Effectiveness of a Virtual Mental Health Literacy Training for Korean American Church Leaders: Knowledge, Behavioral Intentions, and Confidence

Abstract Korean Americans experience elevated depression and distress yet remain underserved due to structural, cultural, and linguistic barriers. Because churches are primary sources of support, church leaders often serve as critical gatekeepers but frequently lack formal training. This mixed methods study evaluated a 7-week online mental health training program tailored for Korean American church leaders. Participants ( N = 79; two cohorts) completed pre-training surveys; 48 completed post-training surveys. Fixed-effects panel regressions estimated within-person change. Outcomes included self-reported mental health knowledge (four items; α = .85), behavioral intentions/action (five items; α = .86), and confidence across topic areas (eight items; α = .94). Models showed significant gains in knowledge ( b = 0.69, p < .001), action ( b = 0.55, p < .001), and confidence ( b = 0.78, p <.001); 17 of 18 items improved. Multiple regression analysis of change scores among complete cases ( n = 46) revealed larger gains for participants with lower baseline scores ( p < .001). Serving in a medium-sized congregation (100–500 members) predicted greater improvement in action ( b = 0.36, p < .05) and knowledge ( b = 0.37, p <.05); serving in an English-speaking ministry predicted additional knowledge gains ( b = 0.35, p < .05). Qualitative analysis (56 pre-training responses, 22 post-training responses) showed a shift from general needs for foundations, tools, and referrals to specific plans for educating leadership, creating ministries/teams, formalizing referral resources, and modeling openness. The findings suggest that culturally tailored, online gatekeeper training can strengthen mental health capacity within faith communities and may be especially effective in medium-sized congregations and English ministry contexts.