1208684

research-article2023
JTEXXX10.1177/00224871231208684Journal of Teacher EducationO’Dea et al.

Research/Empirical

Journal of Teacher Education

A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

1­–17
© 2023 American Association of
Colleges for Teacher Education
on the Effectiveness of the Building Article reuse guidelines:
Educators’ Skills in Adolescent Mental sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/00224871231208684
https://doi.org/10.1177/00224871231208684

Health (BEAM) Program for Improving journals.sagepub.com/home/jte

Secondary School Educators’ Confidence,

Behavior, Knowledge, and Attitudes
Toward Student Mental Health

Bridianne O’Dea1 , Belinda Parker1, Philip J. Batterham2,

Cassandra Chakouch1, Andrew J. Mackinnon1,
Alexis E. Whitton1, Jill M. Newby1, Mirjana Subotic-Kerry1,
Aimee Gayed1, and Samuel B. Harvey1

Abstract
Secondary school educators are well placed to recognize and respond to mental illness in adolescents; however, many report
low confidence and skills in doing so. A confirmatory cluster randomized controlled trial involving 295 educators (Mean age:
40.10 years, SD: 10.47; 76.6% female, 2.7% Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander) from 73 Australian secondary schools (22
in rural-regional locations) evaluated the effectiveness of a new professional development training program that aimed to
improve secondary school educators’ confidence, behavior, knowledge, and attitudes toward student mental health. Relative
to the control, training participants reported significantly greater levels of confidence in recognizing and responding to
student mental health issues, perceived mental health knowledge and mental health awareness, and mental health literacy, at
post-intervention (10-weeks post-baseline; d = 0.26–0.35) and at 3-month follow-up (d = −0.21 to 0.41). Findings indicate
that the Building Educators’ skills in Adolescent Mental health (BEAM) program improves important training outcomes for
educators in the domain of student mental health.

Keywords
teacher knowledge, teacher education characteristics, online teacher learning, professional development, secondary teacher
education

Introduction 2011; Whitley et al., 2013). Many educators also struggle to

adapt their teaching practices in response to students’ mental
Mental illnesses, particularly anxiety and depressive disor- health needs (Ginsburg et al., 2022). This is not surprising
ders, are a significant issue for secondary school educators given that many secondary school educators have not
worldwide. Half of all young people who experience these received training in adolescent mental health (McCann et al.,
disorders first do so when at secondary school, and these ill- 2021; O’Dea et al., 2021; O’Reilly et al., 2018). This may be
nesses often result in disrupted learning and development
(Kessler et al., 2007). Secondary school educators are well- 1
University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
placed to notice the behavioral, social, and emotional changes 2
Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory,
that may signify the onset or deterioration in mental illness Australia
(Franklin et al., 2012; Mazzer & Rickwood, 2015; Whitley
Corresponding Author:
et al., 2018). However, many educators report a lack of skills
Bridianne O’Dea, Black Dog Institute, University of New South Wales,
and confidence in recognizing and responding to students’ Hospital Road, Randwick, Sydney 2031, New South Wales, Australia.
mental health problems (Nash & López, 2021; Reinke et al., Email: [email protected]
2 Journal of Teacher Education 00(0)

due to a lack of accessible, evidence-based training programs confidence in relation to student mental health while also
that are effective for improving educators’ knowledge, atti- preserving their own well-being.
tudes, and behaviors in relation to student mental health.
Three recent systematic reviews on teacher training pro-
A New Training Program—Building
grams for student mental health have highlighted the lack of
evidence-based programs currently available to educators Educators’ Skills in Adolescent Mental
within and beyond Australia (Anderson et al., 2019; Ohrt Health
et al., 2020; Sánchez et al., 2021; Yamaguchi et al., 2020). To address the need for a more comprehensive, evidence-
From these reviews, only 9 secondary school training pro- based approach to mental health training for secondary
grams had published evaluations and of the 13 included stud- school educators, the Black Dog Institute developed the
ies, only 3 were randomized controlled trials. This highlights Building Educators’ skills in Adolescent Mental health
the lack of rigorous research in this field. All existing train- (BEAM) program. This program extends beyond the out-
ing programs were delivered face-to-face in schools by comes of the existing teacher training programs in student
external providers and were didactic in nature, relying on mental health (i.e., knowledge and attitudes) to specifically
facilitator-led presentations and case studies to convey target improvements in educators’ confidence in recognizing
course content. The duration of the existing training pro- and supporting students with mental health problems. The
grams also varied considerably, from 2 hours to 2 weeks, and program also embeds principles from the workplace man-
all required educators to be absent from their normal school agement approach (Gayed, LaMontagne, et al., 2018),
duties. As teachers are time-poor, it is likely that these logis- whereby secondary school educators are conceptualized as
tical factors create significant barriers to the widespread “student managers.” Embedding this novel approach was
uptake and completion of existing training programs. Finally, hypothesized to generate greater changes in confidence
the primary goals of the existing training programs were to among educators as several studies had confirmed the effec-
increase educators’ mental health knowledge and attitudes tiveness of manager training for improving knowledge, atti-
based on the classical theoretical framework of behavior tudes, and behavioral change in relation to supporting
change, whereby improving knowledge and beliefs improves employee mental health (Bryan et al., 2018; Gayed, Bryan,
teachers’ practices and approaches to student mental health et al., 2019; Gayed, Milligan-Saville, et al., 2018).
(Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development, Co-designed with senior educators from Australia, the
2009). While some of these programs were indeed found to BEAM program is directed at secondary school educators in
be effective for improving educators’ knowledge and atti- leadership roles (i.e., Year Advisors or equivalent) due to
tudes in student mental health, most of the existing training their increased responsibility and accountability for student
programs and studies of these failed to examine other out- mental health and a lack of specialized training for these
comes relevant to behavior change in this domain. positions (O’Dea et al., 2021). In contrast to existing didactic
Self-confidence and self-efficacy are important constructs programs (Ohrt et al., 2020), the BEAM program blends
to consider when examining ways to improve educators’ online, self-directed learning content with in-person skill
approaches to student mental health. These constructs are development and peer-coaching. This approach is based on
founded on the principle that individual’s beliefs about their Bandura’s research that demonstrates self-confidence devel-
abilities to perform a task have a profound effect on their ops through mastery, vicarious experiences, social persua-
actual abilities (Bandura, 1977, 1997). Higher levels of edu- sion, positive emotional states, and imaginal experiences
cators’ self-confidence have been shown to positively influ- (Bandura, 1977; Maddux, 2013) and the emerging research
ence their practices, enthusiasm, persistence in working with on the principles of effective workplace management train-
challenging students, and overall performance (Klassen & ing (Gayed, Bryan, et al., 2019; Gayed, LaMontagne, et al.,
Tze, 2014; Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2007). Despite this, exist- 2018). The BEAM program targets these elements through
ing training programs and past studies have failed to address five overarching topics consisting of 17 interactive activities
the importance of educators’ self-confidence in the process (see Figure 1) that include skill development and practice,
of recognizing, responding to, and managing student mental observation of peer role models, provision of feedback, visu-
health issues. Only two randomized controlled trials (RCTs) alization of effective behavior, and managing personal
have measured the effect of mental health training on educa- distress.
tors’ self-confidence and only one has measured the effect of The BEAM program was also developed in accordance
training on actual helping behaviors. Furthermore, only one with professional development frameworks for teachers
study has reported on the adverse events or unfavorable out- (Desimone, 2009; Philipsen et al., 2019). Several course com-
comes for educators related to their completion of mental ponents were designed to target the five core features of effec-
health training (Yamaguchi et al., 2020). Thus, there is cur- tive teacher training: content focus, active learning, coherence,
rently little scientific evidence to guide educators on what duration, and collective participation. To this end, the content
type of training approach is most effective for improving focus of the training curriculum was co-developed with dif-
outcomes in all key domains of knowledge, attitudes, and ferent subject matter experts (e.g., psychologists, teachers,
O’Dea et al. 3

