Mental Health Content and Mental Health Outcomes

June 3, 2024 updated by: Yale-NUS College

Examining the Effects of Mental Health Content on Help-Seeking and Self-Diagnosing Behavior: Cross-sectional Survey Study

The study will aim to explore the relationship between mental health content on social media and health behavior, addressing a gap in empirical research. Using the Theory of Planned Behavior, a survey with over 600 participants will examine associations between exposure to mental health content and behaviors like help-seeking and self-diagnosis.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Detailed Description

Background: Mental health content has recently surged in popularity across social media. However, current empirical research lacks a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between mental health content and health behaviour.

Objective: This study will aim to address this gap by examining different types of mental health content and their relationship to behavior. Specifically, it will explore whether exposure to mental health content will be associated with either positive behaviors, like help-seeking, or maladaptive ones, such as self-diagnosing.

Methods: Utilizing the Theory of Planned Behavior, a cross-sectional epidemiological survey will be conducted with over 600 participants to answer the research questions. Baseline measures will include participants' exposure to various types of mental health content, and mental well-being (depression, anxiety, and scores from the DASS-21). The outcome measures of interest will be help-seeking attitude (IASMHS) and self-diagnosing (SELF-I) behavior.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

600

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Recruiting a representative sample of around 600 people through the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the general public in Singapore through physical posters or online platforms (e.g., the university's Work Scheme website, and research groups on Telegram).

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Enrollment is restricted to healthy adults between 21-34 (or 18-34 for university students)
  • Use at least one social media platform (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X)
  • Participants need to be able to read and understand English.
  • Participants must also have lived in Singapore for at least 2 years.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Anyone who does not feel comfortable answering questions related to mental health and exposure to mental health-related content online.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Help-Seeking Behaviors
Time Frame: Through study completion, an average of 1 year
Inventory of Attitudes toward Seeking Mental Health Services (IASMHS). Items were on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 0 ("Somewhat Disagree") to 4 ("Agree").
Through study completion, an average of 1 year
Self-Diagnosing Behaviors for Mental Health
Time Frame: Through study completion, an average of 1 year
Self-identification as having a Mental Illness (SELF-I) scale. Items were on 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (Not true at all) to 5 (Completely True)
Through study completion, an average of 1 year

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Yale-NUS College

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Sundarimaa Erdembileg, Yale-NUS College

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

January 1, 2024

Primary Completion (Estimated)

December 31, 2024

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 31, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 27, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 3, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

June 4, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 4, 2024

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 3, 2024

Last Verified

June 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • NUS-IRB-2023-864

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Given the sensitivity of mental health disclosures and the age of the population, no individual participant data will be shared as agreed upon with the IRB. Results will be published by the investigators in academic journals. Sharing of generated study data can be made available upon request by writing to the investigator(s).

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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