This study examined the roles that youth involvement and youth trainee-trainer alliance play in school mental health prevention within the context of youth suicide gatekeeper training. Measures included youth involvement in programming, trainee-trainer alliance, and intentions to refer at-risk youth at pre- and post-training. A moderated-mediation design was used to examine associations among these factors. Results show alliance mediating pre- and post-training referral intentions, and involvement moderating the relationship between alliance and post-training intentions. On average, trainee intentions improved from pre- to post-training, but trainees reporting high alliance endorsed higher post-training referral intentions regardless of involvement level. Low alliance resulted in lower than average post-training referral intentions, even with active involvement in programming, and those with both low alliance and involvement showed the lowest post-training referral intentions. Given these findings, fostering the youth trainee-trainer relationship may be an avenue to optimize prevention program effectiveness.
Keywords: Community prevention; School-based mental health; Suicide prevention; Trainer alliance; Youth trainee involvement.