Figure 1. Overview of the Building Educators’ Skills in Adolescent Mental Health Training Program Content.

and educational designers) to ensure relevancy to teachers’ attitudes, confidence, and helping behaviors, a single-arm
daily work and consistency with their expectations, beliefs, 6-week pilot study among 70 Australian teachers was con-
school context, and priorities in relation to student mental ducted (Parker, Anderson, et al., 2021). Educators reported
health (Liao et al., 2017; Quinn et al., 2019). Active learning significant increases in confidence at post-intervention and
and collective participation were targeted through the inclu- 3-month follow-up, significant improvements in helping
sion of peer-coaching activities, whereby participants were behaviors at 3-month follow-up, and a significant reduction
instructed to meet with their colleagues to respond to a series in their psychological distress at post-intervention. However,
of hypothetical scenarios related to student mental health. the study was limited by the lack of a control group.
These activities provide participants with an opportunity to Furthermore, only 16% of participants completed the entire
share ideas, teach one another, reflect on current practices, program within the 6-week timeframe. Participants requested
build new skills, socially interact, develop rapport and sup- a longer training duration and found the sequential structure
portive relationships with colleagues, build professional and compulsory peer-coaching activities to be a barrier to
learning communities within schools, consolidate learnings, completion. Many also reported forgetfulness as an addi-
and receive feedback (Zhang et al., 2017). Self-reflection is tional barrier. In response, the BEAM program was modified
further targeted through a “Your turn” activity whereby par- so that all content was immediately accessible to partici-
ticipants are asked to respond to a series of relevant case stud- pants. A topic recommendation feature was also implemented
ies and a “Share their story” opportunity whereby participants to tailor participants’ starting position to their level of inter-
are invited to submit an anonymous self-reflection on a per- est and experience. The peer-coaching activities were made
sonal experience related to student mental health. The pro- optional, and the duration of the program was extended to 10
gram also includes strategies to support self-care as many weeks. Additional reminders were also implemented, sent
educators have reported that the additional management of via SMS, and the program was optimized for delivery on
student well-being has led to greater workload and stress mobile and tablet devices.
(Bower & Carroll, 2017; Higgen & Mösko, 2020; Lever
et al., 2017; Mazzer & Rickwood, 2015). A blended delivery
Objectives of the Current Study
approach was selected based on teachers’ preferences for
online learning that enhances collaboration and personal The primary aim of this cluster RCT was to examine the
learning networks (McElearney et al., 2019) and reduces the effectiveness of the BEAM training program for improving
social isolation of online-only courses (Gay & Betts, 2020; Australian secondary school educators’ confidence in recog-
Kaufmann & Vallade, 2022). Online delivery also enabled nizing and responding to students’ mental health needs. It
greater flexibility for completion of the self-directed learning, was hypothesized that educators who received the BEAM
greater accessibility and geographical dissemination, and the program would report greater improvements in confidence,
preservation of program fidelity (Sánchez et al., 2021). relative to a waitlist control condition, immediately at post-
To determine the initial acceptability, feasibility, and intervention and at 3-month follow-up. The trial also exam-
likely effectiveness of the BEAM program for improving ined the secondary effects of the BEAM program on
secondary school educators’ mental health knowledge, educators’ self-reported frequency of helping behaviors for
4 Journal of Teacher Education 00(0)

student mental health problems, their perceived mental participating secondary school in New South Wales,
health knowledge and awareness, mental health literacy, Australia, and who had principal consent. Secondary school
mental health stigma, and personal levels of psychological educators who participated in the pilot study were ineligible.
distress. It was hypothesized that educators who received the No other exclusion criteria were applied.
BEAM program would report greater improvements in these
outcomes at post-intervention and 3-month follow-up, rela-
Assignment and Masking
tive to the control condition. This trial also measured pro-
gram completions, barriers to program use, program Schools were assigned to a single condition (cluster design)
satisfaction, and perceived effectiveness of training among to avoid contamination and for administrative feasibility.
participants. The assignment was carried out according to the International
Council for Harmonization guidelines by an external
researcher not involved in the study activities. The assign-
Method ment occurred after the principal’s letter of consent was
Design received by the research team. A minimization approach to
the assignment was used to ensure balance across the study
This study utilized a two-arm cluster RCT with schools as conditions in terms of school size (<400 or >400 students)
clusters and educators as participants. The full trial protocol, and the Index of Communication Socio-Educational
outlining the methodology and questionnaire adaptations in Advantage level (<1,000 or >1,000; Taves, 2010). This was
detail, is available elsewhere (Parker, Chakouch, et al., undertaken in Stata version 14.2 using the rct_minim proce-
2021). All outcome measures pertain to the individual par- dure (Ryan, 2021). The trial manager was unblinded to par-
ticipant level. Outcomes were assessed at baseline, primary ticipants’ condition assignment to support study
endpoint (i.e., post-intervention measured at 10 weeks post- administration. While not explicitly informed, participants
baseline), and secondary endpoint (i.e., 3-month follow-up were likely made aware of their condition upon baseline
measured at 22 weeks post-baseline). Ethics approvals were completion due to the nature of the instructions provided and
obtained from the University of New South Wales Human study activities.
Research Ethics Committee (HC200257), the State Education
Research Applications Process for the New South Wales
Department of Education (SERAP2020222), and the Sample Size
Catholic school offices for the Dioceses of Maitland- The target sample size was 234 educators (i.e., 117 per con-
Newcastle, Canberra-Goulburn, and Wollongong. The trial dition) from approximately 46 schools. This target was based
protocol was registered with the Australian New Zealand on an ideal participation rate of five educators per school, an
Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12620000876998). The intra-class correlation (ICC) of .07, a design effect of 1.28, a
Universal Trial Number is U1111-1253-3176. moderate effect size of .50 on the primary outcome, statisti-
cal power of 80%, alpha of .05 (two-tailed), and 30%
Setting attrition.

