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Efficacy of contact intervention videos on college students' intentions toward mental health help-seeking.

Eryn KrugerSteven C PittsDanielle DenennyJoseph S DeLucaJason Schiffman
Published in: Journal of American college health : J of ACH (2020)
Untreated mental health (MH) concerns have significant implications for college students. This study examined the efficacy of a video contact intervention targeting students' intentions to seek counseling. Participants: One-hundred and sixty-three college students (Mage = 21.05, SD = 2.20) from a Mid-Atlantic university participated. The sample was predominantly female (74%). Method: Students were randomly assigned to view a student-targeted contact video (ie, clips from college students who share their mental health experiences), a MH comparison contact video, or a non-MH comparison video. Intentions to seek counseling and psychological distress were measured pretest and post-test. Results: Intentions to seek counseling significantly increased from pretest to post-test in the student-targeted contact video condition (F[1, 156] = 22.75, p < .001, partial η2 = .13), but not in the comparison conditions. Further, this effect was only observed among participants who reported preexisting psychological distress (F[1, 153] = 28.00, p < .001, partial η2 = .16). Conclusions: This study provides initial support for the utility of a student-targeted contact intervention video for increasing help-seeking intentions among those reporting current psychological distress.
Keyphrases
  • mental health
  • randomized controlled trial
  • cancer therapy
  • high school
  • mental illness
  • sleep quality
  • hiv testing
  • medical education
  • hiv infected
  • hepatitis c virus