Insights Into Needs and Preferences for Mental Health Support on Social Media and Through Mobile Apps Among Black Male University Students: Exploratory Qualitative Study

Abstract

Background Black college-aged men are less likely than their peers to use formal, therapeutic in-person services for mental health concerns. As the use of mobile technologies and social media platforms is steadily increasing, it is important to conduct work that examines the future utility of digital tools and technologies to improve access to and uptake of mental health services for Black men and Black men in college. Objective The aim of this study was to identify and understand college-attending Black men’s needs and preferences for using digital health technologies and social media for stress and mental health symptom management. Methods Interviews were conducted with Black male students (N=11) from 2 racially diverse universities in the Midwestern United States. Participants were asked questions related to their current mental health needs and interest in using social media platforms and mobile-based apps for their mental health concerns. A thematic analysis was conducted. Results Four themes emerged from the data: current stress relief strategies, technology-based support needs and preferences (subthemes: mobile-based support and social media–based support), resource information dissemination considerations (subthemes: information-learning expectations and preferences and information-sharing preferences and behaviors), and technology-based mental health support design considerations (subtheme: relatability and representation). Participants were interested in using social media and digital technologies for their mental health concerns and needs, for example, phone notifications and visual-based mental health advertisements that promote awareness. Relatability in the context of representation was emphasized as a key factor for participants interested in using digital mental health tools. Examples of methods for increasing relatability included having tools disseminated by minority-serving organizations and including components explicitly portraying Black men engaging in mental health support strategies. The men also discussed wanting to receive recommendations for stress relief that have been proven successful, particularly for Black men. Conclusions The findings from this study provide insights into design and dissemination considerations for future work geared toward developing mental health messaging and digital interventions for young Black men.

Understanding University Students' Perspectives towards Digital Tools for Mental Health Support: A Cross-country Study

“…According to our sample, social media, primarily Instagram ® , was the most suitable digital environment for the delivery of mental health content [ 53 , 54 ]. As endorsed by previous evidence, the benefits of social media include wide diffusion among young people and an immediate communicative power, together with the opportunity to provide emotional connection and support [ 25 , 27 , 53 , 55 ]. However, mainly thanks to their likelihood to guarantee anonymity, mobile apps and online platforms were also recognised as valid support in therapeutic practice and specific knowledge dissemination [ 56 - 58 ].…”

“…Digital mental health tools include successfully virtual-adapted psychological and psychotherapy interventions, which have been reported as effective in the management of depressive and anxiety symptoms, as well as insomnia, alcohol misuse and eating disorders amongst university students [ 10 , 20 - 23 ]. Moreover, technology-based instruments could be used for psychological distress relief and as a source of health-related information, mainly through social media, thus potentially ranging from primary to tertiary prevention [ 24 - 27 ]. In addition, the spread of these virtual approaches to mental health, which seems to be a natural trend in the progressive digitalisation of modern society, was further accelerated by social distancing imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 28 , 29 ], with young people representing the most suitable users, due to their familiarity and extensive exposure to digital communications [ 17 , 30 ].…”

“The library is so much more than books”: considerations for the design and implementation of teen digital mental health services in public libraries

“…As a next step in our community-research partnership, the research team will work closely with library workers and teen patrons to design a DMH service, test service effectiveness, and evaluate implementation process and outcomes. Taking advice from library workers, we will prioritize centering the voices of Black and other historically underrepresented populations of teens throughout these processes as well as build off of the innovative DMH work being conducted with HURE populations (46)(47)(48)(49)(50).…”