The effect of web-based educational interventions on mental health literacy, stigma and help-seeking intentions/attitudes in young people: systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Objectives This study aims to provide a systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature on The Effect of Web-Based Educational Interventions on Mental Health Literacy, Stigma and Help-seeking intentions/attitudes in young people. Methods Articles in English published between April 1975 and February 2023 were retrieved from seven databases, leading to a total of 2023 articles identified. Results 20 studies were included after applying exclusion criteria, 10 of which were eligible for meta-analysis. Results showed that web-based educational interventions had a significant positive effect on mental health literacy knowledge (SMD = 0.70, 95% CI = [0.16, 1.25]), but not on stigma (SMD = -0.20, 95% CI = [-0.48, 0.08]) or help-seeking intentions/attitudes (SMD = 0.48, 95% CI = [-0.50, 1.46]). Conclusion This study reviewed and analyzed the effect of web-based educational interventions on mental health literacy, stigma, and help-seeking intentions/attitudes among young people. The results showed that web-based educational interventions improved mental health literacy knowledge, but not stigma or help-seeking outcomes. The study suggested several recommendations to enhance the effectiveness of web-based educational interventions on stigma and help-seeking outcomes, such as using more rigorous designs and methods, more comprehensive and multifaceted interventions, more tailored and targeted interventions, and more collaborative and participatory approaches. The study concluded that web-based educational interventions may have a greater impact on reducing stigma and promoting help-seeking among young people, which may ultimately lead to better mental health outcomes and well-being for this population.

The impact of the Big Five personality traits on help-seeking stigmas, attitudes, and intentions.

“…As a result, although help-seeking interventions commonly focus on mental health literacy (Xu et al, 2018), such interventions for these individuals could also benefit from components aimed at enhancing self- and other compassion, which are positively related to agreeableness (Di Fabio & Saklofske, 2021). This type of nuanced approach to help-seeking interventions might address why a recent systematic review and meta-analysis found that, although interventions targeting mental health literacy improved mental health literacy, they did not improve help-seeking stigmas or attitudes (Nazari et al, 2023). Another example of how personality data could inform help-seeking interventions is that individuals lower in extraversion, despite having high mental health literacy, may still not intend to seek help for mental health concerns due to the inherently social aspect of help seeking.…”