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Coaches' knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about mental health – the construct of mental health literacy (MHL) – affects teams' mental health (MH) climates and the early detection, referral, and treatment of athletes' MH concerns. Thus, assessing collegiate coaches' MHL, and the factors related to its presence, is critical. Using the Mental Health Literacy Scale, I surveyed 1,571 NCAA coaches (Mage = 37.5 years, SD = 11.8; 51.4% cisgender female; 85.9% White) regarding their MHL and related demographic and MH-experience factors, including their belief regarding MH and sport performance. Overall, 99.9% of the coaches believed that athletes' MH affected their sport performances. Through hierarchical regression analyses, I found that coaches' exposure to MH treatment, their perceived helpfulness of MH treatment, their gender (i.e., woman), number of years coaching (i.e., fewer years), and NCAA Division in which they currently coach (i.e., DIII) were related significantly to their MHL, explaining 15.5% of variance. Coaches' race/ethnicity was not related to MHL. These findings provide insight on hiring and educating coaches, and hiring appropriately trained and licensed MH and sport psychology professionals. Specifically, coach education should be focused and practical: signs and symptoms of common MH concerns disorders; the ubiquity of MH concerns among athletes; how to talk to athletes about MH and suicide; and how to make timely, efficient, and respectful referrals following that system's specific procedures. Such education would be particularly beneficial for male coaches or those who have been coaching longer.

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Abstract Student-athletes are viewed as the epitome of health due to their physical appearance and talent set; however, it is their psychological health that needs significant attention (Etzel, 2006). Psychosocial stressors such as the pressures and demands of being a student and athlete as well as the demands and expectations of the coach have significant impact on the student-athlete’s mental health and well-being (Beauchemin, 2014; Cleary et al., 2011; Lafrenière et al., 2011; Mageau & Vallerand, 2003; Watson, 2005). The purpose of this research is to investigate any correlation between student-athletes’ perceptions of coaching leadership behaviors and the symptoms associated with disorders such as anxiety, depression, suicidality, and substance abuse. The Leadership Scale for Sport (Chelladurai & Saleh, 1980) and the Symptom Assessment Measure instruments are used in this study. An exploratory analysis determined the reliability and construct validity of the instruments. Thirty-three student-athletes from a non-football Division I university engaged in the study, with twenty-eight completing some or all portions of study. All participants are between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four. A linear regression analysis demonstrated no relation between the independent variable, student-athlete perception of coaching leadership behaviors and the dependent variable, symptoms associated with anxiety, depression, suicidal behavior, and substance abuse mental health disorders, (F=.52, p=.49, R2=.061, and Beta coefficient was -0.248). Gender differences is not determined due to the skewed sample consisting of eighty five percent female and fifteen percent male. Though the linear regression analysis indicates no relation between the dependent and independent variable, supplemental contextualization was given to additional questions asked on the Symptoms Assessment Measure. These findings provide evidence that student-athletes perceive that their coach’s leadership behaviors do have influence on their mental health. This reinforces reports that coaches do wield power over their athletes and their influence is related to student-athletes’ psychological well-being (Horn, 2008; Locke et al., 2012; Stebbings et al., 2012).