Centre for Mental Health Research, College of Health and Medicine, The Australian National University, Acton ACT, Australia.
The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
J Med Internet Res. 2023 Feb 2;25:e41663. doi: 10.2196/41663.
Digital mental health (DMH) programs can be effective in treating and preventing mental health problems. However, community engagement with these programs can be poor. Understanding the barriers and enablers of DMH program use may assist in identifying ways to increase the uptake of these programs, which have the potential to provide broad-scale prevention and treatment in the community.
In this study, we aimed to identify and compare factors that may influence participation in DMH programs in practice and research trials, identify any respondent characteristics that are associated with these factors, and assess the relationship between intentions to use DMH programs and actual uptake.
Australian adults aged ≥18 years were recruited from market research panels to participate in the study. The sample was representative of the Australian adult population based on age, gender, and location. Participants completed a cross-sectional web-based survey assessing demographic characteristics, mental health symptom measures, attitudes and use of DMH programs in practice and in research studies, and the factors influencing their use in both settings.
Across both research and practice, trust in the organization delivering the service or trial was the top-ranked factor influencing participation, followed by anonymity or privacy and adequate information. There was little variation in rankings across demographic groups, including intentions to use DMH programs or mental health status. Intentions to use DMH programs were a strong predictor of both current (odds ratio 2.50, 99% CI 1.41-4.43; P<.001) and past (odds ratio 2.98, 99% CI 1.71-5.19; P<.001) use behaviors.
Efforts to increase the uptake of DMH programs or participation in research trials should focus on clearly communicating the following to users: the legitimacy of the organization delivering the program, security and use of participant data, and effectiveness of DMH programs.
数字心理健康（DMH）项目在治疗和预防心理健康问题方面可能非常有效。然而，社区对这些项目的参与可能很差。了解 DMH 项目使用的障碍和促进因素可能有助于确定增加这些项目的采用率的方法，这些项目有可能在社区中提供广泛的预防和治疗。
在这项研究中，我们旨在确定和比较可能影响 DMH 项目在实践和研究试验中参与的因素，确定与这些因素相关的任何受访者特征，并评估使用 DMH 项目的意图与实际采用之间的关系。
从市场研究小组中招募了澳大利亚 18 岁及以上的成年人参加这项研究。该样本基于年龄、性别和地点在澳大利亚成年人口中具有代表性。参与者完成了一项横断面网络调查，评估了人口统计学特征、心理健康症状测量、在实践和研究研究中对 DMH 项目的态度和使用情况，以及影响他们在这两种环境中使用的因素。
在研究和实践中，对提供服务或试验的组织的信任都是影响参与的首要因素，其次是匿名或隐私和充分的信息。在人口统计学群体中，包括使用 DMH 项目的意图和心理健康状况，排名几乎没有变化。使用 DMH 项目的意图是当前（优势比 2.50，99%置信区间 1.41-4.43；P<.001）和过去（优势比 2.98，99%置信区间 1.71-5.19；P<.001）使用行为的有力预测因素。
为了提高 DMH 项目的采用率或参与研究试验的意愿，应重点向用户传达以下内容：提供项目的组织的合法性、参与者数据的安全性和使用情况以及 DMH 项目的有效性。