This study took place between August 2020 and March 2021
in New South Wales, Australia. All baseline data was col- Recruitment and Consent
lected between August and October 2020. During this time, Study adverts featured in the Black Dog Institute’s e-news-
schools were operating as usual, and there were no school letters, website, and social media channels (Twitter,
closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All study outcomes Instagram, and Facebook). The study was also advertised in
were collected online. the New South Wales School-Link newsletter (a state gov-
ernment initiative that links schools with local health ser-
vices); Teacher Magazine; and the relevant Catholic Diocese
Participants
e-bulletins. Educators were directed to express interest in the
Eligible schools were any Independent or government sec- study via an online form on the study website. They were
ondary schools located in New South Wales, Australia. then emailed study information and instructed to share it
Catholic schools from the approved dioceses in New South with their colleagues to encourage co-participation within
Wales (Maitland-Newcastle, Canberra-Goulburn, and schools. Educators were required to obtain a signed letter of
Wollongong) could also take part. All schools were required consent from their school principal to enable their participa-
to provide a signed letter of support from the principal. tion in the study. For schools with multiple study partici-
Eligible participants were educators who were employed in pants, only one letter of consent from the school principal
any leadership position responsible for student well-being was required. Educators provided their own informed con-
(e.g., Year Advisors, Directors or Heads of Student Well- sent to participate via an online Participant Information
Being, Directors of Pastoral Care, or equivalent) at a Sheet and Consent Form.
O’Dea et al. 5

Procedure Outcome Measures

All educators who expressed interest and had principal con- Primary Outcome: Confidence in Recognizing and Responding to
sent were emailed 1 week prior to their scheduled study start Students’ Mental Health Needs
date and asked to confirm their eligibility and provide final The primary outcome for this trial was participants’ self-con-
consent. They were then invited to create an online study fidence in their ability to recognize, refer, and support stu-
account by providing their name, school, email address, and dents with mental health problems. This was measured using
setting a password. Participants could also provide their an adapted version of the Confidence to Recognize, Refer,
mobile phone numbers to receive study notifications and and Support subscale (Sebbens et al., 2016). Participants
reminders via SMS. Participants were informed that their were asked to rate their confidence in dealing with 15 mental
personal information would be removed prior to data analy- health scenarios (e.g., “recognizing a student with mental
sis to preserve their confidentiality. On their scheduled study health problems”). Items were answered using a 5-point
start date, participants received their invitation to complete Likert-type scale ranging from not at all confident (1) to very
the baseline survey (via email and/or SMS). The survey was confident (5). Items were summed to give a total score, rang-
accessible for 7 days, and participants who did not complete ing from 15 to 75. Higher scores indicated greater levels of
it were withdrawn from the study. Participants also received confidence. In this study, the Cronbach α = .96.
email/SMS invitations for the post-intervention and 3-month
follow-up surveys. These surveys remained open for 7 days Secondary Outcomes
and participants received two reminders for each study Frequency of Helping Behaviors for Student Mental Health. A
assessment. All participants received a 15AUD gift voucher modified version of the Help Provided to Students Question-
for completing the post-intervention survey and an additional naire (Jorm et al., 2010) was used to measure the frequency
15AUD gift voucher for completing the 3-month follow-up of helping behaviors for student mental health. Participants
survey. indicated how often they had engaged in 13 helping behav-
iors (e.g., “spent time calming a student down”) during the
past 2 months, answered using a four-point scale (“never,”
Study Conditions “once,” “occasionally,” and “frequently”). Items were then
Intervention Condition. Participants in the intervention condi- summed to create a total score, ranging from 13 to 52. Higher
tion received access to the training program for 10 weeks scores indicated more frequent helping behaviors. In this
upon completion of the baseline survey. In the current trial, study, the Cronbach α = .90.
the topics were displayed sequentially but participants were
able to complete these in any order, at their own pace (i.e., Perceived Mental Health Knowledge and Perceived Mental
did not require the completion of the Your Turn or Peer- Health Awareness. These two constructs were assessed sepa-
coaching activities). The program was intended to be com- rately using the Perceived Knowledge and the Perceived
pleted within 10 weeks and could be accessed on any Awareness subscales from the Mental Health Literacy and
internet-enabled device. Participants were advised that the Capacity Survey for Educators (Fortier et al., 2017). For the
program would take approximately 6.5 hr in total to com- 4-item knowledge subscale, participants were asked to rate
plete. To encourage skill development and practice, partici- their level of perceived knowledge (e.g., “how would you
pants were advised to undertake one topic per fortnight and rate your knowledge of the signs and symptoms of student
received fortnightly email/SMS reminders to do so; how- mental health issues”) from not at all (0) to extremely (4).
ever, it was possible for participants to complete the entire Items were then summed to create a total score, ranging from
program in one session if they wished. Group responses to 0 to 16. Higher scores indicated greater perceived knowledge
the peer-coaching were submitted to the research team and of mental health. For the five-item awareness subscale, par-
generic feedback was provided to participants by email ticipants were asked to rate their level of perceived aware-
within 3 business days. ness (e.g., “how would you rate your awareness of the risk
factors and causes of student mental health issues”) from not
Control Condition. The control condition was a waitlist. Par- at all (0) to extremely (4). Items were then summed to create
ticipants allocated to the control condition were given access a total score, ranging from 0 to 20. Higher scores indicated
to the BEAM training program at the end of the study period greater perceived awareness of mental health. In this study,
(i.e., after the completion window closed for the 3-month the Cronbach α = .84 for both subscales.
follow-up assessment), regardless of whether they completed
the post-intervention or 3-month follow-up study assess- Mental Health Literacy. A six-item adapted version of the
ments. A waitlist was deemed the optimal comparator as it Mental Health Knowledge Schedule (Evans-Lacko et al.,
would allow for the effects of the training to be isolated while 2010) was used to measure mental health knowledge. The
also providing educators with the opportunity to receive the six statements assessed literacy (e.g., “most students with
program at a later date. mental health problems want to complete their schooling”)
6 Journal of Teacher Education 00(0)

