scholarly journals Evaluating a Web-Based Mental Health Service for Secondary School Students in Australia: Protocol for a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

10.2196/12892 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. e12892 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bridianne O'Dea ◽  
Catherine King ◽  
Mirjana Subotic-Kerry ◽  
Melissa Anderson ◽  
Melinda Rose Achilles ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Randomized Controlled Trial ◽  
Mental Health Service ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Secondary School Students ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
School Students ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
Cluster Randomized

scholarly journals Effectiveness of a Mental Health Service Navigation Website (Link) for Young Adults: Randomized Controlled Trial (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lena Sanci ◽  
Sylvia Kauer ◽  
Sharmala Thuraisingam ◽  
Sandra Davidson ◽  
Ann-Maree Duncan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Randomized Controlled Trial ◽  
Psychological Distress ◽  
Mental Health Service ◽  
Young People ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
The Web

BACKGROUND Mental health and substance use disorders are the main causes of disability among adolescents and young adults yet fewer than half experiencing these problems seek professional help. Young people frequently search the Web for health information and services, suggesting that Web-based modalities might promote help-seeking among young people who need it. To support young people in their help-seeking, we developed a Web-based mental health service navigation website called <italic>Link. Link</italic> is based on the Theory of Planned Behavior and connects young people with treatment based on the type and severity of mental health symptoms that they report. OBJECTIVE The study aimed to investigate the effect of Link on young people’s positive affect (PA) compared with usual help-seeking strategies immediately post intervention. Secondary objectives included testing the effect of Link on negative affect (NA), psychological distress, barriers to help-seeking, and help-seeking intentions. METHODS Young people, aged between 18 and 25 years, were recruited on the Web from an open access website to participate in a randomized controlled trial. Participants were stratified by gender and psychological distress into either the intervention arm (Link) or the control arm (usual help-seeking strategies). Baseline, immediate postintervention, 1-month, and 3-month surveys were self-reported and administered on the Web. Measures included the PA and NA scales, Kessler psychological distress scale (K10), barriers to adolescent help-seeking scale (BASH), and the general help-seeking questionnaire (GHSQ). RESULTS In total 413 young people were recruited to the trial (intervention, n=205; control, n=208) and 78% (160/205) of those randomized to the intervention arm visited the <italic>Link</italic> website. There was no evidence to support a difference between the intervention and control arms on the primary outcome, with PA increasing equally by approximately 30% between baseline and 3 months in both arms. NA decreased for the intervention arm compared with the control arm with a difference of 1.4 (95% CI 0.2-2.5) points immediately after the intervention and 2.6 (95% CI 1.1-4.1) at 1 month. K10 scores were unchanged and remained high in both arms. No changes were found on the BASH or GHSQ; however, participants in the intervention arm appeared more satisfied with their help-seeking process and outcomes at 1 and 3 months postintervention. CONCLUSIONS The process of prompting young people to seek mental health information and services appears to improve their affective state and increase help-seeking intentions, regardless of whether they use a Web-based dedicated youth-focused tool, such as <italic>Link</italic>, or their usual search strategies. However, young people report greater satisfaction using tools designed specifically for them, which may encourage future help-seeking. The ability of Web-based tools to match mental health needs with appropriate care should be explored further. CLINICALTRIAL Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry Number (ANZCTRN): 12614001223628; http://www.anzctr.org.au/TrialSearch.aspx?searchTxt=12614001223628&isBasic=True

scholarly journals Effectiveness of a Mental Health Service Navigation Website (Link) for Young Adults: Randomized Controlled Trial

10.2196/13189 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (10) ◽  
pp. e13189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lena Sanci ◽  
Sylvia Kauer ◽  
Sharmala Thuraisingam ◽  
Sandra Davidson ◽  
Ann-Maree Duncan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Randomized Controlled Trial ◽  
Psychological Distress ◽  
Mental Health Service ◽  
Young People ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
The Web

Background Mental health and substance use disorders are the main causes of disability among adolescents and young adults yet fewer than half experiencing these problems seek professional help. Young people frequently search the Web for health information and services, suggesting that Web-based modalities might promote help-seeking among young people who need it. To support young people in their help-seeking, we developed a Web-based mental health service navigation website called Link. Link is based on the Theory of Planned Behavior and connects young people with treatment based on the type and severity of mental health symptoms that they report. Objective The study aimed to investigate the effect of Link on young people’s positive affect (PA) compared with usual help-seeking strategies immediately post intervention. Secondary objectives included testing the effect of Link on negative affect (NA), psychological distress, barriers to help-seeking, and help-seeking intentions. Methods Young people, aged between 18 and 25 years, were recruited on the Web from an open access website to participate in a randomized controlled trial. Participants were stratified by gender and psychological distress into either the intervention arm (Link) or the control arm (usual help-seeking strategies). Baseline, immediate postintervention, 1-month, and 3-month surveys were self-reported and administered on the Web. Measures included the PA and NA scales, Kessler psychological distress scale (K10), barriers to adolescent help-seeking scale (BASH), and the general help-seeking questionnaire (GHSQ). Results In total 413 young people were recruited to the trial (intervention, n=205; control, n=208) and 78% (160/205) of those randomized to the intervention arm visited the Link website. There was no evidence to support a difference between the intervention and control arms on the primary outcome, with PA increasing equally by approximately 30% between baseline and 3 months in both arms. NA decreased for the intervention arm compared with the control arm with a difference of 1.4 (95% CI 0.2-2.5) points immediately after the intervention and 2.6 (95% CI 1.1-4.1) at 1 month. K10 scores were unchanged and remained high in both arms. No changes were found on the BASH or GHSQ; however, participants in the intervention arm appeared more satisfied with their help-seeking process and outcomes at 1 and 3 months postintervention. Conclusions The process of prompting young people to seek mental health information and services appears to improve their affective state and increase help-seeking intentions, regardless of whether they use a Web-based dedicated youth-focused tool, such as Link, or their usual search strategies. However, young people report greater satisfaction using tools designed specifically for them, which may encourage future help-seeking. The ability of Web-based tools to match mental health needs with appropriate care should be explored further. Clinical Trial Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12614001223628; https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=366731

scholarly journals The Effect of Providing Free Eyeglasses on Children’s Mental Health Outcomes in China: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. 2749 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongyu Guan ◽  
Huan Wang ◽  
Kang Du ◽  
Jin Zhao ◽  
Matthew Boswell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Randomized Controlled Trial ◽  
Rural China ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Poor Mental Health ◽  
School Students ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
Learning Anxiety ◽  
Cluster Randomized ◽  
The Impact

If children with common vision problems receive and use eyeglasses, their educational performance rises. Without proper treatment, visually impaired children may not achieve educational gains and could suffer from poor mental health. We use a randomized controlled trial to study the impact of an eyeglasses promotion program in rural China on the mental health of myopic primary school students. Three measures of mental health are used: learning anxiety, physical anxiety, and scores on the Mental Health Test (MHT). Our empirical analysis showed that on average, the treatment has small and insignificant for learning anxiety and MHT, and a small but significant reduction in physical anxiety. However, subgroup analysis reveals that myopic students who study more intensively see their learning anxiety and physical anxiety reduced after being provided with eyeglasses. In contrast, students with the lower study intensity suffer a rise in learning anxiety after receiving eyeglasses. A potential mechanism for the differing impacts is the increase in teasing reported among low study-intensity students that does not occur for high study-intensity students. Care should be taken to maximize the benefits and minimize the costs of in-school vision programs.

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