QT-Digital Mental Health Engagement Study
ConditionEngagement, Patient
Trial statusRecruiting
Trial phaseNot applicable
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age14+
SponsorUniversity of Washington
About this trial
Sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations are disproportionately impacted by mental health concerns relative to their heterosexual and cisgender peers. Despite high need, SGM populations continue to report unmet mental health needs because they cannot or do not access mental health services. Digital Mental Health (DMH) services have been recognized as feasible, economical, and effective options to broaden the availability of mental health care to consumers who face barriers to mental health help-seeking. SGM consumers cite a preference for DMH care and this delivery format holds promise to attend to major mental health care access barriers experienced by this consumer group. Yet, the availability of DMH services tailored to the needs of SGM consumers is limited, and a dearth of research examines SGM populations' actual engagement with DMH services. A potential solution to fully understand how SGM populations utilize DMH services would be to characterize their engagement within a natural setting. Leveraging an established partnership with Mental Health America (MHA), a non-profit mental health advocacy group offering free, evidence-based screenings and self-guided DMH resources, this study will follow a large, naturalistic sample of SGM DMH consumers with the aim to test tailored engagement strategies with SGM DMH consumers using a micro-randomized trial (MRT) design. Results of this study will inform if delivering engagement strategies can meaningfully increase initial and sustained engagement with MHA resources and which types of strategies, specifically, work best for which users.
Eligibility criteria
This trial accepts healthy volunteersQualifiers
Users of the Mental Health America (MHA) website engaging from Internet Protocol (IP) addresses in the United States
Completed the PHQ-9 depression screener in English
Answered MHA's standard demographic questions that identify users as age 14 and older
Answered MHA's standard demographic questions that identify users as LGBTQ+.
Disqualifiers
IP addresses outside of the United States
Do not answer MHA's standard demographic questions
Answered MHA's standard demographic questions that identify users as age 13 and younger
Answered MHA's standard demographic questions that identify users as not LGBTQ+.
Trial design
Design model
Sequential
Treatments tested in this trial
HAPA Engagement Strategies
BehavioralParticipants will be delivered HAPA-based engagement strategies directly on the MHA website, including on the Results page and targeted Next Steps resource page. The engagement strategies target HAPA behavioral determinants: outcome expectancy, self-efficacy, perceived risk, and barriers and resources. On the Results page, these engagement strategies will be displayed as inline messages designed to quickly reinforce a HAPA behavioral determinant before users choose their Next Steps. On the Next Steps resource page, these HAPA-based engagement strategies will be displayed as inline cards embedded directly within the page layout.
Treatment groups
2,300 Participants
are divided into 3 treatment groupsGroup A: HAPA Engagement StrategiesExperimental treatment 1 intervention
Group B: Results Page ComparatorNo intervention 0 interventions
Group C: Resource Page ComparatorNo intervention 0 interventions
Trial outcomes
Primary outcomes
1
Proximal engagement
Initial engagement (at Decision Point 1, Screening Results page) is a binary indicator of whether a participant clicks to one of the targeted Next Steps Content Pages displayed on the Screening Results Page following randomization (yes/no). If a participant does not navigate to one of the targeted Next Steps pages before leaving the MHA website or before the session ends due to 30 minutes of inactivity then the outcome will be coded as "no."
Time frame
Single web session capped at 30 minutes of inactivity2
Proximal engagement
Sustained engagement (Decision Point 2, Next Steps Content Pages) is a binary indicator of whether a participant clicks to any additional page on the MHA website following randomization (yes/no). If a participant does not navigate to another page before leaving the MHA website or before the session ends due to 30 minutes of inactivity then the outcome will be coded as "no."
Time frame
Single web session capped at 30 minutes of inactivitySecondary outcomes
1
Proximal engagement
For participants at Decision Point 2 who click to another page, sustained engagement with the targeted Next Steps Content Page will also be measured as total time (in seconds) spent on the page prior to navigating to the next page. Time on page will only be calculated when a subsequent navigation event occurs as duration cannot be reliably computed when the Next Steps content page is the final page in a session.
Time frame
Single web session capped at 30 minutes of inactivity2
Proximal engagement
Total time on MHA pages beyond the Results and targeted Next Steps resource, capped at 30 minutes of inactivity.
Time frame
Single web session capped at 30 minutes of inactivity3
Proximal engagement
Total number of MHA pages visited beyond the Results and targeted Next Steps resource, capped at 30 minutes of inactivity.
Time frame
Single web session capped at 30 minutes of inactivity4
Proximal Engagement
Response, if available, to outcome questions displayed on Next Steps Content Page (e.g., Was this helpful?; Did this article help increase your knowledge and understanding of mental health?; Did this article help you feel more confident in managing your mental health?; Did this article help you feel more hopeful about your mental health?).
Time frame
Single web session capped at 30 minutes of inactivitySponsors and contacts
Click on the lead sponsor to view all of their trials.
University of Washington
Lead sponsor
Mental Health America
Collaborator
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Collaborator
Source ClinicalTrials.gov