and were rated on a five-point Likert-type scale ranging proportion who completed more than half of the program
from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). Items were (i.e., three or more topics and accompanying peer-coaching
summed to give a total score, ranging from 6 to 30. Higher activities). Participants were also asked to report whether
scores indicated greater mental health literacy. As this is an they completed the peer-coaching activities with a colleague,
edumetric scale (Evans-Lacko et al., 2010), the Cronbach how frequently they met to do so, and whether the peer-
alpha is not reported. coaching was useful to their understanding of the content and
personal development.
Mental Health Stigma. A modified version of the Personal
Stigma subscale from the Depression Stigma Scale (Griffiths Barriers to Use. Participants were asked to report what
et al., 2004) was used to measure teachers’ attitudes toward device they used to complete the training program (e.g., lap-
students with mental health problems. Participants were top/desktop/mobile/tablet). At post-intervention, participants
asked to rate how much they agreed with nine statements were asked to report whether they had experienced a list of
(e.g., “students with a mental illness could snap out of it if 11 barriers to program use related to user factors, program-
they wanted”) using a five-point Likert-type scale ranging specific factors, and contextual factors (answered yes or no).
from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). Items were
summed to give a total score, ranging from 9 to 45. Higher Program Satisfaction. At post-intervention, participants
scores indicated greater levels of stigma. In this study, the were asked to rate the extent to which they agreed with a
Cronbach α = .76. set of 14 statements about the BEAM program (such as “I
enjoyed using BEAM” and “the content was easy to under-
Psychological Distress. The 5-item self-report Distress stand”). All items were rated on a five-point Likert-type
Questionnaire-5 (DQ5; Batterham et al., 2016) was used scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree
to measure educators’ psychological distress. Items were (5). Participants were also asked to provide an overall sat-
answered using a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from isfaction rating and their likelihood of recommending the
never (1) to always (5). Items were summed to give a total program to others (answered on five-point Likert-type scales
score, ranging from 5 to 25. Higher scores indicated greater ranging from not at all to entirely).
psychological distress with a score ≥ 14 indicating the pos-
sibility of a mental health condition (Batterham et al., 2016). Perceived Effectiveness. At post-intervention, participants
The DQ5 has high internal consistency and convergent valid- were asked to rate the extent to which they perceived the
ity (Batterham et al., 2016, 2018). In this study, the Cronbach program to improve their confidence, skills, and approach to
α = .89. student mental health and whether the training program met
their needs (answered on a five-point Likert-type scale rang-
Demographics and Background Factors. At baseline, partici- ing from not at all to entirely). Participants were also asked
pants reported their age, gender identity, Aboriginal or Torres to report whether they had shared any of the information
Strait Islander identity, teaching experience, duration in cur- from the training program with other school staff (answered
rent role, and employment at current school (all reported in yes or no), and whether they had implemented any changes
years). Participants also reported the location of their current in their approach to student mental health during the study
school (metropolitan, regional, rural/remote), the school period because of the training program (answered yes or no).
funder (government and non-government), and gender type
(single-sex and co-educational). Participants also reported
Data Collection and Analyses
their current level of training in student mental health (none,
limited, moderate, and extensive), the importance of receiv- The training program and study data were stored securely on
ing mental health training, and their confidence in web-based the Black Dog Institute’s research engine and were exported
programs for satisfying their training needs. The latter two to Microsoft Excel and SPSS version 27.0 for cleaning and
items were answered using a five-point Likert-type scale preparation. Group differences in outcome variables at base-
ranging from not at all (0) to extremely (4). At baseline, par- line were compared using mixed linear models incorporating
ticipants were also asked to estimate the average number of a random effect of school. To examine attrition, a logistic
hours per week they spent assisting students with their men- regression analysis was conducted to identify baseline fac-
tal health. At 3-month follow-up, participants were also tors associated with the completion of the post-test assess-
asked to report whether they had engaged in any additional ment. All primary and secondary outcome variables were
mental health training during the study period. included in the attrition analysis, along with age, gender,
school type, years of employment, and school gender (sin-
Training Program Outcomes gle-gender or co-educational). The primary and secondary
Completions. This was measured at post-intervention by outcome analyses were undertaken on an intention-to-treat
the mean number of completed topics (range: 0 to 5, includ- basis, including all eligible schools and participants random-
ing the accompanying peer-coaching activity) as well as the ized, regardless of treatment received. The primary outcome
O’Dea et al. 7

