Table 2 Descriptive information for included studies

Ajilchi et al. (2019) [45]

Randomised controlled trial; 6 weeks

Amateur basketball players (n = 30; 30 males, age = 22)

Emotional intelligence; mindfulness programme consisting of weekly 90-min group sessions and home practice delivered under supervision of experienced psychologist

Bapat et al. (2009) [59]

Pre-post design; 3 weeks

Sport club leaders (n = 40; age = 38.62; 16 males, 24 females)

Mental health literacy through mental health first aid training; 8-h training programme delivered over 3 sessions using a range of presentations, tasks and homework

Breslin et al. (2017) [8, 60]

Controlled trial; 1 day (3-h session)

Sport coaches (n = 244; 126 males, 118 females)

Mental health awareness programme involving videos and discussions with athletes who have experienced depression; 3-h programme delivered in one session by a public health agency provider

Breslin et al. (2018) [61]

Pre-Post design; 1 day (75-min session)

Student athletes (n = 100;59 males, 41 females, age = 20.78)

Multicomponent mental health awareness program; 75-min experiential and skill-enhancing programme delivered by experienced mental health and well-being tutors.

Chow et al. (2020) [46]

Pre-Post design; 4 weeks

Student athletes (n = 33; age = 19.2, 13 males, 20 females)

Mental health literacy and stigma reduction; 4 60-min sessions delivered by experienced mental health researchers incorporating psychoeducation, group discussion and video learning

Donohue et al. (2015) [62]

Single subject pre-post and follow up design; 4 months

Athletes with previous history of substance abuse or dependence (n = 7; age = 20; 4 males, 3 females)

Modifying behavioural and cognitive skills to overcome substance abuse; 12 individual meetings on a range of topics

Donohue et al. (2018) [47]

Randomised controlled trial; 8 months

Collegiate athletes (n = 74;38 males,36 females, age = 20.64)

Mental health symptom severity; 2 intervention arms, one consisting of 12 60–90-min sport and life performance optimization meetings, the other was consistent with customary university mental health services, consisting of 12 50 minute office-based outpatient sessions

Dowell et al. (2020) [48]

Pre-Post design;5 months

Youth rugby league players (n = 74;74 males, age = 13.23)

Mental health symptom severity; connected participants and parents to multi-component intervention including online resources, group-based workshop (4 × 30 min) and tailored individual follow-up

Dubuc-Charbonneau and Durand-Bush (2015) [49]

Pre-Post design;1 season (approximately 6 months)

Student athletes (n = 8;4 males, 4 females, age = 21.5)

Mental well-being; person-centred, self-regulation intervention, 40–60-min sessions led by experienced researcher

Fogaca (2019) [50]

Quasi-experimental design;5 weeks

Student athletes (n = 88; age = 19.8, 45 females, 43 males)

Mental health outcomes; teaching coping skills and increasing social support within team delivered by author

Glass et al. (2019) [51]

Randomised controlled trial;6 weeks

Student athletes (n = 52; age = 19.32, 44 females, 8 males)

Mental well-being; 6 90 minute educational, discussion-based sessions with meditation exercises progressively introduced, co-facilitated by 2 clinical psychologists

Gross et al. (2018) [44]

Randomised controlled trial;7 weeks

Collegiate athletes (n = 18;18 females)

Psychological well-being outcomes; 2 intervention arms, both involved 7 60 minute sessions, one focused on psychoeducation and mindfulness the other, mental skills training

Gulliver et al. (2012) [63]

Randomised control trial; 5 weeks

Elite athletes (n = 59; age = 25.5; 16 males, 43 females)

Mental health literacy; participants were allocated to one of a series of online psycho-educational programmes

Hurley et al. (2018) [18]

Controlled trial;1 month

Parents of adolescent sports club members (n = 66; age = 44.86, 49 females, 17 males)

