Dataset Information

Uptake and effectiveness of a self-guided mobile app platform for college student mental health.

ABSTRACT:

Background

College students endorse high rates of mental health problems. While many colleges offer on-campus services, many students who could benefit from mental health services do not receive care. Indeed, nearly half of students who screen positive for depression, for example, do not receive treatment. Digital mental health programs, such as those delivered via mobile apps, may help expand access to mental health care and resources. This mixed-methods study aims to examine the uptake and effectiveness of an implementation of IntelliCare for College Students, a self-guided app-based mental health platform, on two university campuses.

Methods

Data on counseling center utilization was collected prior to the implementation of the app (pre-implementation phase) and while the app was available on campus (implementation phase). Data on app usage was collected throughout the implementation phase. A subset of participants (n = 20), along with counseling center staff members (n = 10), completed feedback interviews.

Results

Overall, uptake of the app platform was low. A total of 117 participants downloaded the app and registered their study ID during the implementation phase. Approximately 24% (28/117) of participants used the app only once. The number of days between the first and last day of app use ranged from 0 to 299, with a mean of 35.01 days and a median of 14 days. A relatively small portion of the sample (26.5%; 31/117) downloaded one or more of the IntelliCare interactive apps. In examining counseling center utilization, there were no significant changes in intake appointments, individual therapy sessions, or crisis appointments observed from the pre-implementation phase to the implementation phase of the study. Feedback interviews highlighted the significant level of disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and shift to remote learning, including challenges disseminating information to students and a preference to spend less time with digital devices outside of class time.

Conclusions

Findings from this study indicate that there is an ongoing need to identify ways to reach college students and support student mental health and wellness for the remainder of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

SUBMITTER: Lattie EG

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8749061 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Increasingly, colleges across the world are contending with rising rates of mental disorders, and in many cases, the demand for services on campus far exceeds the available resources. The present study reports initial results from the first stage of the WHO World Mental Health International College Student project, in which a series of surveys in 19 colleges across 8 countries (Australia, Belgium, Germany, Mexico, Northern Ireland, South Africa, Spain, United States) were carried out with the aim of estimating prevalence and basic sociodemographic correlates of common mental disorders among first-year college students. Web-based self-report questionnaires administered to incoming first-year students (45.5% pooled response rate) screened for six common lifetime and 12-month DSM-IV mental disorders: major depression, mania/hypomania, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, alcohol use disorder, and substance use disorder. We focus on the 13,984 respondents who were full-time students: 35% of whom screened positive for at least one of the common lifetime disorders assessed and 31% screened positive for at least one 12-month disorder. Syndromes typically had onsets in early to middle adolescence and persisted into the year of the survey. Although relatively modest, the strongest correlates of screening positive were older age, female sex, unmarried-deceased parents, no religious affiliation, nonheterosexual identification and behavior, low secondary school ranking, and extrinsic motivation for college enrollment. The weakness of these associations means that the syndromes considered are widely distributed with respect to these variables in the student population. Although the extent to which cost-effective treatment would reduce these risks is unclear, the high level of need for mental health services implied by these results represents a major challenge to institutions of higher education and governments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).