The co-production of a performance psychology and mental health literacy training programme for sport officials: the RefWell programme

Abstract

Despite increasing recognition of mental health challenges within sport, the mental health of sport officials remains underexplored. This thesis addressed this gap by developing and pilot testing RefWell, a co-produced performance psychology and mental health literacy training intervention for sport officials. The thesis aimed to: i) understand the psychological demands experienced by sport officials; ii) examine the organisational and psychological factors influencing mental health help-seeking; iii) co-produce a contextually informed intervention with key stakeholders; and iv) evaluate its acceptability and impact. Within Chapter II, a narrative literature review provided context and established the demands of sport officiating, revealing a lack of mental health support for this population. Building on these insights, Chapter III detailed a reflective case study of a mental health intervention within football, identifying organisational barriers as a key challenge to implementation. Within Chapter IV, a cross-sectional survey of Gaelic games officials (n = 303) demonstrated the prevalence of abuse experiences, other stressors, maladaptive coping, and the impact of each on mental health outcomes. This survey also highlighted a desire for greater mental health support by sport officials. Chapter V detailed the equitable and experientially-informed co-production research process to develop the RefWell programme. Subsequent qualitative interviews (n = 10) within Chapter VI identified barriers and facilitators to mental health help-seeking, highlighting negative perceptions, low mental health literacy, and accessibility issues as key concerns. Finally, within Chapter VII, a pilot study of RefWell was conducted, demonstrating the feasibility and acceptability of the programme, with outcomes evidencing improvements in mental health literacy post-intervention. This thesis makes a novel contribution to the extant officiating literature by evidencing the development of a co-produced mental health and performance psychology training intervention for sport officials. The findings offer novel insights for researchers and practitioners to better support sport officials.

Date of Award	Jan 2026
Original language	English
Supervisor	Stephen Shannon (Supervisor), Noel Brick (Supervisor) & Orla Mc Devitt-Petrovic (Supervisor)