Mental health literacy; 65 minute mental health literacy intervention workshop delivered through community sports clubs along with informative pamphlet and online resources

Hurley et al. (2020) [52]

Controlled trial;1 month

Parents of adolescent sports club members (n = 540;age = 47.42,321 females, 219 males)

Mental health literacy; 50–75-min mental health literacy intervention workshop delivered through community sports clubs employing a community based participatory approach along with informative pamphlet and online resources

Laureano et al. (2014) [53]

Quasi-experimental design;2 weeks

University student rugby players (n = 76;age = 20.69, 76 males)

Coping self-efficacy and psychological well-being; experiential learning programme consisting of 6 1-hr group sessions, participants received psychoeducational workbook

Longshore et al. (2015) [64]

Controlled trial; 6 weeks

College coaches (n = 20; age = 34.5; 8 males, 12 females)

Mindfulness training programme to develop emotional awareness and reduce stress; an initial 1.5 h group session followed by a 6 week home program

Liddle et al. (2019) [40]

Cluster-randomised controlled trial; 6 weeks

Adolescent sport participants (n = 102; age = 14.3, 102 males)

Mental health literacy; 45-min workshop in a community sports club via powerpoint, facilitated discussions and role-play

Mohammed et al. (2018) [54]

Pre-Post design; 8 weeks

Injured student athletes (n = 20; age range = 21–36, 14 males, 6 females)

Mental well-being and mindful awareness; weekly formal and cd-guided informal meditation practise

Pierce et al. (2010) [65]

Pre-post design (club leaders); controlled trial (football players); 3 weeks

Club leaders (n = 36; age = 45); and football players (n = 275; age = 21)

Mental health literacy; 12-h psycho-educational group sessions for leaders; information sessions were conducted with players alongside informal information

Sebbens et al. (2016) [66]

Controlled trial; 1 day (4 h)

Coaches, trainers, support staff and service provides (n = 166; age = 37.8; 83 males, 83 females)

Mental health knowledge and confidence program; 4-h applied workshop involving case studies, role-playing and videos

Sekizaki et al. (2019) [55]

Randomised controlled trial; 4 weeks

High school athletes (n = 80;age = 15.75, 80 males)

Mental well-being and self-efficacy; 180-min group education in a school setting regarding cognitive behaviour therapy and online homework using iCBT

Shannon et al. (2019) [56]

Controlled trial; 2 weeks

Student athletes (n = 238; age = 20.47, 137 males, 101 females)

Mental well-being and mindful awareness; 90-min intervention workshop through a needs-supportive environment delivered by a psychiatrist and counsellor followed by mindfulness programme via mobile app

Slack et al. (2015) [67]

Single subject pre-post design; 1 season (approximately 6 months)

Referees (n = 3; age = 28.67; 3 males)

Mental toughness education and training program; six monthly workshops involving four individual-based and two group-based sessions consisting of role-playing and cognitive behavioural therapy techniques

Tester et al. (1999) [68]

Pre-post design; 2 school years

‘At risk’ schoolchildren enrolled in a sports programme (n = 991)

Preparation for life skills (i.e. pro social behaviours, stress management) were taught by sporting mentors through a basketball programme in and outside classroom settings over the course of 2 years

Van Raalte et al. (2015) [69]

Randomised controlled trial; 1 day (online session lasted at least 10 min)

Student athletes (n = 153; age = 19.63; 46 males, 103 females)

Mental health literacy; web-based programme using exercises and interactive material

Vella et al. (2020) [57]

Controlled trial; 8 weeks

Adolescent male sport participants, parents of participants and coaches (n = 1004)

Mental health literacy; multi-component sports-based programme to promote early intervention, help-seeking and resilience

Vidic et al. (2018) [58]

Pre-post design; 9 weeks

Collegiate male soccer athletes (n = 18; age = 19.56, 18 males)

Stress; 6 1 hour mindfulness meditation-based sessions led by experienced practitioner