was examined using a mixed-effects model repeated-mea- were “somewhat confident” and 1.4% (n=4) were “not at all
sures analysis, conducted in SPSS version 27.0. The school confident.” There were no significant differences between
was included in the analyses as a random effect to evaluate conditions on the outcome variables at baseline after account-
and accommodate clustering effects. Models included the ing for clustering within schools (all p>.06).
factors of time, condition (intervention vs. control), and their
interaction. The critical test of effectiveness was the planned
Study Attrition
contrasts of the interaction from baseline to post-intervention
(primary endpoint) and to 3-month follow-up (secondary As outlined in Figure 2, attrition at post-intervention was
endpoint). An unconstrained variance-covariance matrix was higher in the intervention condition than in the control (49.7%
used to accommodate within-participant effects. The method vs. 19.2%, respectively). The only baseline characteristic that
of Kenward and Roger (1997) was used to estimate degrees was significantly associated with completion of the post-
of freedom for tests of all effects. Comparable methods were intervention assessment was the gender of the respondent,
used for the secondary outcomes. Additional moderation with male participants significantly less likely to complete the
analyses were conducted to determine whether gender, age, post-intervention assessment than females (OR=0.51, p=.037,
school type and location, the co-educational status of the see Supplemental Table S1 for full analyses).
school, participants’ level of prior training, or the total num-
ber of topics completed moderated improvements in training
outcomes. All available data was used irrespective of drop The effects of the program on participants’
out. As per the approved ethics, the data from participants confidence (primary outcome), helping behaviors,
who withdrew were retained in the final analyses. Effect mental health knowledge and awareness, mental
sizes (Cohen’s d) were calculated based on the between- health literacy, stigma, and psychological distress
group differences in the change in the observed group means
from baseline to post-intervention, divided by the standard Estimated marginal means and standard errors were derived
deviation. All authors confirm that they had full access to all from models fitted for the primary and secondary continuous
the data in the study and accept responsibility to submit for outcomes at each time point by condition. These are dis-
publication. played in Table 2. The ICC for confidence was 0.051.
As outlined in Table 3, participants in the intervention con-
dition had significantly greater improvements in their levels of
Role of the Funding Source confidence (primary outcome) than those in the control
between baseline and post-intervention (d=.35), and baseline
This work was supported by the Balnaves Foundation from a
and 3-month follow-up (d=0.21). Relative to the control
noncompetitive philanthropic research grant donation to the
group, participants in the intervention condition also reported
Black Dog Institute. The funders had no role in the design,
significantly greater improvements in perceived mental health
execution, analyses, data interpretation, authorship, or the
knowledge between baseline and post-intervention (d=0.29),
decision to submit the paper for publication.
and baseline and 3-month follow-up (d=0.21) as well as sig-
nificantly greater improvements in perceived mental health
Results awareness at post-intervention (d=0.26) and follow-up
(d=0.41). When compared with the control, participants in the
Overview of the Sample intervention condition also reported significantly greater
A total of 465 educators from 124 schools expressed interest increases in mental health literacy at post-intervention only
in the study. From this, 73 schools provided consent (involv- (d=0.28). No significant effects were found for self-reported
ing 346 educators) and were randomized (see Figure 2). helping behaviors, mental health stigma, or psychological dis-
Thirty-seven schools (n=11, 29.7% rural/regional) were tress. At 3-month follow-up, a total of 11 participants (all in
assigned to the intervention condition and 36 schools (n=11, the intervention condition) reported that they had undertaken
30.6% rural/regional) were assigned to the control condition. additional mental health training during the study period. The
The mean cluster size at randomization was 4.73. Figure 2 moderation analyses revealed that the intervention worked
outlines the CONSORT study flow diagram. similarly across demographic subgroups and school types, and
The baseline characteristics of the final sample (N=295) completion of a larger proportion of the intervention had no
are shown in Table 1. At baseline, 10.9% of the total sample significant effect on any of the outcomes.
(n=32) reported no prior training in student mental health.
Almost all participants (98.3%) believed that mental health
training was “very” (n=60, 20.3%) or “extremely” (n=230, Training Completions
78.0%) important. The majority (n=250, 84.8%) felt “moder- Nearly all participants completed the training on a laptop or
ately” to “extremely confident” that a web-based program desktop computer (n=82/84 97.6%), with very few partici-
could meet their mental health training needs: 13.9% (n=41) pants using a mobile or tablet (n=2/84, 2.4%). Participants
8 Journal of Teacher Education 00(0)

Figure 2. CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) study flow diagram of cluster and individual-participant recruitment
and participation.
Note. Completed = Defined as participants who answered all questions in the assessment.
 Table 1. Baseline Sample Characteristics (N = 295).

Total (N = 295) Intervention (n = 165) Control (n = 130)

Measure Range M SD M SD M SD
Age 23–67 40.10 10.47 38.60 10.55 42.00 10.09
Educator experience (years) 0–44 13.58 9.96 11.78 0.70 15.88 0.93
Duration in current school (years) 0–35 7.51 6.69 6.68 0.43 8.56 0.68
Experience in current role (years) 0–28 4.50 4.42 3.99 0.29 5.13 0.45
Perceived importance of mental health training 2–4 3.76 0.46 3.75 0.04 3.78 0.04
Perceived confidence in a web-based program for meeting training needs 0–4 2.23 0.78 2.16 0.06 2.32 0.07
Time spent assisting students with their mental health (average hours per week) 1–30 7.38 6.76 7.10 6.00 7.73 7.62
Confidence 23–75 54.56 11.45 54.18 11.20 55.05 11.79
Frequency of helping behaviors 15–52 38.92 7.72 39.84 7.17 37.76 8.26
Perceived mental health knowledge 0–16 8.93 2.77 8.95 2.61 8.90 2.97
Perceived mental health awareness 0–20 12.86 3.19 12.76 3.06 12.98 3.36
Mental health literacy 13–27 22.92 2.13 22.91 2.12 22.94 2.15
Mental health stigma 9–22 12.15 3.07 12.17 3.11 12.13 3.03
Psychological distress 5–24 11.51 4.21 11.85 4.10 11.08 4.33

Measure n % n % n %
Female 226 76.6 123 74.6 103 79.2
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander 8 2.7 5 3.0 3 2.3
Current role
Year advisor or equivalent 172 57.3 99 60.0 73 56.2
Director/head of well-being 51 17.3 28 17.0 23 17.7
Deputy or vice principal 16 5.4 9 5.5 7 5.4
Other 56 19.0 29 17.6 27 20.8
Level of prior training
Nil 32 10.9 15 9.1 17 13.1
Limited 124 42.0 74 44.9 50 38.5
Moderate to extensive 139 47.1 76 46.1 63 48.5

Note. Age n = 293 (Intervention = 164); Years of experience working in current role or equivalent n = 293 (Intervention = 163) due to invalid responses.

9
10 Journal of Teacher Education 00(0)

Table 2. Estimated Marginal Means and Standard Errors (SE) of the Primary and Secondary Outcomes.

Intervention Control

Baseline mean Post-intervention Follow-up mean Baseline mean Post-intervention Follow-up mean
Measure (SE) n = 165 mean (SE) n = 84 (SE) n = 66 (SE) n = 130 mean (SE) n = 105 (SE) n = 94
Confidence (primary outcome) 54.69 (1.11) 62.51 (1.11) 62.66 (1.13) 55.34 (1.20) 58.65 (1.12) 59.77 (1.11)
Frequency of helping behaviors 40.11 (0.73) 40.56 (0.81) 39.44 (0.90) 38.12 (0.80) 39.06 (0.82) 38.48 (0.87)
Perceived mental health 8.92 (0.24) 11.42 (0.26) 11.54 (0.29) 8.91 (0.27) 10.51 (0.26) 10.64 (0.26)
knowledge
Perceived mental health 12.84 (0.30) 15.25 (0.35) 15.87 (0.34) 13.03 (0.32) 14.54 (0.34) 14.57 (0.32)
awareness
Mental health literacy 22.91 (0.18) 24.24 (0.22) 24.28 (0.23) 22.94 (0.20) 23.51 (0.21) 23.74 (0.21)
Mental health stigma 12.17 (0.24) 12.31 (0.36) 11.80 (0.33) 12.13 (0.27) 12.34 (0.34) 12.22 (0.31)
Psychological distress 11.81 (0.37) 11.80 (0.43) 11.46 (0.46) 11.08 (0.41) 11.31 (0.44) 11.50 (0.45)

