“You Have People Here to Help You, People Like Me”: a Qualitative Analysis of a Blogging Intervention for Adolescents and Young Adults with Depression or Anxiety

Bickerstaff, Julia Marie; Karim, Sana; Whitman, Rachel Kallem; Wiener, Susan J.; Radovic, Ana

doi:10.1007/s41347-021-00210-w

Cited by 4 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…The limitations of retention and engagement in this pilot trial are not necessarily a reflection of the intervention itself being difficult to engage with. Recently, we found that adolescents and young adults have been very interested in contributing content to SOVA sites [ 44 , 45 ], especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, during which social isolation increased in adolescents.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Social Media Website (Supporting Our Valued Adolescents) to Support Treatment Uptake for Adolescents With Depression or Anxiety: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Radovic¹,

Li²,

Landsittal³

et al. 2022

JMIR Ment Health

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Background Adolescents with depression or anxiety initiate mental health treatment in low numbers. Supporting Our Valued Adolescents (SOVA) is a peer support website intervention for adolescents seen in primary care settings and their parents with the goal of increasing treatment uptake through changing negative health beliefs, enhancing knowledge, offering peer emotional support, and increasing parent-adolescent communication about mental health. Objective This pilot study aimed to refine recruitment and retention strategies, refine document intervention fidelity, and explore changes in study outcomes (the primary outcome being treatment uptake). Methods We conducted a 2-group, single-blind, pilot randomized controlled trial in a single adolescent medicine clinic. Participants were aged 12 to 19 years with clinician-identified symptoms of depression or anxiety for which a health care provider recommended treatment. The patient and parent, if interested, were randomized to receive the SOVA websites and enhanced usual care (EUC) compared with EUC alone. Baseline, 6-week, and 3-month measures were collected using a web-based self-report survey and blinded electronic health record review. The main pilot outcomes assessed were the feasibility of recruitment and retention strategies. Implementation outcomes, intervention fidelity, missingness, and adequacy of safety protocols were documented. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize mental health service use and target measures with 2-sample t tests to compare differences between arms. Results Less than half of the adolescents who were offered patient education material (195/461, 42.2%) were referred by their clinician to the study. Of 146 adolescents meeting the inclusion criteria, 38 completed the baseline survey, qualifying them for randomization, and 25 (66%, 95% CI 51%-81%) completed the 6-week measures. There was limited engagement in the treatment arm, with 45% (5/11) of adolescents who completed 6-week measures reporting accessing SOVA, and most of those who did not access cited forgetting as the reason. Changes were found in target factors at 6 weeks but not in per-protocol analyses. At 12 weeks, 83% (15/18) of adolescents randomized to SOVA received mental health treatment as compared with 50% (10/20) of adolescents randomized to EUC (P=.03). Conclusions In this pilot trial of a peer support website intervention for adolescents with depression or anxiety, we found lower-than-expected study enrollment after recruitment. Although generalizability may be enhanced by not requiring parental permission for adolescent participation in the trials of mental health interventions, this may limit study recruitment and retention. We found that implementing education introducing the study into provider workflow was feasible and acceptable, resulting in almost 500 study referrals. Finally, although not the primary outcome, we found a signal for greater uptake of mental health treatment in the arm using the SOVA intervention than in the usual care arm. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03318666; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03318666 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) RR2-10.2196/12117

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Social Media Website (Supporting Our Valued Adolescents) to Support Treatment Uptake for Adolescents With Depression or Anxiety: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Radovic¹,

Li²,

Landsittal³

et al. 2022

JMIR Ment Health

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“…The search identified 13,098 original references, and the screening of titles and abstracts yielded 86 full-text papers. A total of 44 studies were included in the final analysis and 8 were labeled as ongoing (Multimedia Appendix 4 and Multimedia Appendix 5 [104][105][106][107][108][109][110][111]). The study flow is presented as a PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) flow diagram in Figure 1 [112].…”

Section: Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Meeting the Unmet Needs of Individuals With Mental Disorders: Scoping Review on Peer-to-Peer Web-Based Interactions

