Research to Clinical Practice—Youth seeking mental health information online and its impact on the first steps in the patient journey

Abstract

Background Online searches about anxiety and depression are recorded every 3–5 s. As such, information and communication technologies (ICT) have enormous potential to enable or impair help‐seeking and patient‐professional interactions. Youth studies indicate that ICT searches are undertaken before initial mental health consultations, but no publications have considered how this online activity affects the first steps of the patient journey in youth mental health settings. Methods State‐of‐the‐art review using an iterative, evidence mapping approach to identify key literature and expert consensus to synthesize and prioritise clinical and research issues. Results Adolescents and young adults are more likely to seek health advice via online search engines or social media platforms than from a health professional. Young people not only search user‐generated content and social media to obtain advice and support from online communities but increasingly contribute personal information online. Conclusions A major clinical challenge is to raise professional awareness of the likely impact of this activity on mental health consultations. Potential strategies range from modifying the structure of clinical consultations to ensure young people are able to disclose ICT activities related to mental health, through to the development and implementation of ‘internet prescriptions’ and a youth‐focused ‘toolkit’.

How to make mental health services more youth‐friendly? A Delphi study involving young adults, parents and professionals

“…Furthermore, although young people are avid users of social media and are very likely to pose mental health queries online, 44 our study confirmed concerns with privacy and credibility of the information. 45 Mental health professionals/services do well to consider whether they want to deliver broad‐casted (i.e., one‐to‐many) or narrow‐casted (i.e., information for a specific audience) content.…”

Mental health professionals as influencers on TikTok and Instagram: What role do they play in mental health literacy and help-seeking?

“…Young people use social media for several purposes including entertainment, communication, connecting with peers, education and more recently, to gain health information ( Gere et al, 2020 ; Goodyear and Armour, 2021 ). It has been reported that it is more likely that young people will pose health queries, including mental health queries, through the Internet than through any other means ( Scott et al, 2022 ). This is especially true in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, with many young people using social media and user-generated content to access the advice and support they are looking for ( Pretorius and Coyle, 2021 ).…”

“…When understanding young people's help-seeking, a holistic understanding of their online and offline activities must be taken into account. The majority of young people accessing formal mental health services have searched for mental health information online prior to their first consultation ( Scott et al, 2022 ). Research by Pagnotta et al ( Pagnotta et al, 2018 ) indicates that young people expect their mental health professionals to be aware of the social media relevant at the time and they perceive their therapist's social media competency directly related to their ability to understand their clients.…”

“…The stigma surrounding mental health negatively impacts help-seeking and it has been found that individuals are now starting to seek help in spaces with which they are already familiar, such as social media ( Pagnotta et al, 2018 ; Gere et al, 2020 ; Triplett et al, 2022 ). It offers a means to overcome the traditional barriers to help-seeking such as lack of access (including cost and location), a preference for self-reliance and the avoidance of stigma ( Scott et al, 2022 ).…”

Quality of Late-Life Depression Information on the Internet: Website Evaluation Study

“…Most internet users (58%-78%) use the internet to search for health information [20][21][22][23][24][25], and it is increasingly being used to access mental health information [26][27][28][29]. Older adults have high rates of internet use, with 73% of older adults using the internet [30,31] and 40% using the internet to access health information [32].…”