Note. Intervention n=164 for psychological distress at baseline due to one invalid response. SE = standard error.

completed an average of 2.64 topics out of the five (SD: 2.26, confronting or distressing. For satisfaction, 72.6% (n=61/84)
range: 0–5). A total of 71 participants (n=71/165, 43.0%) were moderately or entirely satisfied with the program and
completed the entire training program (i.e., all self-directed 75.0% (n=63/84) agreed they would recommend it to
topics and peer-coaching activities) and 78 (47.3%) com- others.
pleted the self-directed topics only. Half of the sample com- Two thirds of the sample moderately or entirely agreed
pleted 3 or more topics and accompanying peer-coaching that the training program improved their confidence
(n=84/165, 50.9%). At post-intervention, 58.3% (n=49/84) (n=55/84), skills (n=55/84), and approach (n=56/84) to stu-
of participants reported that they had completed the peer- dent mental health. Fifty-one participants (60.7%) reported
coaching activities with another colleague, meeting weekly that the program moderately or entirely met their training
or fortnightly (n=36/49, 73.5%) to do so. Over half of the needs. Over two-thirds of respondents (n=44/64, 68.8%)
participants at post-intervention (n=43/84, 51.2%) reported reported that they had shared information from the program
that the peer-coaching was useful for understanding the con- with other school staff and 43.6% (n=28/64) reported that
tent and personal development. The mean number of topics they had implemented changes in their approach to student
completed was higher among intervention participants who mental health and well-being
remained in the study at post-intervention (n=83, M: 3.73,
SD: 1.91) when compared to those who did not (n=82, M:
1.57, SD: 2.06).
Discussion
This cluster RCT aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the
Barriers to Use, Training Satisfaction, and BEAM program for improving secondary school educators’
confidence in recognizing and responding to students’ men-
Perceived Effectiveness of the Beam Training
tal health needs as well as the frequency of their helping
Program behaviors, perceived mental health knowledge and aware-
Table 4 presents the barriers to use, training satisfaction and ness, mental health literacy and stigma toward students with
perceived effectiveness of the BEAM training program mental health problems. Consistent with the primary hypoth-
among the educators who completed post-test. These partici- esis, educators who received the BEAM training program
pants reported that the most common barriers to program reported significantly higher levels of confidence at post-
completion were not having enough time (n=43/83, 51.8%), intervention and at 3-month follow-up, relative to the con-
low priority (n=31/83, 37.4%) and forgetfulness (n=25/83, trol. Educators who received the BEAM program also
30.1%). Fourteen (16.9%) of these participants reported that reported significantly higher levels of perceived mental
not having a colleague available for the peer-coaching inhib- health knowledge and awareness at post-intervention and
ited their program use. Nearly all participants who completed 3-month follow-up, relative to the control, with significant
the post-intervention assessment agreed that the training pro- effects on mental health literacy found at post-intervention
gram was easy to understand (n=82/84, 97.6%), relevant to only. No significant effects were found for helping behav-
their current role (n=79/84, 94.1%), helpful (n=76/84, iors, stigma, or personal levels of psychological distress.
90.5%), easy to use (n=76/84, 90.5%), interesting (n=76/84, Overall, the findings suggest that the BEAM program may
90.5%), and enjoyable (n=70/84, 83.3%). Five of these par- address some of the training needs of Australian secondary
ticipants (6.0%) reported that the training content was school educators in the domain of student mental health.
O’Dea et al. 11

Table 3. Mixed-Effects Model Repeated Measures Estimates for Primary and Secondary Outcomes at Each Time Point by Condition.

Measure df t p Cohen’s d
Confidence (primary outcome)
Condition (intervention vs. control) 1 89.10 −0.397 .693
Time (post vs. baseline) 1 208.16 4.143 <.001
Time (follow-up vs. baseline) 1 183.45 6.005 <.001
Intervention × Time (post) 2 221.89 3.907 <.001 0.35
Intervention × Time (follow-up) 2 199.75 3.221 .001 0.21
Helping behaviors
Condition (intervention vs. control) 1 61.84 1.842 .070
Time (post vs. baseline) 1 194.97 1.929 .055
Time (follow-up vs. baseline) 1 172.28 0.637 .525
Intervention × Time (post) 2 201.46 −0.684 .495 0.1
Intervention × Time (follow-up) 2 177.67 −1.187 .237 0.2
Perceived mental health knowledge
Condition (intervention vs. control) 1 69.40 0.048 .962
Time (post vs. baseline) 1 220.85 7.226 <.001
Time (follow-up vs. baseline) 1 199.13 7.341 <.001
Intervention × Time (post) 2 233.93 2.755 .006 0.29
Intervention × Time (follow-up) 2 211.12 2.493 .013 0.21
Perceived mental health awareness
Condition (intervention vs. control) 1 74.76 −0.422 .675
Time (post vs. baseline) 1 211.78 5.202 <.001
Time (follow-up vs. baseline) 1 197.80 5.640 <.001
Intervention × Time (post) 2 222.42 2.112 .036 0.26
Intervention × Time (follow-up) 2 211.72 3.626 <.001 0.41
Mental health literacy
Condition (intervention vs. control) 1 78.39 −0.113 .910
Time (post vs. baseline) 1 214.79 2.796 .006
Time (follow-up vs. baseline) 1 196.27 4.022 <.001
Intervention × Time (post) 2 225.94 2.522 .012 0.28
Intervention × Time (follow-up) 2 209.00 1.901 .059 0.29
Mental health stigmaa
Condition (intervention vs. control) 1 293.00 0.11 .914
Time (post vs. baseline) 1 207.86 0.72 .474
Time (follow-up vs. baseline) 1 176.13 0.36 .719
Intervention × Time (post) 2 213.75 −0.17 .864 0.07
Intervention × Time (follow-up) 2 185.50 −1.20 .232 0.14
Psychological distress
Condition (intervention vs. control) 1 68.00 1.319 .192
Time (post vs. baseline) 1 199.03 0.838 .403
Time (follow-up vs. baseline) 1 174.32 1.373 .172
Intervention × Time (post) 2 204.64 −0.585 .559 0.06
Intervention × Time (follow-up) 2 183.16 −1.649 .101 0.14
a
Model did not converge with random effect of school, so random effect was excluded.