Storman¹,

Jemioło²,

Świerz³

et al. 2022

JMIR Ment Health

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Background An increasing number of online support groups are providing advice and information on topics related to mental health. Objective This study aimed to investigate the needs that internet users meet through peer-to-peer interactions. Methods A search of 4 databases was performed until August 15, 2022. Qualitative or mixed methods (ie, qualitative and quantitative) studies investigating interactions among internet users with mental disorders were included. The φ coefficient was used and machine learning techniques were applied to investigate the associations between the type of mental disorders and web-based interactions linked to seeking help or support. Results Of the 13,098 identified records, 44 studies (analyzed in 54 study-disorder pairs) that assessed 82,091 users and 293,103 posts were included. The most frequent interactions were noted for people with eating disorders (14/54, 26%), depression (12/54, 22%), and psychoactive substance use disorders (9/54, 17%). We grouped interactions between users into 42 codes, with the empathy or compassion code being the most common (41/54, 76%). The most frequently coexisting codes were request for information and network (35 times; φ=0.5; P<.001). The algorithms that provided the best accuracy in classifying disorders by interactions were decision trees (44/54, 81%) and logistic regression (40/54, 74%). The included studies were of moderate quality. Conclusions People with mental disorders mostly use the internet to seek support, find answers to their questions, and chat. The results of this analysis should be interpreted as a proof of concept. More data on web-based interactions among these people might help apply machine learning methods to develop a tool that might facilitate screening or even support mental health assessment.

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“…Among many forms of digital mental health, peer support programs have been shown to facilitate information exchange for medication, coping skills, peer therapy, storytelling and emotional support (Skousen et al, 2020;Tanis, 2008). Extensive research has shown that for some individuals, use of these asynchronous online peer support platforms is associated with similar benefits of in-person talk therapies, including increased feeling of connectedness and hope, enhanced self-efficacy and self-esteem, as well as an elevated sense of belonging (Bickerstaff et al, 2021;Naslund & Deng, 2021;Prescott et al, 2020). Other studies have reported an increase in supportive communication and emotional well-being, and beneficial psychosocial outcomes for patients with severe psychiatric disorders (Fortuna et al, 2020;Naslund et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Moderators in Facilitating and Encouraging Peer-to-Peer Support in an Online Mental Health Community: A Qualitative Exploratory Study

Deng

Rogers²,

Naslund

2023

J. technol. behav. sci.

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Online peer support platforms have gained popularity as a potential way for people struggling with mental health problems to share information and provide support to each other. While these platforms can offer an open space to discuss emotionally difficult issues, unsafe or unmoderated communities can allow potential harm to users by spreading triggering content, misinformation or hostile interactions. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of moderators in these online communities, and how moderators can facilitate peer-to-peer support, while minimizing harms to users and amplifying potential benefits. Moderators of the Togetherall peer support platform were recruited to participate in qualitative interviews. The moderators, referred to as 'Wall Guides', were asked about their day-to-day responsibilities, positive and negative experiences they have witnessed on the platform and the strategies they employ when encountering problems such as lack of engagement or posting of inappropriate content. The data were then analyzed qualitatively using thematic content analysis and consensus codes were deduced and reviewed to reach final results and representative themes. In total, 20 moderators participated in this study, and described their experiences and efforts to follow a consistent and shared protocol for responding to common scenarios in the online community. Many reported the deep connections formed by the online community, the helpful and thoughtful responses that members give each other and the satisfaction of seeing progress in members' recovery. They also reported occasional aggressive, sensitive or inconsiderate comments and posts on the platform. They respond by removing or revising the hurtful post or reaching out to the affected member to maintain the 'house rules'. Lastly, many discussed strategies they elicit to promote engagement from members within the community and ensure each member is supported through their use of the platform. This study sheds light on the critical role of moderators of online peer support communities, and their ability to contribute to the potential benefits of digital peer support while minimizing risks to users. The findings reported here accentuate the importance of having well-trained moderators on online peer support platforms and can guide future efforts to effectively train and supervise prospective peer support moderators. Moderators can become an active 'shaping force' and bring a cohesive culture of expressed empathy, sensitivity and care. The delivery of a healthy and safe community contrasts starkly with non-moderated online forums, which can become unhealthy and unsafe as a result.

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“You Have People Here to Help You, People Like Me”: a Qualitative Analysis of a Blogging Intervention for Adolescents and Young Adults with Depression or Anxiety

Cited by 4 publications

References 35 publications

A Social Media Website (Supporting Our Valued Adolescents) to Support Treatment Uptake for Adolescents With Depression or Anxiety: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

A Social Media Website (Supporting Our Valued Adolescents) to Support Treatment Uptake for Adolescents With Depression or Anxiety: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Meeting the Unmet Needs of Individuals With Mental Disorders: Scoping Review on Peer-to-Peer Web-Based Interactions

The Role of Moderators in Facilitating and Encouraging Peer-to-Peer Support in an Online Mental Health Community: A Qualitative Exploratory Study

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