Promoting Help-seeking using E-technology for ADolescents with mental health problems: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial within the ProHEAD Consortium

Abstract

BackgroundThe highest incidence and prevalence of mental health problems across the lifespan as well as the first onset of most long-term mental health conditions are reported for youths between 14 and 25 years of age. At the same time, only 25% of adolescents with mental health problems receive professional treatment. One explanation for poor treatment access in youths is their low help-seeking behavior. Barriers that can keep children and adolescents (C&A) from seeking professional help include a lack of perceived need, structural barriers, or stigma. Interventions based on e-technology might present an effective approach, overcoming these barriers by reducing stigma and providing low-threshold access with enhanced reach, ultimately facilitating help-seeking for mental health problems among youths.MethodsThe study is designed as a multi-center, randomized controlled trial. In total, an estimated number of n = 1,500 C&A with mental health problems, drawn from a school-based sample of n = 15,000 pupils attending school grades 6 to 13 (≥ 12 years of age), recruited in five regions of Germany, will be randomized either to an intervention (ProHEAD online) or a control condition. C&A in the intervention group will receive online access to tailored information and individual advice on where to seek professional help for their specific needs close to their place of living, case reports of and interaction with peers, as well as the opportunity for online and telephone counseling. C&A in the control intervention will receive a recommendation to seek help and online information on where to find professional help. All participants will be asked to complete questionnaires concerning their help-seeking behavior at baseline, during the intervention (monitoring), and also at a 1 and 2 year follow-up. The primary endpoint is the number of C&A seeking conventional face-to-face professional help in the real-world setting within 1 year after their initial screening.DiscussionThe trial will investigate if an Internet-based intervention can increase professional help-seeking in C&A with mental health problems. With its randomized controlled design and large-scale school-based sampling, the study aims to overcome the shortages of previous research. The intervention has the potential to narrow the treatment gap in C&A and to ultimately improve the mental health care system.Trial registrationGerman Clinical Trials Register, DRKS00014685. Registered on 7 July, 2018.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13063-018-3157-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Effect of a peer‐led intervention combining mental health promotion with coping‐strategy‐based workshops on mental health awareness, help‐seeking behavior, and wellbeing among university students in Hong Kong

“…Counselling centers in academic institutions are readily available to provide services to help students with mental illness, however, the stigma attached to consulting school counselors deter students from accessing these services [ 7 ]. Help-seeking behavior remains one of the main bottlenecks in mental health due to factors such as stigma, embarrassment, and problems recognizing symptoms [ 8 , 9 ]. Help-seeking behavior refers to a complex decision-making process that is triggered by a problem that challenges the capabilities of an individual [ 10 ].…”

The Influence of Illness Perception, Anxiety and Depression Disorders on Students Mental Health during COVID-19 Outbreak in Pakistan: A Web-Based Cross-Sectional Survey

“…Each item of BDI-II is scored on a four-point Likert scale from 0 (symptom absent) to 3 (severe symptoms). The sum of BDI-II scores classi cation is as follows: Normal depression (0-13), mild depression(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19), moderate depression (20-28), or severe depression (29-63). The I.P.Q.-R has illustrated adequate reliability and validity[51].…”

A quasi-experimental and Guided Social Media Intervention to Improve Mental Health Literacy Level of Urban School Adolescents in Ethiopia: A Detailed Study Protocol

“…Globally, about 10-20% of children and adolescents have mental health problems [1,2]. Several studies depicted that most of mental health problems in adulthood essentially start to happen during adolescence [3,4]. A worldwide-pooled meta-analysis from all regions of the world from twenty seven countries reported that about 13.4% child and adolescent have mental disorders [5].…”

“…Empirical studies have shown that most of adolescents having mental health problems have usually limitation in help seeking and delay to get timely help [4,[9][10][11]. A number of adolescents do not recognize how and when to get help for their mental health difficulties [12].…”

“…For that reason, interventions using online technology has become important and preferable methods overcoming multiple physical and logistic barriers and challenges [9]. It is helpful to reduce stigma providing low threshold access with better reach, eventually enabling individuals who face mental health problems to access and get help and even improving the helpseeking intention and behaviour of young adult and adolescents [30]. However, empirical data on level of mental health literacy and the impact and usefulness of school based mental health promotion platforms using social media are rare in developing countries [31,32].…”