Date of Award
8-2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
College/School
College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Department/Program
Psychology
Thesis Sponsor/Dissertation Chair/Project Chair
Cheryl Gray
Committee Member
Manuel Gonzalez
Committee Member
Melissa Gutworth
Committee Member
Paul Spector
Committee Member
Zhinqing Zhou
Abstract
The growing prevalence of mental health challenges in the workplace – such as anxiety and depression, burnout, suicide, and substance abuse – has increased demand for evidence-based supervisor training programs that promote psychological well-being. This study evaluated the effectiveness of Mind Mentor: The Workplace Mental Health Navigator, a 1.5-hour, web-based, self-paced adaptation of the Mental Health Awareness Training (MHAT; Dimoff, 2016) for supervisors. The training aimed to enhance mental health knowledge, awareness, self-efficacy, and supportive behaviors among U.S.-based supervisors with at least one direct report. Using a pre/post/follow-up design (baseline N = 51, immediate post-test N = 35, and 4-week delayed post-test N = 21), the study measured changes in supervisors’ mental health stigma, mental health literacy, awareness of employee distress, practical support behaviors, and self-efficacy in supporting employees facing mental health concerns. Results indicated a significant and sustained reduction in mental health stigma and improvements in personal feelings toward mental health challenges and self-efficacy for supporting employees facing mental health concerns. While supervisors’ action-oriented (reactive) behaviors significantly increased, supervisors’ proactive promotion of mental health did not significantly change. These findings suggest that short, flexible, digital trainings can promote reactive mental health support behaviors among supervisors, potentially laying the groundwork for broader organizational culture change. Limitations included a small sample size, reliance on self-report data, and a short follow-up period. Future research should explore long-term outcomes and compare delivery modalities to optimize scalability and effectiveness of workplace mental health interventions.
File Format
Recommended Citation
Offermann, Lauren, "Mind Mentor, The Workplace Mental Health Navigator: Evaluating the Utility of a Self-Paced Web-Based Mental Health Awareness Training for Supervisors" (2025). Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects. 1586.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/etd/1586