Digital Technology Use and Mental Health Consultations: Survey of the Views and Experiences of Clinicians and Young People

Abstract

Background Digital technologies play an increasingly important role in the lives of young people and have important effects on their mental health. Objective We aimed to explore 3 key areas of the intersection between digital technology and mental health: the views and experiences of young people and clinicians about digital technology and mental health; implementation and barriers to the UK national guidance recommendation—that the discussion of digital technology use should form a core part of mental health assessment; and how digital technology might be used to support existing consultations. Methods Two cross-sectional web-based surveys were conducted in 2020 between June and December, with mental health clinicians (n=99) and young people (n=320). Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the proportions. Multilinear regression was used to explore how the answers varied by gender, sexuality, and age. Thematic analysis was used to explore the contents of the extended free-text answers. Anxiety was measured using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire-7 (GAD-7). Results Digital technology use was ubiquitous among young people, with positive and negative aspects acknowledged by both clinicians and young people. Negative experiences were common (131/284, 46.1%) and were associated with increased anxiety levels among young people (GAD-7 3.29; 95% CI 1.97-4.61; P<.001). Although the discussion of digital technology use was regarded as important by clinicians and acceptable by young people, less than half of clinicians (42/85, 49.4%) routinely asked about the use of digital technology and over a third of young people (48/121, 39.6%) who had received mental health care had never been asked about their digital technology use. The conversations were often experienced as unhelpful. Helpful conversations were characterized by greater depth and exploration of how an individual’s digital technology use related to mental health. Despite most clinicians (59/83, 71.1%) wanting training, very few (21/86, 24.4%) reported receiving training. Clinicians were open to viewing mental health data from apps or social media to help with consultations. Although young people were generally, in theory, comfortable sharing such data with health professionals, when presented with a binary choice, most reported not wanting to share social media (84/117, 71.8%) or app data (67/118, 56.8%) during consultations. Conclusions Digital technology use was common, and negative experiences were frequent and associated with anxiety. Over a third of young people were not asked about their digital technology use during mental health consultations, and potentially valuable information about relevant negative experiences on the web was not being captured during consultations. Clinicians would benefit from having access to training to support these discussions with young people. Although young people recognized that app data could be helpful to clinicians, they appeared hesitant to share their own data. This finding suggests that data sharing has barriers that need to be further explored.

“Pouring their heart out in Sainsbury’s”: qualitative study of young people’s, parents’ and mental health practitioners’ experiences of adapting to remote online mental health appointments during Covid-19

“…These participants were mostly female (71%) and had a median age of 19 years (range 14-24 years). Characteristics of the total survey sample are reported elsewhere 23 . Eleven young people expressed interest in participating in a focus group.…”

“…Quali ed clinicians from Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, student well-being services, third sector mental health organisations and the private sector were eligible. Participants were self-selecting and recruited via advertisements disseminated on social media, among professional networks available to the research team, to participants of a prior study survey 23 who had expressed interest in further involvement, and through snowball sampling. Interested individuals were screened and all those who were eligible were invited.…”

“Pouring their heart out in Sainsbury’s”: qualitative study of young people’s, parents’ and mental health practitioners’ experiences of adapting to remote online mental health appointments during COVID-19

“…Qualitative data were collected from young people, parents of young people receiving mental health care, and mental health practitioners as part of a broader mixed-methods project exploring issues relating to digital technology and mental health in young people [ 28 , 29 ] . Various data sources were synthesised: focus group discussions, semi-structured interviews and open-text questionnaire data (Table 1 ).…”

“…The survey was administered between June and December 2020 [ 28 ]. All young people aged 14–24 years and resident in the UK with online access were eligible.…”

“…Qualified clinicians from statutory National Health Services (NHS), student well-being services, third sector mental health organisations and the private sector were eligible. Participants were self-selecting and recruited via advertisements disseminated on social media, among professional networks available to the research team, to participants of a prior study survey [ 28 ] who had expressed interest in further involvement, and through snowball sampling. Interested individuals were screened and all those who were eligible were invited.…”