Providing online support for young people with mental health difficulties: challenges and opportunities explored
Open accessAbstract
Despite its growing popularity there is a paucity of information exploring the potential of the Internet to build a trusted community that helps reduce stigma, facilitates help-seeking and aids in the prevention or helps in the management of mental health difficulties for young people. Unsupervised online forums or chat rooms hold potential dangers for young people including the possibility of attracting adults who may take advantage of vulnerable adolescents. Contagion with members organizing suicide pacts, or describing suicidal or self-harming intentions and methods and young people ruminating about feeling depressed are also potential risks. This paper describes the development and conceptual underpinnings of the Reach Out! Online Community Forum, a moderated bulletin board, developed in consultation with, and facilitated by young people aged 16-25. The Forum, although facilitated by young people, is supported and monitored by trained moderators. Anecdotal evidence collected via unsolicited feedback from young people using the Forum suggests that it is a positive, unique and helpful online experience although little is known about the impact on stigma reduction and help seeking in the offline world. Given the proliferation of unsupervised forums and chat rooms there is a need for further research to determine the effectiveness or potential dangers of online forums in mental health prevention and early intervention work.
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Young people use the internet as a major source of mental health information.
“Young people report feeling more comfortable discussing sensitive and personal issues in the relative anonymity of an online context and use the internet as a major source of mental health information (14, 15).”
From What Works and What Doesn’t Work? A Systematic Review of Digital Mental Health Interventions for Depression and Anxiety in Young People (2019) · cites this paper as [15]
The Introduction reports that 75% of surveyed Americans aged 15–24 accessed health information online, supporting substantial use by young people. It does not establish that the internet is a major source of mental-health information specifically for young people; its discussion of online mental-health information draws on broader populations. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredYoung people report feeling more comfortable discussing sensitive and personal issues in the relative anonymity of an online context.
“Young people report feeling more comfortable discussing sensitive and personal issues in the relative anonymity of an online context and use the internet as a major source of mental health information (14, 15).”
From What Works and What Doesn’t Work? A Systematic Review of Digital Mental Health Interventions for Depression and Anxiety in Young People (2019) · cites this paper as [15]
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- Authors
- Webb, M., Burns, J., & Collin, P.
- Affiliations
- Inspire Foundation (GB)
- The University of Melbourne (AU)
- The University of Sydney (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Webb, Marianne
- Venue
- Early Intervention in Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2008-04-21
- Volume
- 2
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 108-113
- ISSN
- 1751-7885 (ISSN-L)
- 1751-7893
- OpenAlex
- W2011608379
- Cited by
- 130
- References
- 38
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 9.66
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Early Intervention in Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Inspire Foundation
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Literacy and Information Accessibility
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Keywords
- online mental health services, youth, mental health stigma, help-seeking, chat rooms, suicide prevention, self-harm, peer-led support, mental health prevention, early intervention
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Mental Disorders, Humans, Self-Help Groups, Program Development, Practice Guidelines as Topic, Internet, Young Adult
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