The BEAM program was found to have a positive effect levels of experience working with distressed youth
on educators’ confidence, mental health awareness, and (Gryglewicz et al., 2018; Sánchez et al., 2021). On the con-
knowledge, relative to the control, despite many participants trary, the findings suggest that the BEAM program may
reporting that they had already undertaken a moderate to induce positive effects on educators with diverse experi-
extensive level of mental health training prior to the trial. ences and expertise in student mental health. This may have
This pattern of results contrasts with past studies that have been driven by the alignment of the BEAM program with
found mental health training to be less effective among sam- professional development frameworks for teachers and edu-
ples who have received prior training or who have high cators’ training preferences, as evidenced by the high levels
12 Journal of Teacher Education 00(0)

Table 4. Barriers to Use, Program Satisfaction and Perceived Effectiveness of the BEAM Training Program.

Barriers to use (n = 83) Agreed (n) %

I didn’t have enough time to complete the program 43 51.81
The program wasn’t a priority 31 37.35
I forgot about the program 25 30.12
I didn’t have another colleague to complete peer-coaching activities 14 16.87
Program wasn’t engaging 7 8.43
I had concerns about the privacy and security of my data 4 4.82
Program wasn’t useful or relevant 4 4.82
Program was disruptive to my working relationships 3 3.61
I had problems with accessing the program 2 2.41
I had problems with my Internet connection or device access 2 2.41
Other reasons not listed 2 2.41
I went on leave from school/role 1 1.20

Program satisfaction (n = 84; range 1 to 5) M SD

I went on leave from school/role 1 1.20
I enjoyed using the program 4.04 0.72
I thought the program was interesting 4.21 0.68
I found the program easy to use 4.26 0.73
The content was easy to understand 4.43 0.54
I found the program to be helpful 4.20 0.64
The content was relevant to my current role 4.31 0.62
The content was confronting or distressing 1.92 0.82
Overall, how satisfied are you with the program? 3.86 0.95
How likely are you to re-use the program in the future? 3.86 1.10
How likely are you to recommend the program to other educators? 4.10 1.03

Perceived effectiveness (n = 84; range: 1 to 5) M SD

To what extent did the program increase your confidence to support students’ mental health? 3.56 0.83
To what extent did the program increase your skills to support students’ mental health? 3.62 0.93
To what extent did the program improve your approach to supporting students’ mental health? 3.61 0.82
To what extent did the program meet your mental health training needs? 3.64 0.96

of program satisfaction. Most participants described the In this trial, program completion was not found to signifi-
program as relevant, helpful, and easy to understand, signi- cantly moderate improvements in outcomes. Participation in
fying that the content was appropriately targeted and aligned the BEAM program was beneficial even among those who
with the nature of participants’ daily work. The peer-coach- were not able to complete it in its entirety. This contrasts with
ing appeared to be successful in achieving active learning a previous study of online mental health training for work-
and collective participation, with nearly two-thirds complet- place managers (Gayed, Bryan, et al., 2019), where partial
ing these activities. Less than one in four teachers reported program completers did not report improvements in confi-
that these activities were a barrier to program completion, dence. As our study was not designed to establish dose
indicating that this type of learning activity may be an effec- effects of program completion, it is important not to over
tive way to enrich collaboration between educators. interpret this finding. This finding may be due to an experi-
However, as some participants reported difficulty in sched- mental artifact such that intervention participants reported
uling peer-coaching sessions, supplementing the program higher levels of confidence simply due to the receipt of the
delivery with education partners and facilitators or online training program, rather than its full completion. As found in
communities of practice may help to further support active the pilot study, time, competing priorities, and forgetfulness
learning and collective participation (Tsai et al., 2010). remained the top three barriers to program completion.
More specialized, intensive peer-coaching that focuses on However, the number of participants reporting these barriers
social-emotional competence and personalized strategies dropped markedly in this trial and completions were also
may also help to improve program effects by strengthening higher in this study when compared with the pilot (43% vs.
the alignment of the BEAM program with participants’ 16%). This indicates that the program enhancements may
training needs (Martin et al., 2021). have increased engagement. Despite this, less than half of the
O’Dea et al. 13

current trial participants completed the full training program. this study. As such, future studies may be strengthened by
While the rate of completion was higher than that of other reviewing the types of helping behaviors assessed to ensure
online courses (Bawa, 2016), and a similar self-paced online they align with current practice. The lack of significant
mental health training program (Gayed, Bryan, et al., 2019), effects for psychological distress is likely due to the non-
teachers may require greater incentives to complete the 6.5- clinical nature of the sample and the low levels of distress
hr course in their own time, relief of teaching duties to com- reported by the participants at baseline. A key strength of the
plete the program while working, or integration into current trial is the measurement of this outcome, alongside
professional development training days. While in-person the number of teachers who found the content distressing, as
mental health training was not found to be superior to online these aspects have been largely ignored by past studies
training for improving confidence in workplace managers (Yamaguchi et al., 2020). As secondary school educators are
(Gayed, Tan, et al., 2019), providing educators with optional susceptible to burnout (García-Carmona et al., 2019), moni-
in-person school-based facilitator sessions may lead to toring unintended consequences of this type of professional
greater completion of the BEAM program. Facilitated ses- development is key to preserving the mental health and well-
sions may also strengthen the schools-based approach by being of training participants.
providing more opportunities for teachers to gain feedback,
come together to discuss training content, and strengthen
rapport between staff (Kaufmann & Vallade, 2022). This
Limitations
may help to further satisfy the training needs of the cohort, This study was impacted by attrition, particularly among
although would likely reduce the sustainability and reach of intervention participants. Although the attrition rates in the
the program. Professional accreditation and endorsement current trial were lower than the pilot trial (60–67%; Parker,
from school boards may also increase completions. However, Anderson, et al., 2021) and the statistical analysis incorpo-
the findings suggest that a conventional course structure may rated all available data, the control condition appeared more
not always be appropriate for experienced educators, such motivated to complete the study surveys. This was likely due
that individuals may want to “dip in” and “dip out” of the to a heightened desire to receive the training program upon
information offered as it interests them or when they require completion of study. Future studies may benefit from using
it. Given that educators are time-poor, future research would additional contact measures, such as telephoning non-
benefit from exploring different patterns of use to determine responders, or increasing reimbursements, as these
the “minimum dose” required for positive training outcomes. approaches have increased retention rates in other trials of
As many of the participants reported that they would recom- educator interventions (Schutte et al., 2018). As this study
mend the training to others, the BEAM program may hold relied on self-reported measures to evaluate effectiveness,
significant promise for upskilling educators in the important peer observations from other school staff, parent and student
domain of student mental health. feedback could help to better capture the impacts of the pro-
In this trial, there were no significant differences in help- gram. Given the lack of standardized instruments designed to
ing behaviors or educators’ levels of psychological distress specifically to measure teachers’ self-efficacy in relation to
between the two conditions at post-intervention or 3-month student mental health, results may vary when different scales
follow-up. Ceiling effects may have impacted this outcome are used (Brann et al., 2021). Future studies may also benefit
as the frequency of helping behaviors at baseline was higher from examining school-level factors such as culture and
in the current sample compared with the pilot evaluation. In belongingness and student-level factors such as the presence
addition, this trial involved senior educators employed in of mental health difficulties, absenteeism and attainment to
roles with greater responsibility for student well-being. provide further evidence of the training impacts (Kidger
Different effects on helping behaviors may be found when et al., 2021). This will also help to determine whether the
the program is tested among staff new to well-being roles, BEAM program is able to produce meaningful change at the
general educator samples, or when different measures of student-level, which may be required for broader improve-
behavior (e.g., time spent assisting students) are used. ments in schools’ approach to student mental health. Future
Examining the program with different study designs would studies may also benefit from the inclusion of a validated
provide more insight into the relevance of the program for online learning scale (Yang et al., 2020) to examine the util-
broader educator cohorts and whether the BEAM program ity of the program for generating an effective learning envi-
changes educators’ workloads in relation to the management ronment and experience in the domain of student mental
of student mental health issues. Moreover, in another cross- health. Emerging research has also suggested that the expec-
sectional survey of this sample of educators (O’Dea, 2021), tations and experiences of educators in relation to student
some participants reported that COVID-19 school closures mental health may vary by country and school type (Luthar
altered the nature of their helping behaviors for student men- et al., 2020). As such, future trials would benefit from evalu-
tal health. While the current trial was not conducted during ating the effects of the BEAM program in more diverse sam-
school closures, COVID-19 may have introduced new help- ples of educators, school types and locations. Finally, while
ing behaviors that were not captured by the measure used in program completion did not appear to moderate training
14 Journal of Teacher Education 00(0)

