ArticleHealth expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy2024
Young People Talk About Digital Support for Mental Health: An Online Survey of 15-30-Year Olds in New Zealand.
Article in Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Benefits, limitations and potential solutions for defining good practices in Online Counselling Chat Services for Youth.Internet interventions · 2026Article
- Implementing Digital Tools for Mental Health Support in Young Individuals in Colombia: Mixed Methods Feasibility Study.JMIR formative research · 2025Article
- UK Public Focus Groups on Healthcare's Environmental Impacts: A Critical Analysis of Co-Benefits Approaches.Sociology of health & illness · 2025Article
- Article
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Authors and funding
16 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundMental distress is on the rise for young people, and there are high levels of unmet need for support. Increasingly, young people are engaging with online mechanisms of support to avoid cost and wait times; however, online support does have its limitations. We surveyed young people, 15-30 years of age, in Aotearoa New Zealand to explore their views of digital support for mental health. The aim of this study was to find out from young people what they thought about various types of online support and perceived benefits and drawbacks.
methodsA cross-sectional online survey promoted through social media advertising was used. Participants included anyone aged 15-30 years living in Aotearoa New Zealand. The survey ran for 10 weeks between February and May 2022. It included demographic questions and asked about (i) use of digital support for mental health; (ii) what digital support is best used for; (iii) best ways of publicising mental health supports to young people; and (iv) where they would choose to get information about mental health support. Questions were a mix of forced choice and free text. Participants could opt to take part in a follow-up interview.
resultsSurveys were completed by 1471 participants; two respondents participated in an interview. A total of 641 participants had used digital support before (44%). The most used forms of digital support were websites (n = 324) and watching videos (n = 260), although these were not necessarily rated as the most helpful. Alternatives that people most wanted to try were podcasts and phone or video consultations with a counsellor or therapist. Drawbacks of digital support included privacy concerns, technical issues, lack of quality and motivation requirements. Benefits included ease of access, anonymity and a non-threatening starting point.
conclusionsDigital support has a place in mental health care, but strong sentiment was expressed in favour of real-life support. It may also be worth investing in more innovative types of digital support such as online performing arts and podcasts. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: A group of young people were recruited as co-researchers, had input into survey design, data analysis and interpretation and are co-authors (list of co-authors). Survey respondents also included young people with lived experience who are members of the general public.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.