RCT for Latina Mental Health Using Web-Based Apps

Randomized Controlled Trial of a Choice-driven, Interactive, Storytelling Web-based App to Investigate Mental Health Treatment Initiation Among Symptomatic Latinas

This study compares a choice-driven, interactive, evidence-informed storytelling web-based app intervention with links to resources and treatment (Tx) recommendations (made by a character via her blog) and Tx locator, to a web-based app with links to publicly available informational internet videos, MH resources, and a treatment locator for at least moderately anxious/depressed untreated English and Spanish speaking Latinas to determine if a story-based, character-driven approach is more effective for catalyzing mental health treatment initiation.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Depression; Anxiety; Mental Health; Well-Being, Psychological
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Catalina; Behavioral: Control webpage

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 700
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Study Coordinator; Phone Number: 310-210-4273; Email: mediahealthstudy@gmail.com

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • Los Angeles, California, United States, 90095
      • Recruiting
      • UCLA

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Latina (women who are from or have family ties to Latin America)
• Currently resides in LA or Orange County
• Age 18 and older
• Able to speak, read, and write in English or Spanish
• Score 10 or higher on GAD-7 and/or PHQ-8
• Access to the internet via smartphone, tablet, or computer
• Not currently receiving mental health therapy or pharmacotherapy
• Has not accessed mental health services during the previous 6 months

Exclusion Criteria:

• Not Latina or Hispanic
• Under age 18

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Triple

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Catalina transmedia web-based app; Access to Confronting My Emotions/ Enfrentando Mis Emociones (Catalina), an interactive web-based app containing 31 minutes of story based, character-driven videos, featuring evidence-informed Latina characters (Catalina and Veronica) in a relatable story about dealing with depression and anxiety. All features are available 24 hours/day in Spanish and English via a participant's unique link, including access to "Veronica's Blog" linked to the story, and links to resources such as infographics on depression and anxiety, hotlines and helplines, free evidence-based apps, online support groups, SAMHSA's MH service locator plus "Veronica's" recommendation of up to 3 Latinx-serving MH Tx clinics in LA & Orange Counties where participants can see a primary care physician for referral to MH therapy or pharmacotherapy. Monthly text/email messages will be sent for 9 months to prompt/remind Latinas they can use their unique link to re-watch videos and re-visit Veronica's blog.	Behavioral: Catalina; Catalina transmedia web-based app intervention with 10 story-based videos (including bonus story extender videos) totaling 31 minutes plus the blog of the character, "Veronica," which has MH resource links including Veronica's recommendations of at least 3 local Latinx-serving clinics in LA and Orange County ZIP Codes that offer low-cost MH Tx.; Other Names: Confronting My Emotions; Enfrentando Mis Emociones
Active Comparator: Links to informational videos; Access to the control web-based app that offers links to 31 minutes of publicly available informational videos specifically about depression and anxiety in Spanish and English (that are not story based and feature no fictionalized characters), available 24 hours/ day via participant's unique link on Chorus. It will provides direct links to 3 public websites: 1) Mental Health America, 2) Anxiety & Depression Association of America, 3) SAMHSA. All offer even more links to various MH resources, platforms, videos, and to SAMHSA's MH service locator by ZIP Code including to low cost sites for MH Tx.	Behavioral: Control webpage; Links to informational videos (totaling 31 minutes) on depression and anxiety, listing of the same 3 local Latinx-serving clinics in LA and Orange County ZIP codes that offer low-cost MH Tx, and links to nationally available websites that offer resources (including access to service locators).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Number of Participants Initiating Mental Health Treatment (MH Tx)	MH Tx initiation, defined as completing a MH specialist visit (initial evaluation or therapy visit) or a primary care visit that results in a pharmacotherapy prescription as documented by EHR data at the site identified by the participant as where they initiated MH Tx.	9 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Psychological openness	Psychological openness (attitudes) subscale score of the Inventory of Attitudes towards Seeking Mental Health Services (IASMHS). The IASMHS is a 24 item scale and has three internally consistent factors: psychological openness, help-seeking propensity, and indifference to stigma. The subscales,range from 0 to 32. Higher scores indicate more positive attitude toward seeking mental health services.	9 months
Mental health help seeking attitude	The Mental Health Seeking Attitudes Scale (MHSAS) contains 9 items which produce a single mean score, ranging 1-7. It measures respondents' overall evaluation (unfavorable vs. favorable) of their seeking help from a mental health professional if they found themselves to be dealing with a mental health concern. A higher score indicates a more favorable attitude toward seeking help.	9 months
Propensity to seek help	Help seeking propensity subscale score of the Inventory of Attitudes towards Seeking Mental Health Services (IASMHS). The IASMHS is a 24 item scale and has three internally consistent factors: psychological openness, help-seeking propensity, and indifference to stigma. Subscales range from 0 to 32. Higher scores indicate a greater willingness to seek help.	9 months
Indifference to Stigma	Indifference to Stigma subscale score of the Inventory of Attitudes towards Seeking Mental Health Services (IASMHS). The IASMHS is a 24 item scale and has three internally consistent factors: psychological openness, help-seeking propensity, and indifference to stigma. The subscale contains 8 items related to how concerned an individual would feel if others knew they were seeking psychological help, with each item rated on a 5-point Likert scale from 0 (disagree) to 4 (agree); a higher score indicates a greater indifference to stigma; meaning the person is less concerned about others finding out about their mental health treatment.	9 months
Stigma Concerns	Stigma Concerns about Care (SCC) is a 3-item questionnaire with responses on a 1-10 point scale, with higher scores indicating more concern about stigma.	9 months

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Depression	The Patient Health Questionnaire 8 (PHQ-8) is an 8 item questionnaire for depression symptoms experienced during the preceding 2 weeks. Responses are scaled 0-3, total score range 0-24. A score of 10 or greater is considered major depression, 20 or more is severe major depression.	9 months
Anxiety	The Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD7) is a 7-item questionnaire to measure the severity of anxiety over the preceding 2 weeks. Responses range from 0 (not at all) to 3 (nearly every day), with total score range 0-21. Higher scores indicate more severe anxiety.	9 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of California, Los Angeles
• Collaborators: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: MarySue V. Heilemann, PhD,RN,FAAN, UCLA School of Nursing

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): July 9, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): November 30, 2028
• Study Completion (Estimated): November 30, 2028

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 7, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 7, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): March 13, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): December 22, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 18, 2025
• Last Verified: December 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Women; Therapy; Latina
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Behavioral Symptoms; Behavior; Personal Satisfaction; Anxiety Disorders; Depression; Psychological Well-Being
• Other Study ID Numbers: 24-5962; R01MH137232 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No