Reducing Depression Self-stigma and Increasing Treatment Seeking Intentions Among Youth

NCT06172075 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 8366
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 1,520
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Young people with depression, especially those of underserved minority groups, avoid treatment due to stigma and discrimination. Social contact is a form of interpersonal contact with members of the stigmatized group and the most effective type of intervention for improvement in stigma-related knowledge and attitudes. In a prior study, the investigators developed short video interventions to reduce stigma and increase treatment seeking among people with depression. The videos vary by protagonist race/ethnicity (Latinx, non-Latinx Black, non-Latinx White) who share their experiences with depression, challenges, and recovery process. The investigators would like to test the efficacy of these videos using Prolific (a crowdsourcing platform). Specifically, the investigators are interested in conducting a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to test the efficacy of these videos as compared to a vignette control condition on reducing self-stigma and increasing help-seeking intentions and behavior at baseline, post, and 30 day follow-up among youth with depressive symptom scores on the PHQ-9≥ 5.

Conditions

Stigma, Social; Mental Health Disorder; Depression

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (10)

• Depression Stigma

  The Depression Stigma Scale (DSS) is a self-report scale comprised of two 9-item subscales measuring participants' personal beliefs about depression and participants' beliefs about others' attitudes (Griffiths et al., 2004). The current study will only utilize the personal beliefs subscale. Each item is rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). Scores range from 9 to 45. Higher scores indicate more stigma.

  Baseline

• Depression Stigma

  The Depression Stigma Scale (DSS) is a self-report scale comprised of two 9-item subscales measuring participants' personal beliefs about depression and participants' beliefs about others' attitudes (Griffiths et al., 2004). The current study will only utilize the personal beliefs subscale. Each item is rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). Scores range from 9 to 45. Higher scores indicate more stigma.

  Post (immediately after the video or vignette control is shown)

• Depression Stigma

  The Depression Stigma Scale (DSS) is a self-report scale comprised of two 9-item subscales measuring participants' personal beliefs about depression and participants' beliefs about others' attitudes (Griffiths et al., 2004). The current study will only utilize the personal beliefs subscale. Each item is rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). Scores range from 9 to 45. Higher scores indicate more stigma.

  30 day follow-up

• Attitude Towards Seeking Professional Psychological Help

  Treatment seeking intentions will be measured using three items from the Attitudes Towards Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale (ATSPPHS) Scale (Elhai et al., 2008). Items include: 'I might want to have psychological counselling in the future', 'I would want to get psychological help if I were worried or upset for a long period of time' and 'A person with an emotional problem is not likely to solve it alone; he or she is more likely to solve it with professional help'. Responses range from 1 (disagree) to 4 (agree). Total scores range from 3 to 12 with higher scores indicating higher treatment seeking intentions.

  Baseline

• Attitude Towards Seeking Professional Psychological Help

  Treatment seeking intentions will be measured using three items from the Attitudes Towards Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale (ATSPPHS) Scale (Elhai et al., 2008). Items include: 'I might want to have psychological counselling in the future', 'I would want to get psychological help if I were worried or upset for a long period of time' and 'A person with an emotional problem is not likely to solve it alone; he or she is more likely to solve it with professional help'. Responses range from 1 (disagree) to 4 (agree). Total scores range from 3 to 12 with higher scores indicating higher treatment seeking intentions.

  Post (immediately after the video or vignette control is shown)

• Attitude Towards Seeking Professional Psychological Help

  Treatment seeking intentions will be measured using three items from the Attitudes Towards Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale (ATSPPHS) Scale (Elhai et al., 2008). Items include: 'I might want to have psychological counselling in the future', 'I would want to get psychological help if I were worried or upset for a long period of time' and 'A person with an emotional problem is not likely to solve it alone; he or she is more likely to solve it with professional help'. Responses range from 1 (disagree) to 4 (agree). Total scores range from 3 to 12 with higher scores indicating higher treatment seeking intentions.

  30 day follow-up

• Treatment related stigma

  Treatment-related stigma will be measured with the Self-Stigma of Seeking Help scale (SSOSH-3) (Brenner et al., 2021). Items include "I would feel inadequate if I went to a therapist for psychological help," "It would make me feel inferior to ask a therapist for help," and "If I went to a therapist, I would be less satisfied with myself." Response range from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Total scores range from 3 to 15, with higher scores indicating greater stigma.

  Baseline

• Treatment related stigma

  Treatment-related stigma will be measured with the Self-Stigma of Seeking Help scale (SSOSH-3) (Brenner et al., 2021). Items include "I would feel inadequate if I went to a therapist for psychological help," "It would make me feel inferior to ask a therapist for help," and "If I went to a therapist, I would be less satisfied with myself." Response range from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Total scores range from 3 to 15, with higher scores indicating greater stigma.

