An evaluation of youth mental health first aid training with law enforcement officers.

Abstract

Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) training has been adopted across the United States to teach adults how to identify and respond to youth mental health challenges and crises. Evaluations of YMHFA have yet to be undertaken with law enforcement populations, although agencies and officers are participating in the training. The present study implemented and evaluated YMHFA with law enforcement officers (N = 446) across a southeastern state. A longitudinal survey design (pretest, posttest, 90-day follow-up) was employed to measure training participants' satisfaction with the training and changes to seven constructs: mental health knowledge; confidence to engage in help-seeking behaviors; intentions to intervene; positive attitudes toward youth with mental health needs; negative attitudes toward community responsibility for youth with mental health needs; positive attitudes toward youth with mental health needs living in the community; and preparedness. Results of analyses demonstrated statistically significant improvements among all constructs immediately following training completion, and participants generally reported being satisfied with the training. However, most of the improvements observed immediately following the training disappeared at the 90-day follow-up, with only participants' reported confidence and preparedness continuing to show improvement over pretest scores. The implications of these findings for law enforcement officers, their agencies, and researchers are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).