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Completed

NCT Number: NCT05451706

Improving College Students' Mental Help-Seeking Intention During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study aimed at testing the effectiveness of a longitudinal intervention in increasing college students' intention to seek mental help during the pandemic.

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Key information

Conditions

Help-Seeking Behavior Behavior COVID-19 Coronaviridae Infections Coronavirus Infections Infections Lung Diseases Mental Health Issue Nidovirales Infections Pneumonia Pneumonia, Viral RNA Virus Infections Respiratory Tract Diseases Respiratory Tract Infections Social Behavior Virus Diseases

Age range

18 year–100 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Texas A&M University

College Station, Texas, 77843, United States

About this study

This study aimed at testing the effectiveness of a longitudinal intervention in increasing college students' intention to seek mental help during the pandemic.

A four-armed randomized controlled experiment was conducted to compare two self-persuasion methods against two control conditions. Assessments took place at baseline (T0), post-first treatment (T1), post-second treatment (six weeks, T2), and ten-week follow-up (T3).

The results showed that the intervention significantly increased students' help-seeking intention, attitude, and efficacy at different time points. It also reduced mental help-seeking-related stigma after the first task.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • 18 years old or older
  • Full-time undergraduate students
  • Had more than a moderate amount of mental distress

Exclusion criteria

  • Under 18 years old
  • Not full-time undergraduate students
  • Had less than a moderate amount of mental distress

Treatment and study plan

Mental help-seeking self-persuasion

Behavioral

Employing a longitudinal design, this study used a self-persuasion framework in a 4-arm intervention to increase college students' help-seeking intentions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Primary outcomes

  1. Help-Seeking Intention

    Time frame: 10 weeks

    Help-Seeking Intention was measured by one item created based on recommendations by Ajzen (2002). Measured on a 5-point scale (1 = extremely unlikely, 5 = extremely likely), this item asked, "If you have a personal-emotional problem, how likely is it that you would seek help from a mental health professional (a psychologist, psychologist, or psychotherapist)?" Higher scores on this item suggest higher intentions to seek professional mental help.

  2. Help-Seeking Behavior

    Time frame: 10 weeks

    Help-Seeking Behavior was measured by a validated item modified from previous research based on the transtheoretical model (Sarkin et al., 2001). The item asked about if a participant has sought mental help from a health care professional. Answers to this item included "1 = not intending to seek help in the next six months," "2 = intending to seek help in the next six months," "3 = planning to seek help in the next 30 days," "4 = have already sought help but for less than six months," and "5 = have been under treatment for more than six months."

Secondary outcomes

  1. Mental help-seeking attitudes

    Time frame: 10 weeks

    participants rated 1 ("strongly disagree") to 5 ("strongly agree") on ten items of the Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale-Short Form (ATSPPHS-SF) (Fischer & Farina, 1995).

  2. Self-stigma of seeking mental help

    Time frame: 10/2020 - 1/10 weeks

    Participants rated 1 ("strongly disagree") to 5 ("strongly agree") on ten items adopted from the Self-Stigma of Seeking Help (SSOSH) scale (Vogel et al., 2006).

  3. Mental help-seeking efficacy

    Time frame: 10 weeks

    Mental Help-Seeking Efficacy was measured by five items modified from previous research (Mo & Mak, 2009) and recommendations (Ajzen, 2002). Participants rated 1 ("strongly disagree") to 5 ("strongly agree") on the answers.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Cleveland State University

Other

Registry information

Acronym: MHI

Important dates

Study start
2020
Primary completion
2021
Study completion
2021
First posted
Jul 11, 2022
Registry last updated
Feb 6, 2024

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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