Youth work service providers' attitudes towards computerized CBT for adolescents

“Mental health professionals have strongly preferred the latter (Stallard et al., 2010) and completion of cCBT programmes without personal support is low (Waller and Gilbody, 2009).”

“Our finding that youth work service providers are interested in the idea of computerized therapy for depression is consistent with studies of health providers and therapists in Australia (Gun et al., 2011) and the UK (Stallard et al., 2010; Williams and Martinez, 2008).”

“This is a function of both external factors, such as a lack of appropriately trained therapists (Marks and Cavanagh, 2009) and internal factors, such as low rates by young people of seeking help from health professionals or indeed from any adults whom they do not know (Rickwood, Deane and Wilson, 2007).”

“…of social service providers to cCBT. Existing studies include surveys of mental health professionals (MacLeod, Martinez and Williams, 2009; Richard and Gloster, 2006; Stallard, Richardson and Velleman, 2010; Whitfield and Williams, 2004) and health professionals (Gun, Titov and Andrews, 2011).”

“Our finding that youth work service providers are interested in the idea of computerized therapy for depression is consistent with studies of health providers and therapists in Australia (Gun et al., 2011) and the UK (Stallard et al., 2010; Williams and Martinez, 2008).”

“The consequence of this is that MHPs tend to believe that DHIs should not be widely and freely available online, and should not be delivered without professional support (Fleming & Merry, 2013; Stallard, Richardson, & Velleman, 2010; Vigerland et al., 2016).”

“…symptoms and has been shown to be appealing to and effective for adolescents seeking help for depression and adolescents excluded from mainstream education who suffer from depression (Fleming, Dixon, Frampton, & Merry, 2012; Fleming, Dixon, & Merry, 2012; Fleming & Merry, 2012; Merry et al., 2012).”

“To date, research exploring the factors contributing to attitudes towards online therapies has been limited to adults (Becker and Jensen-Doss, 2013; Tsan and Day, 2007), health professionals (Donovan et al., 2015; Stallard et al., 2010; Fleming and Merry, 2013; Gun et al., 2011), and parents (Sweeney et al.”

“Commonly cited barriers include providers’ lack of accurate knowledge about the resources, lack of training in their use, and concerns about their effectiveness, safety and clinical responsibility [97,98,100-105].”

“Similarly, two previous studies found that demonstrating the technology/intervention, rather than just hearing about it, increased acceptability ratings and interest in use (Fleming & Merry, 2013; Mitchell & Gordon, 2007).”

“Digital interventions offer important advantages: they are accessible from various locations, they can be a form of outreach to individuals who might not otherwise access traditional face-to-face services [15,16] and are more cost-effective than face-to-face treatment [17].”

“Despite this lack of engagement, providers reported that many of their young clients expressed the desire to make positive change, and providers were eager to support this e ff ort (Fleming and Merry, 2013).”

“Mental health professionals who had been exposed to computer-based therapies have been found to perceive more bene fi ts for their use in child and adolescent populations (Fleming & Merry, 2013).”

“Attitudes towards SPARX have been predominantly positive, with youth workers in New Zealand, young people alienated from mainstream schooling and rural Australian youth endorsing the program as a viable alternative to traditional therapeutic interventions [61–63].”

“…views of youth work service providers and youth attending alternative education in New Zealand on cCBT and the SPARX program (Fleming et al., 2016; Fleming & Merry, 2012), and highlight the importance of a student-centered approach and the need for programs that are positive and engaging to youth…”

“SPARX met with high approval from adolescents and providers (13, 17, 18).”

“…that depression occurs among AHS students (not in relation to students from traditional high schools; T. M. Fleming, Dixon, & Merry, 2012; T. M. Fleming & Merry, 2013) and that a proportion of adolescents showed moderate to severe difficulties with anywhere from 6 to 16 symptoms of…”

“between professionals and adolescents by replacing the interrelation (21,25) or by being a third party to the interrelation (19).”

“However, child and youth mental health workers seem cautiously positive [23,24], particularly in the prevention and treatment of mild-to-moderate mental health problems [24,25].”

“The knowledge of cCBT among mental health professionals is generally low [7,24], implying that knowledge of the effectiveness and availability of programs requires further development [18,19,23].”

“However, there were perceived disadvantages related to: displacing human contact, reducing the therapeutic relationship, variable beliefs in technology, mixed stakeholder buy-in, time restraints and external factors (Fleming and Merry, 2013; Stallard et al., 2010; Du et al., 2013).”

“This study found some enthusiasm for the approach with cCBT being seen as a potential gateway to getting help (Fleming & Merry, 2013).”

“Fleming and Merry (2013) also found that youth work service providers, who were largely supportive of the use of computer-based cognitive behavioural therapies (e.g. SPARX, described in section 2.3.1), wanted to be able to deliver such therapies in group settings to extend its reach to vulnerable…”