Does the management of personal integrity information lead to differing participation rates and response patterns in mental health surveys with young adults? A three-armed methodological experiment

Claes Andersson, Marcus Bendtsen, Petra Lindfors, Olof Molander, Philip Lindner, Naira Topooco, Karin Engström, Anne H Berman, Claes Andersson, Marcus Bendtsen, Petra Lindfors, Olof Molander, Philip Lindner, Naira Topooco, Karin Engström, Anne H Berman

Abstract

Objectives: This study evaluates whether initiation rates, completion rates, response patterns and prevalence of psychiatric conditions differ by level of personal integrity information given to prospective participants in an online mental health self-report survey.

Methods: A three-arm, parallel-group, single-blind experiment was conducted among students from two Swedish universities. Consenting participants following e-mail invitation answered the World Health Organization (WHO) World Mental Health-International College Student (WMH-ICS) mental health self-report survey, screening for eight psychiatric conditions. Random allocation meant consenting to respond (1) anonymously; (2) confidentially, or (3) confidentially, where the respondent also gave consent for collection of register data.

Results: No evidence was found for overall between-group differences with respect to (1) pressing a hyperlink to the survey in the invitation email; and (2) abandoning the questionnaire before completion. However, participation consent and self-reported depression were in the direction of higher levels for the anonymous group compared to the two confidential groups.

Conclusions: Consent to participate is marginally affected by different levels of personal integrity information. Current standard participant information procedures may not engage participants to read the information thoroughly, and online self-report mental health surveys may reduce stigma and thus be less subject to social desirability bias.

Keywords: anonymous; confidential; mental health; online survey; personal integrity; register data.

Conflict of interest statement

No conflicts of interest are declared.

© 2021 The Authors. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Group‐specific information provided in invitation email and study information
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Four levels of group comparisons
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Participant flow. a = Percent of those who received email. b = Percent of those who proceeded to study information. c = Percent of those who provided consent. Italicized numbers indicate participants who did not proceed to the next step, thereby abandoning the survey

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