effects in this trial, future studies may benefit from a deeper work was supported by the Balnaves Foundation from a non-com-
exploration of the relationship between adherence and out- petitive philanthropic research grant donation to the Black Dog
comes. By doing so, future research can contribute to a more Institute. The funders had no role in the design, execution, analyses,
comprehensive understanding of how teacher training pro- data interpretation, authorship or the decision to submit the paper
for publication.
grams should be designed and delivered, given that many
educators are time-poor with competing priorities.
ORCID iD
Bridianne O’Dea https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1731-210X
Conclusion
This study is the first to rigorously evaluate the effects of a Supplemental Material
professional development program that blends online learn- Supplemental material for this article is available online.
ing with in-person peer-coaching to improve secondary
school educators’ confidence, knowledge, attitudes and References
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(SDOLS) for graduate students. International Review of interventions to treat and prevent mental health conditions. He is
Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 21(3), 99–120. also experienced in psychiatric epidemiology and longitudinal stud-
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Zhang, S., Liu, Q., & Wang, Q. (2017). A study of peer coaching in
Alexis E. Whitton is a Senior Research Fellow at the Black Dog
teachers’ online professional learning communities. Universal
Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney. She is interna-
Access in the Information Society, 16(2), 337–347. https://doi.
tionally recognized for her research into the neurobiological basis
org/10.1007/s10209-016-0461-4
of mood disorders and for her role in the development of broad-
reaching web-based interventions for depression. Her research aims
Author Biographies to improve the lives of individuals suffering from depression by
Bridianne O’Dea is an associate professor at the Black Dog Institute, increasing the early detection of symptoms, facilitating access to
University of New South Wales, Australia. She completed her PhD in affordable evidence-based treatment, and improving the effective-
Health Sciences at the University of Sydney in 2013. O’Dea’s ness of current antidepressant interventions.
research integrates the disciplines of public health and psychology
Jill M. Newby is head of clinical research at the Black Dog Institute,
with computer science to identify and address treatment gaps in men-
University of New South Wales, Sydney. She is a clinical psycholo-
tal health service provision using new and novel internet solutions.
gist and has research interests in technology-based interventions for
Belinda Parker is an early-mid career researcher having attained depression and anxiety, cognitive behavioral therapy and mindful-
her PhD in 2017. She holds a Bachelor of Music (Performance) ness interventions, and evidence-based treatments for anxiety
from the University of Adelaide, a Graduate Diploma of Social disorders.
Science (Psychology) and a Bachelor of Social Science (Honors)
Mirjana Subotic-Kerry is an experienced mental health researcher
from the University of New England, and a Doctor of Philosophy
in adolescent mental health and school-based mental health inter-
from Queensland University of Technology. Dr Parker now works
ventions. Her research interests include the prevention and early
as a Research Associate at Larkley where she contributes to a num-
intervention of depression and anxiety in young people, and the
ber of projects relating to the Australian Defense Force and Joint
design, implementation and evaluation of e-health technology in
Military Police Unit.
the school setting to improve the reach, uptake and engagement of
Philip J. Batterham is based at the Center for Mental Health psychological interventions and services for youth.
Research, in the Research School of Population Health, at the
Aimee Gayed is an early career researcher in workplace mental
Australian National University. His research interests include
health. She is currently investigated the benefits of evidence-based
implementing digital tools to prevent mental disorders, reducing
workplace interventions designed to enhance managers’ ability to
risk of suicide, assessing mental health in the population, and reduc-
discuss mental health matters with their staff, and increase their
ing the stigma of mental illness.
implementation of managerial techniques that promote mentally
Cassandra Chakouch is a research officer at the Black Dog healthy workplaces.
Institute, Sydney, Australia. She contributes to several mental
Samuel B. Harvey is the chief scientist and executive director of
health research projects focused on digital mental health, young
the Black Dog Institute, Sydney. He is a psychiatrist and epidemi-
people, and suicide prevention.
ologist with a particular interest in the overlap between mental
Andrew J. Mackinnon is a quantitative psychologist and statisti- health, physical health, and work. He leads a comprehensive
cian who supports a wide range of clinical trials and research stud- research program that examines workplace mental health and mod-
ies at Black Dog Institute, focusing primarily on trials of els of clinical care for depression.