Using stories of lived experience of mental health to change mental health stigma and help seeking
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN65081246 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN65081246 |
- Submission date
- 21/03/2025
- Registration date
- 03/04/2025
- Last edited
- 27/03/2025
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Completed
- Condition category
- Mental and Behavioural Disorders
Plain English summary of protocol
Background and study aims
A contact-based intervention is one where individuals share their lived experience of mental health difficulties and recovery. These types of interventions have the potential to reduce stigma. The current study examines the effectiveness of a brief (8-minute) digitised contact-based intervention in reducing mental health stigma and improving help-seeking intentions in young adults.
Who can participate?
Undergraduate psychology students enrolled at Macquarie University
What does the study involve?
The intervention comprises a brief video (8 minutes) of a mental health consumer sharing their lived experience of mental health difficulties and their recovery. Measures of public and self-stigma and help-seeking attitudes will be collected before, immediately after, and 1 week following the contact-based intervention, compared to active control. Participants will be invited to participate in a subsequent semi-structured interview that further explores their perspectives on the contact-based intervention.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
The benefits of participating include the receipt of psychoeducation about health conditions. The questions and procedures are unlikely to cause distress but in the unlikely event that this does occur, the contact details of the Chief Investigator will be made available.
Where is the study run from?
University of New South Wales, Australia
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
September 2020 to March 2025
Who is funding the study?
The data collection and execution of this study were investigator-initiated and funded. The project team will receive funding from Batyr Australia to assist with the publication costs of the study.
Who is the main contact?
Prof Jennie Hudson, jennie.hudson@unsw.edu.au
Contact information
Public, Scientific, Principal Investigator
University of New South Wales, Hospital Rd
Randwick, New South Wales
2031
Australia
| Phone | +61 0408660098 |
|---|---|
| jennie.hudson@unsw.edu.au |
Study information
| Study design | Randomized controlled trial |
|---|---|
| Primary study design | Interventional |
| Secondary study design | Randomised controlled trial |
| Study setting(s) | Home, Internet/virtual, University/medical school/dental school |
| Study type | Other |
| Participant information sheet | 47048_PIS_v1_23Sept2020.pdf |
| Scientific title | Effectiveness of a brief digitized contact-based intervention in improving mental health stigma and help-seeking in young adults |
| Study objectives | The intervention group would experience a greater reduction in both public and self-stigma, and greater improvements in help-seeking intentions (using formal and informal sources of help), relative to the active control group, and these effects would be maintained at 1-week follow-up. In addition, it was hypothesized that individuals experiencing high mental health distress would perceive mental health stigma differently and find the intervention more beneficial, compared to individuals with low mental health distress. |
| Ethics approval(s) |
1. Approved 01/03/2021, Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) Macquarie University (Balaclava rd, Sydney, 2109, Australia; +61 0298508711; humanethics@mq.edu.au), ref: 52021904124875 2. Approved 09/12/2024, University of New South Wales Human Ethics Committee (Hospital Rd, Randwick, 2035, Australia; -; humanethics@unsw.edu.au), ref: iRECS7757 |
| Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied | This study is not focused on a specific disease or health condition. The related outcome is mental health stigma and helpseeking. |
| Intervention | Contact-based interventions involve individuals sharing their lived experience of mental health difficulties and recovery. Exposure to lived experience stories has in the past been shown to be effective in reducing stigma. This study is interested in examining the effectiveness of exposure to one brief digitized story of lived experience in reducing mental health stigma and improving help-seeking intentions in young adults. Data will be collected from university students at three time points (baseline, post-intervention, 1-week follow-up) to evaluate the effectiveness of a brief digitized contact-based intervention in reducing mental health stigma and improving help-seeking intentions in young adults. Participants were randomly allocated to condition via random number generation facilitated by the Qualtrics survey platform. Two education programs will be delivered. Participants allocated to the active intervention group will view one video (8 minutes) of a mental health consumer sharing their lived experience of mental health difficulties, specifically relating to anxiety and depression, and their recovery. These videos were provided by batyr and are being delivered as part of their mental health stigma intervention, the batyr@uni program. One video (8 minutes) of a mental health consumer sharing their lived experience of mental health difficulties, specifically relating to anxiety and depression, and their recovery. The video also includes a short pre-recorded debrief by a batyr representative who emphasises key themes. There will be no contact with trained mental health professionals. As the intervention is delivered digitally, participants can complete this study at their desired location. Active control. Participants in the control group will view one video (8 minutes) of an individual speaking about the benefits of healthy eating. The information on healthy eating was adapted from an Australian Government resource (Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, 2013), and all videos followed the same script. Qualitative interviews will also be used to gain a deeper understanding of the perspectives of young adults towards the contact-based intervention from those with high and low mental health distress. |
| Intervention type | Behavioural |
| Primary outcome measure | Perceptions of mental health stigma and help-seeking intentions measured using the Generalised Anxiety Stigma Scale (GASS), the Self-Stigma of Mental Illness Scale (SSOMI) and the General Help-Seeking Questionnaire (GHSQ) at post-intervention. |
| Secondary outcome measures | 1. Perceptions of public and self-stigma using the Generalised Anxiety Stigma Scale (GASS), the Self-Stigma of Mental Illness Scale (SSOMI) and the General Help-Seeking Questionnaire (GHSQ) at one week following the intervention. 2. Perceptions of intervention measured using data collected during semi-structured qualitative interviews after the intervention |
| Overall study start date | 20/09/2020 |
| Completion date | 31/03/2025 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | Learner/student |
|---|---|
| Age group | Adult |
| Lower age limit | 17 Years |
| Upper age limit | 24 Years |
| Sex | Both |
| Target number of participants | 300 |
| Total final enrolment | 328 |
| Key inclusion criteria | 1. Undergraduate psychology students 2. Aged 17-24 years |
| Key exclusion criteria | Aged over 25 years old |
| Date of first enrolment | 01/04/2021 |
| Date of final enrolment | 30/08/2021 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- Australia
Study participating centre
Macquarie University
2109
Australia
Sponsor information
Research organisation
University of New South Wales
Randwick
2031
Australia
| Phone | +61 9385 1000 |
|---|---|
| blackdog@blackdog.org.au | |
| Website | https://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/ |
"ROR" |
https://ror.org/04rfr1008 |
Funders
Funder type
Other
No information available
No information available
Results and Publications
| Intention to publish date | 31/12/2025 |
|---|---|
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | Yes |
| IPD sharing plan summary | Available on request |
| Publication and dissemination plan | Planned publication in a peer-reviewed journal |
| IPD sharing plan | The datasets generated during and analysed during the current study will be available upon request from Prof Jennie Hudson, jennie.hudson@unsw.edu.au. • The type of data that will be shared is anonymised demographic data (only those that will not allow re-identification), primary and secondary outcomes, treatment condition, and timepoint. • Timing for availability is on request • Whether consent from participants was required and obtained: The consent form allows sharing of de-identified data for studies approved by an ethics board. • Comments on data anonymization: data will be screened by authors to ensure no data will be shared that allows re-identification • Any ethical or legal restrictions: Only requests that have evidence of approval from an institutional ethics committee will be considered. |
Study outputs
| Output type | Details | Date created | Date added | Peer reviewed? | Patient-facing? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Participant information sheet | version 1 | 23/09/2020 | 27/03/2025 | No | Yes |
Additional files
Editorial Notes
21/03/2025: Study's existence confirmed by the University of New South Wales Human Ethics Committee.
