Editorial Promoting Help-seeking using E-Technology for ADolescents: The ProHEAD consortium

Abstract

Mental health problems are highly prevalent in children and adolescents, but professional help-seeking behavior in this age group is extremely low. Therefore, the ProHEAD (“Promoting Help-seeking using E-technology for Adolescents”) consortium focuses on three main objectives, i.e.: (1) improving young people’s help-seeking behaviors; (2) improving the selective prevention of common disorders in those who are at risk; and (3) strengthening resources to counteract the development of mental illness. Capitalizing on Internet and mobile technology, ProHEAD delivers low threshold and easily accessible interventions to a large sample of young people. Longitudinal school-based assessments of mental health problems will be conducted at baseline and two annual follow-ups in five regions of Germany in a total sample of 15,000 children and adolescents (aged ≥ 12 years). Based on the results of their baseline assessment, participants are invited to register for one out of five sub-projects. The objectives and procedures of these five randomized controlled trials are published in this issue of Trials.

The impact of COVID-19 related lockdown measures on self-reported psychopathology and health-related quality of life in German adolescents

“…Data for the present analyses were taken from the ongoing ProHEAD project. ProHEAD is a multi-center consortium situated at five study sites across Germany and led by the managing site at the University Hospital of Heidelberg [ 11 ]. ProHEAD is an ongoing study with no previous intermediate data analysis.…”

“…In brief, ProHEAD aims to conduct longitudinal assessments of mental health problems in a sample of 15,000 children and adolescents aged ≥ 12 years. Following the completion of a computerized screening assessment, participants receive feedback on their individual results along with an invitation to register for one out of five clinical trials [ 11 ], not further detailed here. All screening assessments were conducted at participating schools during the pre-lockdown period.…”

“…In the present study, we aimed to (a) assess the impact of COVID-19 related lockdown measures on adolescent mental health and (b) investigate the impact of SES and family risk-factors on these associations. We draw on matched pre- and post-lockdown data from a large ongoing multi-site project in Germany (“Promoting Help-seeking using E-technology for Adolescents with mental health problems” ProHEAD [ 11 ]), offering the unique opportunity to address the aforementioned aims and overcome limitations of previous studies. Importantly, the present study was initiated and first assessments took place (November 2018) before COVID-19 was raising awareness.…”

Help-seeking behaviour and attitudes towards internet-administered psychological support among adolescent and young adults previously treated for cancer during childhood: protocol for a survey and embedded qualitative interview study in Sweden

“…42 A number of potential barriers to help-seeking have been identified, including stigma, embarrassment, and poor mental health literacy (MHL). 43 44 AYACCS report difficulties with stigma and alienation in relation to the cancer disease 45 and as such may be reluctant to identify themselves as experiencing mental health difficulties. Furthermore, while social support has been found to facilitate help-seeking behaviour for mental health difficulties in adolescent and young adult populations, 43 AYACCS commonly report difficulties with social withdrawal and loneliness.…”

Editorial Perspective: A plea for the sustained implementation of digital interventions for young people with mental health problems in the light of the COVID‐19 pandemic

“…Finally, they may use professional counselling via online messaging, telephone or chat. The efficacy and cost‐effectiveness of the intervention are currently being studied in a two‐arm randomized clinical trial (target sample size: 1,500 participants) which is part of a large collaborative initiative on e‐mental health for young people funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research (Kaess & Bauer, 2019 ). While the intervention group has access to all modules of ProHEAD‐online, participants in the control group may only access limited content.…”