Indicators of mental health literacy and Mental Health First Aid skill application in a large sample of U.S. trainees

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

BACKGROUND: Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is the largest mental health literacy training program in the world, yet few studies assess how different indicators of mental health literacy are associated with trainees' skill application. AIMS: To examine associations between indicators of mental health literacy and MHFA skill application in a sample of trainees. METHODS: = 2,378). Participants completed measures of three mental health literacy indicators: general knowledge, referral resource knowledge, and stigma. They also reported use of five MHFA ALGEE "action plan" skills within the past six months, yielding a count variable (range 0-5; 5 reflecting highest-quality skill application). Participants also indicated whether they directly connected a recipient to treatment (direct handoff; 0 = no; 1 = yes). Multivariable Poisson and logistic regression models assessed associations between literacy indicators, modeled separately and simultaneously, with higher-quality skill application and direct handoffs. CONCLUSIONS: Knowledge of referral resources may be a key, modifiable driver of higher-quality MHFA skill application in community settings.