  Post (immediately after the video or vignette control is shown)

• Treatment related stigma

  Treatment-related stigma will be measured with the Self-Stigma of Seeking Help scale (SSOSH-3) (Brenner et al., 2021). Items include "I would feel inadequate if I went to a therapist for psychological help," "It would make me feel inferior to ask a therapist for help," and "If I went to a therapist, I would be less satisfied with myself." Response range from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Total scores range from 3 to 15, with higher scores indicating greater stigma.

  30 day follow-up

• Actual help-seeking

  One item will be utilized to measure actual help-seeking: Over the past 30 days, did you contact the mental health referrals we have provided or have sought out mental health treatment elsewhere?

  30 day follow-up

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Emotional engagement

  Post (immediately after the video or vignette control is shown)

Study Arms (4)

Brief video intervention (Black Woman)

EXPERIMENTAL

A brief social contact-based video with a Black woman protagonist

Behavioral: Brief video intervention (Black Woman)

Brief video intervention (Latinx Woman)

EXPERIMENTAL

A brief social contact-based video with a Latinx woman protagonist

Behavioral: Brief video intervention (Latinx Woman)

Brief video intervention (White Woman)

EXPERIMENTAL

A brief social contact-based video with a White woman protagonist

Behavioral: Brief video intervention (White Woman)

Vignette Control

OTHER

A brief vignette control condition

Behavioral: Vignette Control

Interventions

Brief video intervention (Black Woman) BEHAVIORAL

A brief social contact-based video. The video presented a young Black woman in her early twenties, a professional actor, sharing her scripted personal story of struggles as a Black woman with depression and raising themes of recovery and hope.

Brief video intervention (Black Woman)

Brief video intervention (Latinx Woman) BEHAVIORAL

A brief social contact-based video. The video presented a young Latinx woman in her early twenties, a professional actor, sharing her scripted personal story of struggles as a Latinx woman with depression and raising themes of recovery and hope.

Brief video intervention (Latinx Woman)

Brief video intervention (White Woman) BEHAVIORAL

A brief social contact-based video. The video presented a young White woman in her early twenties, a professional actor, sharing her scripted personal story of struggles as a White woman with depression and raising themes of recovery and hope.

Brief video intervention (White Woman)

Vignette Control BEHAVIORAL

A brief vignette control condition with a script about a young woman who describes her struggles with depression and raises themes of recovery and hope.

Vignette Control

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 25 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Endorsing mild to severe depressive symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) score of 5 or greater)
• Ages 18-25
• US Residents
• English speaking

You may not qualify if:

• Not endorsing mild to severe depressive symptoms
• Age less than 18 or greater than 25

Sponsors & Collaborators

• New York State Psychiatric Institute: lead

Study Sites (1)

New York State Psychiatric Institute

New York, New York, 10032, United States

Location

Related Publications (4)

• Griffiths KM, Christensen H, Jorm AF, Evans K, Groves C. Effect of web-based depression literacy and cognitive-behavioural therapy interventions on stigmatising attitudes to depression: randomised controlled trial. Br J Psychiatry. 2004 Oct;185:342-9. doi: 10.1192/bjp.185.4.342.

  PMID: 15458995 BACKGROUND

• Elhai JD, Schweinle W, Anderson SM. Reliability and validity of the Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale-Short Form. Psychiatry Res. 2008 Jun 30;159(3):320-9. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2007.04.020. Epub 2008 Apr 22.

  PMID: 18433879 BACKGROUND

• Brenner RE, Colvin KF, Hammer JH, Vogel DL. Using Item Response Theory to Develop Revised (SSOSH-7) and Ultra-Brief (SSOSH-3) Self-Stigma of Seeking Help Scales. Assessment. 2021 Jul;28(5):1488-1499. doi: 10.1177/1073191120958496. Epub 2020 Sep 25.

  PMID: 32975438 BACKGROUND

• de Vreede T, Andel SA, de Vreede GJ, Spector P, Singh V, Padmanabhan B. What is engagement and how do we measure it? Toward a domain independent definition and scale. Proceedings of the 52nd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. 2019, Hawaii. p. 749-758.

  BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Social Stigma; Mental Disorders; Depression

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Social Behavior; Behavior; Behavioral Symptoms

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 18, 2023
• First Posted: December 15, 2023
• Study Start: April 15, 2024
• Primary Completion: May 29, 2024
• Study Completion: May 29, 2024
• Last Updated: September 4, 2024

Record last verified: 2024-09

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)