Adolescents' Use of Digital Technologies and Preferences for Mobile Health Coaching in Public Mental Health Settings

Abstract

Objective: Youth with mental illnesses often engage in unhealthy behaviors associated with early mortality from physical diseases in adulthood, but interventions to support positive health behaviors are rarely offered as part of routine mental health care for this group. Digital health technology that is desirable, accessible, and affordable has the potential to address health behaviors in public mental health settings where many adolescents with severe mental health problems receive care. The aims of this study were to examine how adolescents receiving public mental health services use digital technology and social media and to explore their preferences using technology to support health and wellness. Methods: Using a convergent parallel mixed methods design, we surveyed adolescents ages 13-18 from four community mental health centers in one state and conducted focus group interviews to explore their perspectives on using digital technology and social media to receive health coaching and connect with peers to support healthy behaviors. The survey and focus group data were merged to inform the future development of a digital health intervention for adolescents receiving public mental health services. Results: Of 121 survey respondents (mean age 15.2, SD = 1.5), 92% had a cell phone, 79% had a smartphone, 90% used text messaging, and 98% used social media. Focus group interviews revealed that adolescents were interested in receiving strengths-based mobile health coaching, and they preferred structured online peer-to-peer interactions in which a professional moderator promotes positive connections and adherence to privacy guidelines. Conclusions: Adolescents receiving public mental health services in this study had access to smartphones and were frequent social media users. These data suggest that digital health interventions to promote health and wellness among adolescents may be scalable in community mental health settings. Adolescent participants suggested that digital health interventions for this group should focus on strengths and online peer support for health promotion should include a professional moderator to foster and manage peer-to-peer interactions.

Perceptions of Mobile Apps for Smoking Cessation Among Young People in Community Mental Health Care: Qualitative Study

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Social Media and Mental Health: Benefits, Risks, and Opportunities for Research and Practice

“…For adolescents and young adults ages 12 to 21 with psychotic disorders and mood disorders, over 97% reported using social media, with average use exceeding 2.5 h per day (Birnbaum et al 2017b). Similarly, in a sample of adolescents ages 13-18 recruited from community mental health centers, 98% reported using social media, with YouTube as the most popular platform, followed by Instagram and Snapchat (Aschbrenner et al 2019).…”

Improving Knowledge and Changing Health Attitude among Teenagers through Digital Media Flipbook

“…Apps that contain adolescent health content into a valuable resource for learning about comprehensive adolescent health (Brayboy et al, 2017). The selection of digital flipbooks is also adjusted to the characteristics of teenagers who have very easy access to smartphones (Aschbrenner et al, 2019) and the closeness of adolescents to the internet through their smartphones (Dunlop, Freeman, & Jones, 2016;Wartella, Rideout, Montague, Beaudoin-Ryan, & Lauricella, 2016). This study aimed to analyze the effectiveness of digital flipbooks as a medium for health promotion to improve knowledge and attitude among adolescents.…”