Lemmer Diana, Moessner Markus, Arnaud Nicolas, Baumeister Harald, Mutter Agnes, Klemm Sarah-Lena, König Elisa, Plener Paul, Rummel-Kluge Christine, Thomasius Rainer, Kaess Michael, Bauer Stephanie
Center for Psychotherapy Research, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
Ruprecht-Karls University Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
J Med Internet Res. 2024 Apr 24;26:e54478. doi: 10.2196/54478.
Mental health (MH) problems in youth are prevalent, burdening, and frequently persistent. Despite the existence of effective treatment, the uptake of professional help is low, particularly due to attitudinal barriers.
This study evaluated the effectiveness and acceptability of 2 video-based microinterventions aimed at reducing barriers to MH treatment and increasing the likelihood of seeking professional help in young people.
This study was entirely web based and open access. The interventions addressed 5 MH problems: generalized anxiety disorder, depression, bulimia, nonsuicidal self-injury, and problematic alcohol use. Intervention 1 aimed to destigmatize and improve MH literacy, whereas intervention 2 aimed to induce positive outcome expectancies regarding professional help seeking. Of the 2435 participants who commenced the study, a final sample of 1394 (57.25%) participants aged 14 to 29 years with complete data and sufficient durations of stay on the video pages were randomized in a fully automated manner to 1 of the 5 MH problems and 1 of 3 conditions (control, intervention 1, and intervention 2) in a permuted block design. After the presentation of a video vignette, no further videos were shown to the control group, whereas a second, short intervention video was presented to the intervention 1 and 2 groups. Intervention effects on self-reported potential professional help seeking (primary outcome), stigma, and attitudes toward help seeking were examined using analyses of covariance across and within the 5 MH problems. Furthermore, we assessed video acceptability.
No significant group effects on potential professional help seeking were found in the total sample (F=0.99; P=.37). However, the groups differed significantly with regard to stigma outcomes and the likelihood of seeking informal help (F=3.75; P=.02). Furthermore, separate analyses indicated substantial differences in intervention effects among the 5 MH problems.
Interventions to promote help seeking for MH problems may require disorder-specific approaches. The study results can inform future research and public health campaigns addressing adolescents and young adults.
German Clinical Trials Register DRKS00023110; https://drks.de/search/de/trial/DRKS00023110.
青少年心理健康（MH）问题普遍存在，负担沉重且常常持续存在。尽管有有效的治疗方法，但专业帮助的利用率较低，尤其是由于态度障碍。
本研究评估了两种基于视频的微干预措施的有效性和可接受性，旨在减少青少年接受MH治疗的障碍并增加其寻求专业帮助的可能性。
本研究完全基于网络且开放获取。干预措施针对5种MH问题：广泛性焦虑症、抑郁症、暴食症、非自杀性自伤和问题饮酒。干预1旨在消除污名并提高MH素养，而干预2旨在诱导对寻求专业帮助的积极结果预期。在开始研究的2435名参与者中，最终样本为1394名（57.25%）年龄在14至29岁之间、拥有完整数据且在视频页面停留时间足够长的参与者，以完全自动化的方式在一个置换区组设计中随机分配到5种MH问题中的一种和3种条件（对照组、干预1组和干预2组）中的一种。在展示视频短片后，对照组不再展示其他视频，而干预1组和干预2组会展示第二个简短的干预视频。使用5种MH问题之间和内部的协方差分析来检验干预对自我报告的潜在专业帮助寻求（主要结果）、污名和寻求帮助态度的影响。此外，我们评估了视频的可接受性。
在总样本中未发现对潜在专业帮助寻求有显著的组效应（F = 0.99；P = 0.37）。然而，各组在污名结果和寻求非正式帮助的可能性方面存在显著差异（F = 3.75；P = 0.02）。此外，单独分析表明5种MH问题之间的干预效果存在实质性差异。
促进针对MH问题寻求帮助的干预措施可能需要针对特定障碍的方法。研究结果可为未来针对青少年和年轻人的研究及公共卫生运动提供参考。
德国临床试验注册中心DRKS00023110；https://drks.de/search/de/trial/DRKS00023110 。
