moderately (n,%) | 17, 23.3 | 34, 46.6 | |
Quite a bit (n,%) | 6, 8.2 | 9, 12.3 | |
Extremely (n,%) | 0, 0.0 | 0, 0.0 |
n | % | |
---|---|---|
Q1. Is this what you would have expected, or is it somewhat surprising not to have come across such a situation?*
| ||
Surprised | 17 | 39.5 |
Had expected to encounter someone with an eating disorder | 17 | 39.5 |
Had been in contact, but didn’t provide first aid because we were not good enough friends | 8 | 18.6 |
Had been in contact with someone with an ED before the training and this continued after the training | 3 | 7.0 |
Q2. In the future, if you were to come across someone who you believed was experiencing an eating disorder, how well prepared would you feel to deal with the situation?*
| ||
Very well, or well prepared | 33 | 76.7 |
Prepared | 9 | 20.9 |
Prepared but uneasy | 5 | 11.6 |
Not at all prepared | 1 | 2.3 |
Q3. How has attending 'Mental Health First Aid Training Course for Eating Disorders' changed how you relate to or feel about people who experience eating disorders?*
| ||
Know more about EDs | 15 | 34.9 |
Know more/more confident about how to help | 14 | 32.6 |
More empathy for those with EDs | 14 | 32.6 |
No change because of prior expertise | 2 | 4.7 |
No change | 4 | 9.3 |
n | % | |
---|---|---|
Q1. In what capacity do you attend the college?
| ||
Student | 22 | 73.3 |
Staff | 7 | 26.7 |
Q2. Could you tell us something about the situation(s) and the problem(s) you believed the person was experiencing?*
| ||
Change in eating habits (ate less/restricted diet) | 15 | 50.0 |
Binge eating | 2 | 6.7 |
Change in exercise patterns | 11 | 36.7 |
Vomiting | 1 | 3.3 |
Weight loss | 17 | 56.7 |
Q3. Did you try to assist the person you thought might be developing or experiencing an eating disorder?
| ||
No | 10 | 33.3 |
Yes | 20 | 66.7 |
Q4. What was the reason(s) that you were not able to assist that person?* (n = 10)
| ||
Not close enough to the person/others more appropriate to provide first aid | 5 | 50.0 |
Person already adequate receiving support/care | 4 | 40.0 |
Assistance refused | 1 | 10.0 |
Q5. Can you give us an example of something you did to assist the person?* (n = 20)
| ||
Approached the person, discussed my concerns, listened to them | 11 | 55.0 |
Discussed my concerns with someone more appropriate to provide first aid | 7 | 35.0 |
Offered information and resources about EDs | 2 | 10.0 |
Encouraged the person to seek help | 6 | 30.0 |
Encouraged the person to use other supports | 5 | 25.0 |
Q6. When assisting the person did you use the information provided in the 'Mental Health First Aid Training Course for Eating Disorders'? (n = 20)
| ||
Yes | 14 | 70.0 |
No | 0 | 0.0 |
Not sure | 6 | 30.0 |
Q7. How successful do you think you were in assisting the person?(n = 20)
| ||
Very successful | 0 | 0.0 |
Successful | 9 | 45.0 |
Neither successful nor unsuccessful | 11 | 55.0 |
Unsuccessful | 0 | 0.0 |
Very unsuccessful | 0 | 0.0 |
Q8. Would you like to comment on what happened?* (n = 20)
| ||
Unaware of outcome because I didn’t provide the first aid | 2 | 10.0 |
The person received professional help | 3 | 15.0 |
The person showed some signs of recovery | 3 | 15.0 |
The person had made some changes, but am unsure how much recovery is progressing | 3 | 15.0 |
Q9. Do you think the information in the 'Mental Health First Aid Training Course for Eating Disorders' contributed to the level of success you had in assisting the person? (n = 20)
| ||
Very much | 6 | 30.0 |
A little bit | 12 | 60.0 |
Not sure | 1 | 5.0 |
Not really | 1 | 5.0 |
Definitely not | 0 | 0.0 |
Q10. When assisting the person, did you do anything differently from what you would have done before attending the 'Mental Health First Aid Training Course for Eating Disorders'? (n = 20)
| ||
Yes | 11 | 55.0 |
No | 4 | 20.0 |
Not sure | 5 | 25.0 |
Q11. If you answered 'yes' please provide a short description* (n = 11)
| ||
Changed the way I approached the person | 7 | 63.6 |
Because I had more knowledge I noticed more symptoms | 4 | 36.4 |
Suggested professional help though wouldn’t have before | 3 | 27.3 |
More understanding and supportive of the person | 2 | 18.2 |
Q12. Did you suggest to the person you were assisting that they should seek professional mental health care (e.g. from a GP, psychologist, psychiatrist) (n = 20)
| ||
Yes | 10 | 50.0 |
No | 3 | 15.0 |
The person was already receiving mental health care | 3 | 15.0 |
Not sure | 4 | 20.0 |
Q13. As a result, did the person you were assisting seek mental health care from a professional? (n = 20)
| ||
Not applicable | 6 | 30.0 |
Yes | 7 | 35.0 |
No | 0 | 0.0 |
Not sure | 7 | 35.0 |