Citation

Kahl BL, Miller HM, Cairns K, Giniunas H, Nicholas M. JMIR Ment. Health 2020; 7(10).

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, JMIR Publications)

DOI

10.2196/21280

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Young people experience a disproportionate burden associated with mental illness that Australia's mental health care system is ill-equipped to handle. Despite improvements in the provision of mental health services, the rates of service utilization among young people remain suboptimal, and there are still considerable barriers to seeking help. Digital mental health services can overcome a number of barriers and connect young people requiring support; however, the evidence base of digital interventions is limited.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to examine the effectiveness of a brief, self-directed, unstructured digital intervention, ReachOut.com (hereafter ReachOut), in reducing depression, anxiety, stress, and risk of suicide.

METHODS: A cohort of 1982 ReachOut users participated in a 12-week longitudinal study, with a retention rate of 81.18% (1609/1982) across the duration of the study. Participants completed web-based surveys, with outcome measures of mental health status and suicide risk assessed at 3 time points across the study period.

RESULTS: The results demonstrated that over the 12-week study period, young people using ReachOut experienced modest yet significant reductions in symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress. Significant, albeit modest, reductions in the proportion of participants at high risk of suicide were also observed.

CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this research provide preliminary evidence of the promise of an unstructured digital mental health intervention, ReachOut, in alleviating symptoms of mental ill-health and promoting well-being in young people. These findings are particularly important given that digital services are not only acceptable and accessible but also have the potential to cater to the diverse mental health needs of young people at scale, in a way that other services cannot. © Bianca Lorraine Kahl, Hilary May Miller, Kathryn Cairns, Hayley Giniunas, Mariesa Nicholas. Originally published in JMIR Mental Health (http://mental.jmir.org), 15.10.2020. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR Mental Health, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://mental.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.

Language: en

Keywords

adolescent; adult; human; Stress; Anxiety; Depression; Suicide; female; male; Review; suicidal ideation; depression; Youth; anxiety; gender identity; risk assessment; longitudinal study; juvenile; major clinical study; heterosexuality; distress syndrome; hospital admission; bisexuality; mental health service; groups by age; self concept; follow up; cohort analysis; prospective study; symptom; risk reduction; mental health care personnel; program evaluation; young adult; program effectiveness; Depression Anxiety Stress Scale; clinical outcome; homosexual male; homosexual female; Digital intervention; Digital mental health; digital technology; Internet-based intervention; web-based intervention